Bermane Stiverne vs. Deontay Wilder speculation & discussion

This does happen, it is true, and it does give me pause. As a boxing of nearly 35 years, I certainly know that anything can happen in this sport, and upsets do certainly occur.

However, Wilder's opposition has been so bad, it's really hard to see him winning this. I mean, the guys he's "stepped up" to fight - Harrison, washed up Lyakhovich and Scott - are guys that a green George Foreman or Mike Tyson would have disposed of in the first year or two of their careers. And Wilder didn't face this level of comp until his SIXTH year as a pro.

Now, he's jumping from this level of competition to a top contender, without ever having faced a gatekeeper-level opponent, not even one of them. It seems like far too big a leap, particularly given the mandibular vulnerability he's shown in several fights.

 

I don't really think you can compare Beterbiev with Wilder, when you watch them fight, it's clear that Beterbiev knows how to box, he's also fought just 7 times, compared to Deontay's 32. You might expect that within his first 10 fights, he would fight poor competition, but he's still demolished a once highly thought of Cloud.

I honestly have played this fight out and I don't see how Wilder can win, you actually believe that Wilder could win a decision? A lopsided decision??? When has he shown that he fight from the outside and control his opponent over 12 full rounds?

he's never fought more than 4!

I know people want Wilder to win, they desperately want that "next great american heavyweight" but Wilder isn't him. The people who think he has a chance in this fight have definitely drank the kool aid.

Stiverne by the 4th, 6th at the latest.

I'm gonna guess it comes via a counter right as Wilder flies in wildly.

This is my first post, long time lurker!

Should be a fun weekend!

 

Stiverne is the most boring interviewee I have ever listened to. Based on that alone, I want Wilder to win this fight.

 

I honestly find his "boring" personality refreshing in a world of Broner's, Mayweather's, and Wilder's

 

It's definitely a leap in competition, but style-wise I think this fight will be just as easy as the others. I think Wilder's team see that Stiverne has no mobility whatsoever and jumped at the opportunity to put Wilder in there with an opponent who has no chance to land any punches back on Wilder.

Wilder's mandibular frailty is certainly a fact to consider, and if he were in there with a guy like David Haye, Tyson Fury, or Vladimir Klitschko, I'd pick any of them to actually land a good punch on Wilder and beat him. But Stiverne won't be able to get in and land a punch.

 

If Zakman is right, and Wilder does get brutally knocked out, he's going to be insufferable with the smug "I told you so" posts.

 

I miss eltirado

 

Sometimes a fighter who we all expect to get a quick KO instead goes in there and wins a boring decision. This can be for different reasons.

The fighter might realize that he has a big reach (or simply length) andvantage, and decides to play it safe and win on points (see Froch vs Abraham).

Or the fighter might want to show the fans that he has capabilities that they didn't expect him to have. See Fury vs Chisora 2.

Or it could be that the fighter goes in there with every intention of getting a quick KO, but the opponent clams up and just plays defense the whole time, trying to just go the distance and forgetting about actually trying to win the fight. See Pacquiao vs Clottey and Tyson vs Smith.

Anyway, yes, Wilder is untested, and yes, his handlers have kept him away from tough contenders, but sometimes you can look at a fighter in his early fights against cab drivers and realize that he has the talent to go far. Just like back in the day, some people looked at a very young Mike Tyson in his first few fights and predicted he would become champion. They saw the talent before he actually put it on display against A-level opposition (or even B-level).

Before the Super 6 tournament started, I picked Andre Ward to win it and retire undefeated. I just saw his talent and his intelligence (in and out of the ring) and made that prediction. It's easy to predict that Vlad will win his next fight, but a difficult prediction would have been to say 18 years ago that one day Vlad would become champion.

 

I agree on Floyd and Broner, but Wilder is a genuinely good person. He might be a bit rude at times, but it's nothing offensive and he contributes to making the HW division interesting.

Speaking of which, now that Haye is coming back and Briggs is stalking Vlad, we have a pretty interesting division along with Wilder and Fury. If only these guys would fight each other....

 

It won't be so much about Wilder as his "abominable" Chin...:!:

 

fair enough, I just don't see Wilder coming in to the ring with that Mentality, or he may come in with that mentality, but it'll leave him very quickly. I would say that comes down to inexperience and never being put in with someone like Bermane.

Once the bell rings, he'll start windmilling as per usual.

BTW, I agree with you that sometimes things happen that we wouldn't have predicted, that's the beauty of sport. I just don't see that sort of thing happening on Sat. night.

 

As he should be. We have tried to explain the importance of Chin on here many times and some just don't want to believe it.

A Chin is THE single most important attribute a fighter can have. Having a Chin matters. If you don't believe me go ask David Price, Amir Khan, or Seth Mitchell. They will tell you.

 

I don't, personality sells. Just ask Tyson. For the diehard fan, they can almost care less about the fighters personality. As long as he can entertain you in the ring. The average sports fan, want's to see the fighters talk **** and fight at the press confrence. That's what's called selling a fight.

In the US the average sports fan has no clue who the heavyweight champ of the world is, and Wlad's been champ for almost 9 years. He has no clue on how to sell a fight, which is partially why he's never on PPV and barely on HBO.

 

On the plus side, I'll probably be able to go to bed close to my normal time on Saturday, since the main even will be so short.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Wilder-Stiverne ended in Round 1.

 

Ultimately, the difference in our assessments rests on an estimation of Stiverne and Wilder's relative abilities. I think Wilder is such a fraud, SO pathetic in terms of his abilities that he simply won't be competitive, despite whatever physical advantages he may have.

Whatever advantage in speed he may SEEM to have over Stiverne is a product of the lack of competition he's faced. It's easy to overwhelm opponents when they are completely overmatched. It's easy to throw punches fast and hard when the opponent has virtually no chance of harming you.

And don't forget also that Wilder has hit the deck against both Dustin Nichols and Harold Sconiers, both of whom had significant physical disadvantages, far more so than Stiverne faces.