The Saudis obviously wanted AJ vs Wilder and the December 23rd card they were both supposed to get knock overs in order to seal the fight. However wilder was given Joseph Parker, a former champion who looked improved and good under Andy Lee, whilst AJ was given Wallin who hasn’t done anything. Why did they match Wilder in the much tougher fight when we know he’s much inferior boxer to AJ. Then again, Turki says he still wants to Make AJ vs wilder. So AJ gets given Ngannou as a knock over, while Wilder has to go through Big Bang zhang. Again matching wilder in the far tougher fight. How does AJ get wallin and Ngannou while Wilder gets Parker and Zhang. Should’ve been the other way round, then we may have been seeing AJ vs wilder now. Could Wilder even beat Wallin and Ngannou?
Realistically... He's only known at all because they did such a good job with his matchmaking all the way up until Fury. Since then, he's had something to prove and taken the fights that would allow him to prove it... And he has, just not the way he wanted to. Ngannou is aggressive and hit pretty hard - he'd have pushed Wilder back and it would've been a good matchup. They're both limited in different ways, but I don't think Wilder would've got the credit he'd have wanted for beating Ngannou - just as Joshua hasn't, if we're honest. Wallins a funny one - he's pretty solid, without being anything special... He'd have had a decent chance against Wilder - decent enough that it risks a much more embarrassing loss than the Parker or Zhang losses have been.
If Wilder is not going to use his one god given weapon namely the right, then no matter what half decent heavyweight he faced at this stage of his career, he would lose or at best struggle.
He's been as protected as a fighter possibly can be. He is talked about purely because of how he was match maked.
Possibly. That said in his fights against Parker and Zhang Wilder didn’t look that motivated, so even better matchmaking would’ve just delayed the inevitable. The hunger Wilder once had for the sport is gone and I don’t see it coming back.
Exactly. They even hid him from the definitive gatekeeper of the era... Probably because there's a decent chance Chisora's pressure was something Wilder couldn't have coped with - and his power would've been enough to knock Wilder out. That would've been a fascinating fight in Wilder's prime - a 50/50 at best for Wilder, IMHO.
If the Saudis wanted to make Joshua vs Wilder then yeah, they shouldn't have given him Parker who is a stylistic nightmare for Wilder as an agile boxer good at getting on the inside. He would have had a better chance against Fat Andy Ruiz, a plodder who has lost interest in boxing after getting rich off his AJ paydays. But any motivated top 20 boxer would likely have beaten Wilder tbh. Let alone slick Joe Parker or Big Daddy Zhang who hits like a Chinese nuke
To be fair. AJ fought Wallin, as this was his fastest road to title shot. Wallin was number 2 by IBF and was schedule to face Hrgovic for the vacant title. How things changed though..... Ngannou was big pay day for AJ, nothing else. And happen only cause Ngannou did so good against Fury. Now looking back. Wilder waa described as a monster on here, that he will land always as you can't dodge that right hand for 12 rounds. And no one gave Parker even a slight chance. Let's not forget Parker was outboxed and KOed by Joyce, just a year prior to Wilder fight. After that loss, Wilder needed to be build again. And Zhang is a big, slow, static target. So Wilder should have beat him with ease, right??? Let's be real Wilder was never what he was hyped to be. Very limited, but dangerous for anyone who doesn't have a good gameplan against him. Nothing else. It's a pity though he never faces real competition earlier in hia career.
I think the issue is not just that the Saudis wanted to make it, but that Wilder had to prove he was worth the big money he'd probably have been demanding for it (given how much he'd refused when his confidence was higher - he was always going to need persuading to take that kind of punishment)... Beating Parker or Zhang would've made him worth it, and made it a proper headline fight with draw - but he wasn't nearly good enough, and now it's probably near enough impossible to make.