Which 80s Heavyweight s Do You Make Wilder Favourite Over?

Lost Wilder in the 1980s
Judging by how many and what punches it took Tyson to finish Pinklon Thomas - Wilder loses to Thomas.
Loses to Tucker. Loses to Witherspoon. Tyson and Holmes have already been mentioned. Loses to Spinks in 1985/86.
Wilder defeats Berbick.

 

Beats Thomas bc he was easy to hit.

Beats Tucker bc he was passive.

Beats Witherspoon bc his defense and conditioning weren’t that great.

He’d be favored over almost all except the big two and that’s why his career was better than the others.

 

I don't agree.

Wilder may of been more consistent in regards to not having problems outside the ring and keeping his weight in check.

But it doesn't necessarily mean he wins every mythical H2H match up with each fighters at their best.

I'd also argue Witherspoon has a considerably better resume than Wilder regardless of being a longer belt holder.

 

With a guy like Wilder (and there really haven't been many, if any, like him), he only needed to win ten seconds of a fight, with the crucial action taking a fraction of a second. How do you predict that he can or can not do that? I give him a chance against anyone. As far as odds... I'd favor him over Coetzee, Dokes, Tubbs, Berbick...

 

I feel like people go off memory and don’t watch their fights. Both Witherspoon and Thomas were pretty sloppy and easy to hit at their peaks.

 

I’m not saying Wilder gets ten defenses in if he has to fight every B tier 80s guy, but I’d make him the favorite over all

These are his advantages:
1. Right hand power
2. Reach
3. Conditioning
4. Heart and self belief
5. Handspeed over almost all except a short list including Dokes and Tubbs
6. Faster feet and better at punching from angles than most


also Thomas looked like a harder puncher than Witherspoon in their fight.

 

I usually favor the better boxers in these fantasy matchups, just off the top of my head I would say every serious Contender from the 80s was a better boxer than Wilder.

 

That's the thing, isn't it? And very few of those 80s guys were known for consistency. In fact, they were known for sloppy, passive efforts nd not being all that devoted to their trade. Wilder, at least, came prepared to fight. he lost to Fury but not because he wasn't in shape or because he quit.
Dokes, Douglas, almost all those guys had the skills to demolish Wilder; they were better schooled guys that had been fighting since they were kids. But would they? they were equally capable of showing up out of shape and just going through the motions.
i don't see him beating tyson or Holmes and, on a good day, Witherspoon would stop him.

 

I think Witherspoon was on a good day when he lost to Thomas and he got hit a lot in that fight; Thomas had fewer am credentials than Wilder. Bonecrusher also knocked Witherspoon out while having a very minimal skill set.

 

"Where's the technique"
Shannon "Lets go champ" Briggs

 

I couldn't 'favor' Wilder over any of the top 80s guys. Any success there would be his best win.
In other words, we'd be asking him to do better than he has managed in his own era.