I don't think even a prime Pinklon Thomas would be able to keep Deontay Wilder from landing with his power shots. Pinklon would probably win most of the rounds with his jab and straight punching but eventually Wilder would catch up to him with his power shots and land a few shots which would finish the fight.
Pinklon had an amazing jab and a very underrated chin. This is his edge. Tyson in his prime landed bomb after bomb on Thomas in the first round and he didn’t go down. To finally put Thomas on the canvas took thirteen power shots from Tyson in the sixth. That being said Wilder’s has the greatest one and done punch in the business, plus a six inch reach advantage. This is his edge. So the question becomes: CAN PINKLON THOMAS AVOID WILDERS RIGHT HAND FOR TWELEVE ROUNDS? No. Drug use off and on from his teens did too much harm to Thomas to maintain dancing and he eventually gets dropped. Wilder in ten rounds. KO.
Yes however as I stated in my post his drug use in his teens already did the damage to his body. An excerpt from Pinklon Thomas himself speaking to the ring magazine: “I chose to go to the projects, I wasn’t from the projects, I chose the lifestyle,” Thomas told The Ring. “I was an athlete in elementary school. By the time I was in seventh grade I was shooting heroin. I got caught up early. I was hanging out with older guys because I was bigger than guys I went to school with.” Full article: https://www.ringtv.com/553631-best-i-faced-pinklon-thomas/ Thomas first tried heroin when he was 12 years old and had a $150 a day habit by the time he was 14. He was kicked out of school at 15. Studies have shown deterioration of the brain’s white matter due to heroin use, which affects decision-making abilities, the ability to regulate behavior, and responses to stressful situations. Yes he may have been clean while boxing, but when you are boxing the distance against Wilder every advantage helps and every disadvantage counts.
Totally speculative to think heroin earlier in life stopped him from being Ali or something. I don't buy it at all. You want to know what else deteriorates white matter? Boxing.
Didn’t say it stopped him from being Ali, you are making a strawman argument. I said it would inhibit his ability to dance and avoid Wilders right hand. To your other point, yes boxing does destroy a lot of cognitive ability, combine that with his heroin use and I just don’t see him avoiding that right hand for thirty six minutes. Prolonged Heroin use will damage any athlete. That is not speculative.
