got badly hurt and knocked down by a guy audley harrison knocked out Derric Rossy i really dont get how he was even rated he lost to king and nearly beaten by a shot Ray Austin
Stiverne is a top fighter. He just doesn't have the weapons to beat a Wilder/Klitschko type of giant who can control the distance. Kind of like Pulev (who is also a great fighter himself) Put Stiverne in with anyone in the top10-20 similar to his height/reach, someone he can find the opportunities to set traps and counter punch, i.e. Takam, Povetkin, Pulev, Teper, Chisora, Chagaev, and win or lose he will deliver a good fight.
With the right management and the right promotion team even average fighters can go a long way. Stiverne is decent enough, though, I think, particularly given the era.
I don't think he's as bad as his last fight suggested, he was in horrible shape for that fight. He has decent hand speed, good fundamentals, a solid jab, good power and is a decent counter puncher. But he is immobile and struggles with movement as shown in the fights with Wilder and Austin and he clearly lacks discipline, not as bad as Arreola in that regard but he's always carrying too much weight. He got his ranking by fighting for the meaningless WBC silver belt, earned a mandatory and won a title. Winning a title usually sees a fighter ranked in the top 10 automatically but clearly the further devaluation of titles with silver belts, regular belts, interim champions etc has seen that to be no longer a true reflection of a fighters ability.
