CORRECTION: America needs him to deliver. the Europeans actually like watching the Klitschkos. i don't know why, but they do. also, Wilder isn't skilled in the slightest. you must be watching another fighter. and no, he isn't going far. he'll be taken out pretty soon.
he has a real chance to do that, but he's such a mental midget he lets himself down all the time. if he holds himself together at the weekend, don't be surprised to see him blow Wider away. but i think the same old Harrison is going to show up i'm afraid.
Boxing wasn't booming in the 90's. Boxing was in phase 1 of its decline which is why guys like George Foreman even dared coming back. HW Boxing is the only area that is hurting due to any kid that shows an ounce of talent going into US football and to a lesser extent basketball. You can find evidence to this as US Boxers are still competitive to dominant right up until weight classes where guys would actually have the size to compete in organized sports, i.e., 154-168. Every 5'7" father is swearing that his son will be a 6'2" linebacker and every single mother ain't letting her son get hit. This refocus of sporting culture led to a massive decline in Boxing gyms which made even kids who were only talented in Boxing specific areas to not be able to get into Boxing. US HW Boxing needs this win, but any real fix is 15 to 20 years out for US Boxing over 168. To show where Boxing stands in the US, you can't even get Boxing boots(shoes) from major retailers. Boxing is the US is just no longer a mainstream sport.
Not skilled? I guess that is why he won a bronze Olympic medal and spars with the Klitschkos? YDKSAB. Wilder is raw. No more. No less. He has improved greatly. This fight is a huge step up. Good for him.
His Bronze was for winning one fight. His first fight he won on count backs after being tied against some crappy Algerian fighter. Then Russo dominated him like 8-1. Probably the most undrserved medal in the history of Olympic boxing. But he fits the profile so now boxing "needs" him to dominate. At least according to the ***** TS alt.
If the kid couldn't fight he wouldn't be tied nor would he have even survived against the Russian. Don't get me wrong here. I am not saying the kid is a world beater. I am just saying he is a work in progress. What "profile"? US HW Boxing is dead. The K brothers can't sell/generate a mega fight to save their lives.
Which skilled and highly rated amature American Heavyweights in the past decade have decided to go into the NFL or NBA instead of going professional in boxing? Provide me with a list. I wont believe this "all talented American Heavweight boxers are in football and basketball instead" malarkey until I am presented with some proof instead of just a **** and bull theory which excuses current inadequecies in that weight division and which I have yet to see evidence for.
It's still a **** and bull theory. I mean, in Europe football/soccer is the big spender, and players at the highest level get ridiculous wages for what they do so its obviously a more attractive prospect than boxing, but Europe is currently ruling the heavyweight scene and I dont remember there being excuses made back when Europe wasn't dominating based upon people going into other sports. People have always gone into other sports. It's no different now than what it was a decade ago or two decades ago. It cannot be proven that the top talent go elsewhere simply because American heavyweight boxing is in a slump. If Wilder and Jennings and whoever else went on to dominate the sport for the next decade we'd hear nothing of this lame excuse, it is a red herring used to excuse current inadequecies in the American heavyweight scene and nothing more. I dont believe it, and I wont believe it until I am shown a list of all the top American amature heavyweight who chose a carrer in a different sport instead of turning pro in boxing.
if he could fight, his promotional company (which by the way is 1 of the 2 biggest in the business) wouldnt hide him for the last 4 years on solo boxeo off tv under card bouts in front of 400 people. the u.s. hasnt had a medalist from the olympics at heavyweight since 1988 and the guy hasnt been featured on a major ppv undercard at least? amazing....great job of "promoting" GOLDEN BOY
Yeah, you're making sense right there! The guy won a bronze medal, is 27-0 with 27 KO's, works his ass off in the gym and improves with every fight, was hired by David Haye, Audley Harrison, and Wlad Klitschko as a sparring partner, and has been tagged by Paulie Malignaggi, Chris Witherspoon, and the late Manny Steward to likely be the next HW champ of the world. And he can't even fight! He has no skills at all! Yep. Please, Iceman, tell me more stuff about baxin'. I need to learn!