Quotes about Wilder from prominent trainers and sparring partners

Preamble

I haven't included quotes from Wilder's former opponents as they are often unreliable; they have an incentive either to big up their opponent or talk him down depending on what makes them look better. I also haven't included quotes from Wilder's long-time trainers or close friends (Deas, Breland, Scott, Towers) as they are not reliable for obvious reasons. Even so, some of those I've quoted are surely not completely reliable but they are not especially close friends with Wilder to my knowledge and what they say here sounds reasonable to me. W. Klitschko has a known bias in favour of Joshua, so his comments regarding Wilder's abilities are especially interesting.

Quotes

“There’s one kid in America that no one speaks of and that’s Deontay Wilder. He was on the Olympic team, big kid, and I have had the fortune of training with him. He is a big kid, he’s bigger than Wladimir too. But he’s got good speed and power and I think the best talent is still going to be Tyson and Deontay Wilder.” - Emmanuel Steward, 2012

“Wilder is the hardest puncher I’ve ever been in with (including Lewis and W. Klitschko).” - Jameel McCline, 2013

“We had good sparring sessions. Wilder is a very hard and strong fighter. I can’t say that there is a big difference (between Wlad’s power and Wilder’s power) but I think that Wilder’s punches are harder. Wilder is the hardest worker I've been in with. In addition he has dangerous angles to his attacks that are difficult to understand. If Klitschko has a classic technique, then Wilder is very unusual and his attacks are very difficult to defend against. If you look from the outside, the movements seem clumsy, but in the ring they work in a very efficient manner." - Murat Gassiev, 2016

“People don’t really know this but Deontay is only wild when he has you hurt. If you look at him properly, like when I’ve sparred with him and stuff, he’s focused on technique and boxing, using his feet and being more lateral. When he hurts you, that’s when he’s wild and swinging, going crazy. But he’s actually a good boxer and he’s a lot faster than people think.” - Isaac Chamberlain, 2017

“It would be a dangerous fight for Joshua. I’m not saying he wouldn’t win it but Wilder has something. Due to his weight, he is extremely fast. He has good power in his hands and he’s extremely fast. Maybe he’s kind of wild in his technique but those punches are coming from who knows where. He is hard to defend against: where is that punch going to land and which side is it coming from? Joshua has all-around more capability but Wilder is taller than Joshua and is faster than Joshua. He doesn’t have the weight behind his punches but he is extremely fast, and it would depend upon what kind of mood both fighters were in.” - W. Klitschko, 2018

“Wilder’s knocks him (Joshua) out cold, bad. Joshua could box for 5 or 6 rounds and that one punch knocks him out.” - Robert Garcia, 2019

“One thing also no-one really mentions is Deontay Wilder’s punch resistance. He can take a shot. I was giving him some digs; I’ve buzzed him a bit and he’s been back wanting more. Not only is it a good chin, his recovery power is great, most people you hit them with one shot their legs go a little bit and they’re not quite the same. He’s straight back on it.” - David Haye, 2020

“He (Ruiz) doesn’t want to face Wilder, he’ll be flat on his back and be hurt. He’ll be sleeping.” - Abel Sanchez, 2021

 

Deontay Wilder was grown in a lab to make boxing pundits look stupid. He’s a min-maxed Fight Night Champion character who spent his EXP points exclusively on the "Straight Right.”

The man’s style is drowning in red flags and yet he just hits so goddamn hard that it doesn’t even matter. Tyson Fury spent 30+ minutes boxing his ears off in their first fight and two right hands nearly undid all of it.

Fury established the blueprint to beat Wilder with boxing in their second fight. Fury also set the blueprint on how to use weight and wrestling tactics to beat Wilder in the third.

Wilder is no longer the fighter those people made quotes about. That Wilder died under the weight of his own ego. The same way "Iron" Mile Tyson was never the same after Douglas.

"To see a man beaten not by a better opponent but by himself is a tragedy." -Cus D'Amato.

 

He would have K.O'd a lot of so called ATG heavyweights from the past

 

On my way to rewatch the Szpilka fight and witness the greatness.

 

Dangerous for anyone to fight. Poor management got in the way as well as well as a shallow HW division.

The heavyweights in general (generationally) are kind of hit and miss division-wise.

 

"Big dosser" - Tyson Fury

Wilder has a magic trick which is his laser right hand, if that gap opens up and he hits that timing window it cannot be avoided and it will hurt you to your boots, no matter who you are.

I think his defensive is deceptive also. Sure he leans back way too much using his height but he does tend to position fairly well. It wasn't easy peasy for Fury to get on top of him.

Also turns out that stiff unbalanced look he has when hurt or tired is something he can fight like for round after round. I always wondered why nobody jumped on him and dropped him when he stiffens up after taking a good blow, turns out he has a weird ability to stay upright. Scientifically the only plausible reason for it is he has giant set of balls or 3rd leg that lowers his centre of mass significantly.

 

Based on the Eric Molina fight ?

 

I never understood the hate for Wilder, he’s always in fun fights and dropped or KO’d all of his opponents, what more can you ask for? Fury (that everyone thinks is the best) went through hell to beat Wilder, he went down numerous of times and nearly got stopped himself.

I hope Wilder comes back.

 

Would have been good to see all the positives from those quotes tested against top 10 opposition.
Povetkin, even Pulev ... etc. as well as the leading HWs (outside of Fury) like Joshua.

Bottom line is his best wins are past prime Ortiz, Stiverne 1 and a draw with an out of shape Fury.
The comments reflect that perhaps he had the potential to leave boxing with a better legacy.

 

Wilder is proof that all you need to get an alphabet title in the heavyweight division is power and chin.

 

Beat up a woman in Las Vegas. He was held at Clark County Detention Center on charges of domestic battery by strangulation. The woman had swollen eyebrows, a broken nose, a cut lip, and red marks on her neck, according to officers. She was taken to University Medical Center of Southern Nevada and treated for her injuries.

Dismissed after being settled out of court.

Talks about wanting to kill a man in the ring. Says costume weighed too much. Says trainer drugged him. Says Fury cheated. Says Fury cheated by scratching flesh out of his ears. Says Fury had metal in his gloves.

Zero sportsmanship or self awareness.

If you can look past these things, great. Many can't.

 

Interesting to see that Robert Garcia quote about Wilder and Joshua, with Garcia now training Joshua.

 

He parleyed all of this into career big wins over Stiverne and Ortiz, and a dodgy draw with Fury.

 

A lot of people on this forum and elsewhere were absolutely drooling with hatred for him before any of that happened. So for whatever reason it’s deeper than that.

And you could make a similar list about Tyson — the assault on a woman that landed him in prison, long count excuse against Douglas, I’ll eat your children, I want to drive his nose bone into his brain and kill him, bit Evander, attacked and bit Lennox at a press conference, drug issues … and some people who hate Wilder act like Mike was Baby Jesus.

Go figure.

 

I don’t condole any violence against women and not sure about the back story but wasn’t she trying to rob him?

So you got hung up on “zero sportsmanship or self awareness” and excuses?! Are Wilder the only professional athlete you ever watched?!! If you set the bar that high I hope you stopped watching professional sports because you’ll continue to be disappointed.