What does Wilder mean to Fury's legacy?

So, you DIDN'T call for AJ to fight Wardley at the time :O? Imagine my shock!

 

For me, Wilder is another retrospective re-invention. When he was banging people out sure, many questioned his ability, his stamina but people are forgetting, not many wanted to share a ring with him. Judging him on his fights with Zhang and Parker is like judging Ali on his fights with Holmes or Spinks. Peak, prime Wilder was not a glass cannon, he was a loose cannon. Crazy power, punched from crazy angles and lets have it right, beat fighters on paper he shouldn't have been in with. You can argue Fury was a generational talent, he is another the revsionists write off with glee, as is AJ, but that's another topic for another thread, and Wilder had wars with him and he had success Fury's other opponents can only dream of. Wilder, when Fury fought him, is and remains a fine scalp. I'd have taken the Wilder of all of those fights to stop AJ, a fighter who I rate against the growing tide of revisionist nonsense that is posted about him.

Was Wilder ever the best in the world? Absolutely not. We can claim at different times Fury, AJ and finally Usyk were, but peak Wilder is a handful for any of those men. Yes, any of them. More than the sum of his parts, huge heart, huge power and to steal the new metric many use to scribe greatness to Usyk, a smaller guy competing with and putting bigger men to sleep. I might argue that battering Wilder in fight 2 is the greatest performance of Fury's career...even above Wlad...I MIGHT but I'll have to go think about it....

Take care all, peace and love always, Px

 

Getting the distinct impression boxing is transitioning from bad to worse.

 

Hmm, I remember things very differently. And it's not about forgetting, as it's backed up by the reports and interviews at the time:

• Klitschko wanted to fight him
• Chisora wanted to fight him
• Povetkin wanted to fight him
• Whyte wanted to fight him
• Ortiz wanted to fight him
• Breazeale wanted to fight him
• Big Baby Miller wanted to fight him
• Joshua wanted to fight him
• Retired Fury wanted to fight him
• Andy Ruiz wanted to fight him (but maybe post Fury)
• I believe Parker was also open to fighting him too

I'm probably forgetting some people too. But that was pretty much all of the top 10 for his entire run that did actually want to fight him.

Basically, everyone wanted to fight him, as he was seen as the weaker champion, and the way to parlay the WBC belt into a massive pay day against Joshua for Undisputed.

 

Sure I did. He's among several guys who were better than the guys he did fight.

Nobody from this era has a great resume aside from possibly Usyk. You can make excuses for Joshua not fighting anyone if you so desire.

Wilder himself has a very poor resume so you can easily defend Joshua not fighting him if you want.

 

yes, thats what i recall as well.
not only was wilder fighting the weakest available comp, both by design and circumstance, but he was looking easy to beat while doing it. besides that straight right hand, what else did wilder do well? footwork, defense, punch selection, inside fighting, what? i could plainly see how a good boxer would beat him, before he fought fury. and said so.
wilder was just never a good enough boxer to beat a legit top 3 fighter. the power in that 1 right hand, and the intimidation it created, kept him in the game. but he was never going to be the man.

 

Of that list, I think Wlad is the only person I'd make a genuine favourite. Ruiz might have troubled him if it was motivated Andy...? Sacha has a shout, but was getting old, I rememer that fight getting made then something happened but I'd have to go look it up. There may have been noises about AJ but I doubt Eddie and co would have allowed it. Whyte and Del would have been sparked I think...and Parker will fight anyone, history shows that, but back then he was going through a bit of a lean spell...

 

When the trilogy took place, Wilder was an undefeated, long reigning champion with amazing KO power. The trilogy took a lot out of both of them. In my opinion, all 3 fights were very entertaining and I see it as the best trilogy since Pac/ JMM.

 

If the fight goes how I think it will go, Jake will go back to fighting his usual scripted fights.

 

Yep. This is the correct answer.

 

Show the receipts then

Usyk has a great resume. Fury/AJ have good resumes. Fury more top heavy, AJ's resume is deeper.

Wilder has terrible resume, that's true. AJ would have fought him if Wilder didn't duck him 3 times, if not more.

 

Fury's resume post-comeback consists of Wilder and little else, if you feel Wilder is overrated his resume falls apart.

 

Fury is first defeted and knocked out Wilder.
Stop Wilders 5 years "reign".
Furys legacy is based on Wlad and Wilder.

 

Legendary trilogy against a limited but awkward, lethal as hell and willing to die in the ring to win champion. Someone had to end his reign and the landscape was devoid apart from those three fighters once the belts were scattered by Fury. I think Povetkin legit could have knocked him out but that fight fell through with him being caught on a PED a week out. I remember reading Wilder was literally training in the UK in the build up to adjust to the Moscow time difference so he was gonna fight him for sure. The best thing about those fights were how different each of them was depending on which Tyson showed up. You had the dancing Fury then the Kronk bulldozer Fury then the i just rolled out of bed wildman Fury. We can say yeah well instead of Wilder three times he could’ve fought someone else but the quality of those fights add an enormous amount to their legacies because of what they showed when they combined in the ring. Each of those fights were instant classics, that’s high praise.