Wilder's Right Hand?

I think you're missing the point.

Some are claiming Wilder is "The biggest puncher in boxing History"....I'm saying that I'm not buying that conclusion, there's absolutely nothing to back up that claim. The fact that even in his prime guys like Molina, Duhaupas, Szpilka, Arreola, Stiverne could last 8-12 rounds, tells you such claims about Wilder's power are not backed up by the data.

The claims about Wilder's "Freak Power" don't pass the eye test or the data/stats test. The number of times both Tyson Fury and Derek Chisora got hit clean and got back up tells you his power is overrated.

It was Wilder's speed which caused opponents problems, not his power, I think that's what a lot misunderstand.

 

He damn near killed that Polish guy…and literally knocked out everybody you listed. Yes his speed was a gift, but who has he touched that he didn’t drop? I mean he never hit Parker or Zhang so being able to deliver that power is another conversation, but other than that who has he hit that didn’t drop?

 

Duhaupas would have gone the distance with him years earlier.

 

Wilder's sudden explosiveness and speed on the straight right is a fraction of what it used to be. He still hits very hard regardless, but the impact isn't the same and it's not going to catch as many fighters when they don't see it coming. I also don't think in terms of pure heavy-handedness, he's on the same level as guys like Foreman, Wlad, Shavers, Zhang, Tua, etc.

 

I mean, up to a point, maybe...

Then again, if we're allowing that age and being slow have decreased Wilder's power (entirely reasonable), we're not going to pretend that surviving Chisora plodding and throwing slow punches, even with some weight behind them, is a great metric to establish durability?

Getting KO'd by Zhang only means you're not made of pure steel, fair enough.

Getting knocked out by Fury... Less so, getting destroyed in that manner by someone who's not considered that big a puncher hints at some durability issues - a levels gap might explain some of that away.

Definitely - and that's especially concerning when you have a fighter who's so reliant on power and can't ice such a fundamentally hittable target.

Yea, it was interesting that he had obviously given a bit of thought to cards - again quite how bad Chisoras condition is now makes that a bit easier and thus less impressive, but it's certainly interesting that Wilder himself is clearly conscious that he can't rely on power alone.


I still don't think either of them can compete anywhere remotely near the top ten guys anymore.

 

I thought Wilder delivered punches more clumsily than usual, throwing punches like he was throwing a ball.
That Wilder could get a title shot after that effort testifies to the mediocrity of the division

 

motion=power

The amount of power correlates with how much weight you put behind your punches, and the more you move your body the more weight you can utilize.
That´s the basics of it. Of course you can add speed to the equation too.

In theory, anyone can punch hard enough to have a good KO percentage, even guys like Malignaggi.

 

Force = Mass x Acceleration

Wilder punched hard because he would put 1000% into those ridiculous windmill punches of his. He'd reach back all the way back to Alabama to throw those shots. Once Fury took them and didn't go away, Wilder lost the confidence to just throw like a ******. Combine that with his competition level going up so it's not as easy to land them plus him getting older and there you go.

 

Although this is true, in George's comeback, he hit some opponents A LOT and they took it. His power wasn't the same imo.

 

Wilder is also damaged himself and 40 years old. You can't use the "but Chisora is old" argument when he had the better run and they're both within the same age range.

He deserves credit for enduring the constant pressure and onslaught he faced, especially as he was outweighed by 40 pounds and took Chisora's best punches clean on the chin multiple times. It might not be virbranium, but that chin is solid.

Oh I agree, but how many 40+ year olds are generally in the top ten to begin with?

 

You forgot a certain Scuba Scott!

In all seriousness, I do suspect that his loss of speed and explosiveness has caused him to lose a bit of power at least.

 

I think with Wilder its thats he relied on speed to land his big shots opposed to his power failing him. If Wilder did lose his power we'd need more fights to tell. Wilder has 4 KDs in his last 2 wins. If this fight wasn't in the UK and if Chisora wasn't so likeable Wilder probably keeps his record.

Chisora is a durable hefty opponent. Chisoras not durable enough you'd expect him to survive Wilder but hes more durable then Stiverne thats for sure.

 

It has obvious since Parker that his reflexes are gone. He had dynamic power in his right hand through his mid-30s, but once the speed went so did the power.

Others have mentioned it already, but he's not the first.

 

hard to get ko's when you step up from taxi drivers