Do you think Wilder’s team maximized his earning potential to the best of their abilities?

You'll disagree but I think Wilder in his prime had a chance to beat AJ, if he could prove he almost beat Fury on two occasions even if he lost both fights. AJ would have outboxed Wilder, probably knocked him out but I'm confident enough that Wilder would have hurt AJ at least.

I'm saying - I don't think AJ beating Wilder was a sure thing, although I'd have backed AJ to beat Wilder looking back.

 

You're right, up to a point.

A very small chance? Yes, punchers chance tops.

Failing to beat Fury in poor condition twice suggests it's unlikely, but not impossible.

It depends if he'd managed to hit him, and how AJ fought...

But realistically it should've been a demolition job a lot more like Fury-Wilder 2 - Joshua wouldn't have been as aggressive, but hits FAR harder so would still have been very likely to stop Wilder.

Very little in boxing is ever a completely sure thing... But when it comes to 'levels' kind of fights, you can be pretty confident - and hindsight makes it even more obvious in this case as you say.

 

Those are fair points, I can't really disagree with that. It is HW boxing and anything can happen still with AJ against Ruiz for example, but it only makes sense to back the more proven fighter.

What would it take for Wilder to gain your respect? Beat Usyk? Beat AJ?

 

At this point?
Realistically not going to happen - he's too old and isn't going to fight often enough (alongside not being good enough)...
He's not beating Usyk, he's still not beating Joshua, he's not beating Kabayel, Wardley, Parker or Dubois - beat a few of these and I'd have to think about it, but he realistically isn't going to.

He wasted his prime hiding from challenges and proved relatively little (at least compared with his hype).
He should be serving as a lesson (along with the likes of tank) to up and coming fighters that if you waste your career hiding from challenges, your reputation will deservedly match and you'll be a joke and an example of how not to be taken seriously when the hype dies down... Unfortunately there are too many people who still believe the nonsense that that isn't the case.

 

Without a doubt. For an individual with as little as possible skill set to be able to be on the pedestal that he was put on for so long during his career, his team did a hell of a job maximizing his earnings and marketing.

Knowing a little bit of his story with him being family man and taking care of his sick daughter, he's worthy of my respect, but as an actual boxer, I couldn't stand to watch him. Knockouts are highlights, but he had zero form or strategy throwing that right hand. It was one of those things that simply saved him while he was getting badly out boxed by even C level opponents.

 

Wilder has always boxed beyond his capabilities and I wish him all the best.

 

Idk, in their primes I make it basically 50/50, it was a case of whoever hurt the other first.

(Obviously if they fought now Joshua would batter Wilder.)

 

I think he had plenty of boxing talent, medaled in the Olympics and became a world champion, had a trilogy with one of the very best of his generation…

Among heavyweight boxers, he has achieved more than countless fighters hope to, as an amateur as well as a professional.

With all that said, given his late start, I’d hardly say he lacked talent… Actually, you almost have to admit he is absurdly talented..

As far as your main question goes, it’s hard to say. I think he could have beat AJ when they were both at the top of their game, and that probably would have been his biggest pay day had it happened…. But he fought Fury 3x, would that have still happened even if he fought and beat AJ? Would the amount of money for an AJ fight at the right time been enough to off-set 1-3 bouts with Fury?