It's pretty hard to find those big names on Arreola's resume. I always considered him someone who really came along at the right time.
Sure they do. Bowe and Moorer did little outside of beating Holyfield. I would rate Ruiz above Moorer at heavyweight. Ruiz doesn't have Douglas kayo losses which is a huge plus for him
Moorers loss to Tua didn't prevent him from getting in so Ruiz loss to Parker seems like a non factor though I wouldn't be shocked if Parker got in off beating Wilder
Deontay Wilder top 10 wins in my opinion : 1- Luis Ortiz x2 2- Bermane Stiverne x2 3- Derek Chisora (~43 years old but still a prestigious name in the category solid gatekeeper) 4- Chris Arreola 5- Artur Szpilka 6- Johann Duhaupas 7- Gerald Washington 8- Robert Helenius 9- Dominic Breazeale 10- Eric Molina If we want to compare the top 10 wins of Anthony Joshua for me : 1- Wladimir Klitschko (41 years old but still a legend) 2- Alexander Povetkin 3- Joseph Parker 4- Andy Ruiz Jr 5- Dillian Whyte 6- Carlos Takam 7- Kubrat Pulev 8- Charles Martin 9- Robert Helenius 10- Otto Wallin There is no way for Wilder to be ranked in history of Heavyweight champion at the same place than Joshua or above him.
It's the context of the win for me which makes it significantly better. Wilder was in his prime against Arreola but was so far past it against Chisora that he was the underdog. If Chisora had been a title defence, Wilder would have been a 1/5 favourite. Wilder also had to overcome a heavily stacked deck in terms of home and a-side advantage, and Chisora was still beating names. Not that many HW's beat Chisora as well as Wilder did, a few more (Helenius, Whyte, Parker) could have very easily lost. Arreola lost to Adamek, Stiverne x2, Kownacki and his best wins were the likes of a faded McCline, Molina and Mitchell.
If you are considered more shot and have the deck heavily stacked against you, it can be a very good win.
There are other factors to consider, such as losses and draws, KO threat. If Joshua were to lose twice to Fury say, without scoring a KD, that would be a feather in Wilder's cap. Many if not most would remember Wilder as the better heavyweight champion, especially as he had 10 defences and was the American standard bearer for a decade.
Even with that Joshua beat Joseph Parker who beat Wilder... Luis Ortiz ducked Joshua for Wilder (there is a reason...). For me Joshua can be at the end of his career considered was a top 25-30 in the heavyweight history, but not Wilder.
These are absurd comparisons. Bowe won an ATG trilogy against an ATG, had one loss against said ATG in a close fight, and on paper beat everyone else he fought, including several name HW's like Golota x2, Tubbs, Donald. Moorer is in there in part for pound for pound reasons. He was a long reigning titlist at LHW, then moved up to HW and beat an ATG in his prime years. Moorer had a HW title record of 4-2. Andy Ruiz had a title record of 1-2, upsetting a HW considered to be less formidable than Holyfield. Ruiz then turned up a stone heavier a la Buster Douglas post-Tyson and lost the rematch. His 2nd best career accomplishment was scraping past a 43+ year old Ortiz. Douglas is the only parallel and he never got in. Say they did let Ruiz in. Then they might have to add Parker, because he beat two hall of famers in Ruiz and Wilder. Byrd and Povetkin haven't got in and they deserve it more than Ruiz or Parker.
Whyte beat Parker, both in their prime, but you rate Parker above Whyte. Likewise, Wilder is above Parker, who had already been KO'd twice years prior when Parker got him. Many believe that Joshua ducked that cash-strapped unknown Cuban and that Ortiz would have beaten him. Ducking narratives are often a case of he said she said anyway. These things are subjective and in flux. If Fury schools Joshua, reevaluations are made.
Tier A Luis Ortizx2 Tier B Breazeale, Chisora, Washington, Malik Scott Tier C Duhaupus, Audley Harrison, Helenius, Liakovich, Szpilka Tier D Stivernex2, Arreola, Molina Tier E Owen Beck Tier F Ty Cobb
Bowe didn't really fight anyone outside Holyfield and was losing to Golota twice before winning via dq. So him not having other losses seems like a weak argument. Moorer held the wbo at light heavyweight which at the time wasn't considered a major title and his competition was very poor. That shouldn't effect his rating much. Douglas has kayo losses to David Bey and Mike White that have no equivalent for Ruiz so I think it's a bad comparison.
When people think of Andy Ruiz, no one thinks "Riddick Bowe" or "Michael Moorer". The comparison that was made again and again, and was even more valid after the Joshua rematch, was Buster Douglas. The 2nd closest would be Hasim Rahman. Douglas and Rahman aren't in the HoF for being one-hit wonders and Ruiz won't be either, case closed.
What an awful resume and champion Wilder was, a joke fighter really. A win for Fury that has aged like milk.