How do you feel about this? Was Wilder an overachiever who managed to get as far as he did through careful matchmaking and hard work, or did he waste his time fighting low level opposition for so long that he missed opportunities that would have improve as a fighter? Was Wilder just never going to develop as a fighter due to inherent limitations or was he never allowed to develop properly because his handlers had such little faith in him?
Commercially, I think Wilder maxed out his potential. From a talent perspective, absolutely not. He could have been a much better boxer if he simply worked on his craft. However, he got seduced by his own power and stagnated as a boxer. Commercially, he hit the jackpot though. Tell me which other boxer with his limited skillset managed to earn 50+ million dollars in a career.
Wilder is almost 35 years old. For us to be still talking about his "potential" should tell you all you need to know about him. He fought bums for years and never tried to unify, no matter how much money was offered. He avoided all the best heavyweights of the last 10 years and he still is. At a certain point, you have to call him for what he is. He is a decent fighter who never truly tested himself because deep down, he knew he would lose to the best.
A very limited and predictable fighter who over achieved due to his promoters arranging cherry picked soft touch opponents that suited Wilder's style. Wilder was ultimately undone by a cherry pick that went wrong in Fury. Wilder's management were mistakenly confident for Wilder to beat a fighter who who came out of retirement, was out of shape, looked poor against Pianetta, a featherfisted fighter who had a history of being dropped and hurt by likes of Cunningham, Pjakic and Flirtha. Can see why Wilders management were so strongly against for him to fight the likes of AJ, Whyte and Chisora.
With his number of title defences he sits in the ‘overachiever’ camp for me. Especially with the talk of him being number 1 in the division from certain sections of the boxing community. His reputation simply does not match his CV.
He performed about 500% above and beyond his potential. His objective potential was to be a C level bum like Julius Long or Audley Harrison. With lots of luck he did 5x better than them.
I say Wilder maxed his potential. The guy man 42 fights, which in reality is pretty impressive regardless who he fought. Did he fight a bunch of nobodies, yes. He won a version of the title, defended it several times, against some suspect challengers. But in certain defenses he was surprisingly tested by Molina and Duhaupus, but did come thru with the win. He rallied twice against Ortiz. He has uncanny punching power, coming from all angles. I don't feel that Wilder would ever be a smooth boxer. He doesn't have the legs for it. To me, he made the most out of what he had to work with. Oh, one last thing. I rooted against him in every single fight. But I have to give the man his props.
Definitely an overachiever. Limited boxing skills, massive power, he’s made a ton of money, belts, etc. I can’t see anyone really believing he’s squandered his talent. If Fury didn’t derail this guy, he’d still be fighting B and C level opponents and knocking them out. Give the man credit, he made the most of his limited skills and is still doing it. Always comes into a fight in great shape, fights hard and has heart. Wilder never gives up and is usually very dangerous until the final bell. Regardless of how his career goes from this day forward, you have to respect what he’s accomplished.
He's athletic and pretty fast (especially on the straight right), but his coordination and legs aren't really that great. I think he could have improved technically and in terms of technique, however. Could've been a better jabber too with his length and height.
He more or less maxed out. Poor CV bolstered by highlight reel knockouts, and only agreed to Fury fight because Fury was a washed up 400 pound basket case only 12 months earlier.
has a right hand. that is it. will to win....was patient. just never learned the craft. big mistake. got to have more than one thing. punchers tend to fall in love with their power. careful management....earned a load of cash. there is a lot more to boxing/fighting than one technique. usually catches up with a fighter in the long run. don't know what is ahead. covid 19 may eat up a lot of the clock. he is not getting younger. yes he can stick around...maybe/probably win a belt. if too much time goes by...with all the dough...something can be said for riding off into the sunset. doubt he will do that. just don't know.
On the surface he looks like an overachiever but if he had trained and refined his craft along with his natural gifts he would have been scary
Wilder overachieved in terms of his length of reign with that belt Only because the WBC propped him up. His resume is pretty ****, His wins over Grandpa Ortiz was his max and will remain so. I'd still like to see if he could handle someone like Whyte after fury smashes him again. His knockouts over Ortiz and the way he caught Spzilka were still pretty damn good. Given anyone who stands in front of Wilder and doesn't move their feet often is at great risk, That's 98% of the division. It would be a shame if he retired off this next Fury fight...because he would forever be questioned. I think people will always give him props for being a hard hitter and explosive but his caliber of opposition and how good a champion he really was would be put under fire every time his name is brought up if he can't get some more decent names under his belt. To be brutally honest Wilder and AJ are home coddled amateurs who have had the same coaches their entire careers in comparison to Fury who is a total veteran who is 5 levels above them both. You have to recognize if future ATG top 10 Fury wasn't here we'd still have Wlad fighting!!! and AJ and Wilder would be in their cotton wool still. Fury is going around stealing their cotton wool and putting them to sleep. My eye is on the next generation now because before you know it Wilder and AJ will retire. Fury will probably keep fighting forever because he loves it. Even if that means taking losses to younger talent and dropping down the rankings when he is 50.
He went farther than any of us would have predicted about 6-7 years ago. Overachiever given his skill set for sure.
Wilder showed massive potential in the first stiverne fight, unfortunately for him it was a one night only performance.
