CLASSIC FIGHT NIGHT THREAD:Wilder-Fury II

What you are missing is Wilder's team do not want this fight,they have not replied to repeated initiatives from Hearn.
AJ wants to fight Wilder maybe Wilder wants to fight him but his team sure don't want it!
If they did they would put the wheels in motion and have a dialogue with Hearn but the prospect of their cash cow being beaten is scaring them stiff!

 

Saturday night was Joshua's best win and best performance to date.
He didn't look great but he isn't a great fighter. He's good.
I actually had Parker a slight favourite to win going in. I thought the bookies and fans were wrong making Joshua the strong favourite.

Joshua did the right thing coming in at 242 pounds. At 250+ he wouldn't have done so well.

It was a decent tactical fight. They both boxed well for their abilities. Joshua intelligently used his reach enough to bag the fight by a couple of rounds ahead, imo. He didn't dominate or control the fight but he did enough to win.

The hype around Joshua and his hordes of cheerleading fans and publicists have distorted things so reasonable assessments are going to be hard to come by.
He's only had 21 fights. About 17 of those wins are meaningless ones against bums, tomato cans, second raters at best. But the hype has skewed people's minds to not discriminate between good and not-good boxers. The predictions are always heavy on the "Joshua early brutal KO", even now he's actually stepped up to face decent top level boxers.

Parker boxed like I thought he might. He did okay. The dreadful referee definitely cost him some of his best chances on inside, but possibly saved him there once or twice too.

Obviously the score cards were pro-AJ biased but unfortunately that's to be expected.
I don't think Parker did enough or had enough on the night. Bad officiating probably didn't change the outcome.

As for Povetkin v Price.
Povetkin is 38 years old and looked it. I wouldn't fancy his chances against Joshua, Parker or Wilder.

David Price delivered what we've come to expect from him. I hope he got paid well. I hope he retires now because clearly the promoters and whoever's handling his affairs have no qualms about putting him in these matches where he's likely to get brutally Ko'd. His size and former status as an Olympian and prospect make him a useful body to knock over. It's gone way beyond a joke now.

 

That’s true. He could not have known but his team sure did not hesistste to make sure that fight would not come off, once that result showed up. They turned down a 5.8 (if I remember) million dollar purse, triple what he was paid for in any other fight up to that point in a matter of minutes and flew home.
They didn’t want the fight. But yes the onus is on Povetkin to know what’s in his system but to further the point from the previous post I believe the wbc banned a drug because the world anti agency did, without doing their due diligence on the drug and were basically clueless they really dropped the ball. Wilder’s team, opportunist clowns the lot of them jumped on it and kept their gravy train rolling.

 

Meh. There is a video of Wilders team trying to call Hearn and he doesn't pick up.
Could be embellished but the point is nobody knows which side is correct on this one.

Here is what we do know:
Eddie was trying to set up Whyte vs. Wilder.
Whyte vs. Wilder /= Joshua vs. Wilder.

Don't know why the rest of the boxing world is confused about this.
Eddie got too cute and opportunistic.

 

Of course AJ wants the fight. Whatever you think of his ability (he’s good) he has shown to fight top flight opposition- Wlad, Takam, Parker - is a great run. Especially for a young titlist and he’s being rewarded with mega purses and massive crowds.
I was disappointed in last fight across the board ref, judges, lack of action, but I can live with it as long as you consistently fight the best.
Wilder’s team doesn’t plain and simple. Wilder has heart in the ring but I suspect he has looked bad in sparring quite often and it reflects in the opposition level of his career so far. He has chosen the path of least resistance of all the top fighters in the division so far

 

What?
Tyson with an 80 inch reach is a completely different fighter.
You won't see the same combos, the same attacks, the same mechanics, etc.
When he twists his body with his elbows cocked, you ain't gonna see that magic no more.

You can't be certain that a much longer reach would've helped him.

But sure, let's leave that aside.

Yes, if you have a swarmer/inside fighter who is excellent at crowding you the whole fight, longer arms could easily be a liability. That extra length is doing absolutely nothing for you besides creating more friction between you and reaching your target, or maneuvering him. I don't see how longer arms would be advantageous in that scenario, do you?

 

Wilder isn't much of a cash cow.
Mathematically speaking, the sums probably favour his promoters taking the risk and putting him in with Joshua. He's 33 years old alraady. He's not a PPV mega star, still. He's in his prime and could soon be passing it. Joshua would pay him way more than he'd get in several other fights combined.

Hearn's the promoter with the cash cow and reasons to be hesistant about putting him in with a risky big puncher. I mean, in cold mathematically and business terms. Hearn has a 28 year old cash cow who had get mega paydays against anyone and still has room to improve, being on only 21 pro fights. It would make sense for Hearn and AJ and his team to wait a while for that WBC belt fight, because to them that's all Wilder offers, the last belt.

I'm not saying that's what's happening bur it makes sense.

 

Joshua makes 20 million a fight and sells out large arenas.
Wilder doesn’t.
Joshua has proven he is willing to face top competition.
Wilder mostly hasn’t.

To be honest I think Joshua deserves a soft bout before he burns out- Wlad, Takam, Parker is a tough run. Especially when he can make a TON of money fighting a local level fighter that would likely economically equal or be close to equal to that of Wilder. Say Chisora, Haye, Whyte 2.
Then fight Wilder either in fall or April/May 2019.

Wilder had no problems facing guys like Arreola, Molina, Stiverne 2- i’m Sure he’ll be fine waiting a few months they can line up Briggs for him

 

An opportunity to defeat the best man out there, and to become the lineal HW champion at the age of 28.

 

I agree Tyson with an 80 inch reach is no longer Tyson. Changes too many dynamics. Each fighter is unique and while some would do better with a longer reach some are perfectly suited for the assets they already have Tyson being one of them

 

Good post. I agree

 

Yeah, and those are all ***** made reasons not to fight the only other belt holder in the division.

I wanne see fearlessness.
Confidence in being the best in the world.
If you lose, you'll win in the rematch type mentality.

It's smart financially to freeze Wilder, or at least it may seem so...
They need to be careful if they are looking at Mayweathers career like a blueprint.
Because HW is different. There is less maneuverability in matchmaking, and your intentions become more transparent. And thus your legacy is more at risk of matchmaking blunders.

On one hand Joshua risks everything fighting Wilder.
But if he won, he would achieve astounding heights.

If he doesn't fight him, people will know that he froze out Wilder.
And it will harm his legacy forever no matter what.

It could harm his brand too.

I think his team needs to take a deep look into the history of the sport, and see where a decision like this lands them legacy wise. And then they need to ask themselves what they want.