Talking about Wilder as a "hype job" after Fury I and especially Fury II is kind of.........weird. Before that i'd see the point but now? No. There is zero hype right now.
I've always thought Wilder was overrated and a poor boxer who would have gotten beat by any decent puncher with World class boxing skills and a decent chin. I've always fancied Parker, Ruiz, Usyk, Povetkin, AJ and a fit Fury to beat him and the likes of Whyte, Rivas and even motivated Chisora to give him absolute hell. His best win is Ortiz and Ortiz's best win is Jennings..... Says it all really.
This. Wilder is not going to improve from this point onwards, especially given his ego which was on display with the encyclopedic list of ridiculous excuses post Fury 2 fight. He's also extremely injury prone apparently (or more excuses?) with a history of hand and arm injuries. If he continues, it won't be long before the likes of Hrgovic, Joyce, DDD and other up and comers are favoured against him.
I think Rivas would give Wilder plenty of problems, an absolute tank of a man who could likely rag doll Wilder in the clinches, with a stout chin and decent power. Prior to fighting Stiverne, Wilder was fighting Jason Gavern FFS! Rivas has a as good a best win as the 'Boogeyman' of the Heavyweight division, Luis Ortizn't in Bryant Jennings and put in a decent showing against Whyte. I'd also fancy Michael Hunter against Wilder at this time; younger, more ambitious, will fight anyone, High work rate and decent chin; another one I think would be all wrong for Wilder, Christ, Wilder hasn't even proven himself the US of A's best Heavyweight during his career of smoke and mirrors.
After some thought....Yes, Deontay is a product of hype. And to be honest, he SHOULD be hyped. He just never really advanced to the next level. Here's a guy US boxing has been wanting foe ages. A big, hard hitting HW. He's charismatic (Although mostly cringey), and a decent looking fella. DW SHOULD have been a household names ages ago though. He SHOULD have taken US boxing by storm. He SHOULD have had sports endorsements. He SHOULD have been in commercials selling and increasing his brand. he SHOULD have been the American HW PPV star we haven't had in a long while. So why wasn't he? Was it the rumors of him getting clocked cold in sparring? Did his manager or promoters know something most of us didn't? There was no real reason this guy should have the garbage resume he had. Unless his team didn't have faith in him.
It was only casuals and kids who believed in the Wilder hype. I don't recall anyone who had knowledge of the sport ever rate him highly. He is just a one trick pony; neutralize his straight right and he's done. Fury showed the world the blueprint to beating him and it's something that others can repeat. Everything about Wilder was manufactured. Knocking out cans to a high KO percentage deep into his career while never facing the best in the division. He wanted to fight Fury via ducking Joshua when he thought he had no chance of losing and look what happened ... LOL
Yes, Wilder is a **** boxer with nothing but heart and a punch. His first six title defences were ****ing jokes. The next two were Ortiz and Fury, Ortiz being even more unproven than Wilder and an ancient specimen who's only special in the minds of The Tuscaloser's fanboys, and Fury beat him clear as day. Breazeale is an ass win, don't even bother trying to paint him as something special. I remember seeing that it was a good win because he was top twenty in the world. Being top twenty is only impressive for wilder, compared to the standards of the shite he was facing before. Then a completely needless win over Ortiz in the rematch, in a fight in which scientists will research the progress from geriatric to corpse. Then Fury slapped seven shiny shades of **** outta him. A win which is way overrated. He is quite talented, so hypejob may seem a little harsh, but in terms of being way overhyped, not having a third of talented needed to do what he was expected to and being extremely carefully managed and protected, hypejob is the perfect term.
