Is Deontay Wilder hall of fame worthy?

....yeah..BUT...his knockouts look cool! Even if they were against dishwashers and carpenters...

 

Hall of fame on the wall of shame

 

The standards for heavyweight induction, does seem to be slightly higher than other divisions. I could be wrong but I think every heavyweight of the modern era was a lineal HW champion with the possible exceptions of Jimmy Bivins and Ken Norton. Wilder had his Chance to stake that claim against Fury but failed in 3 attempts. The HOF really shouldn’t reward him with induction because his title defenses were so atrocious it would reward cherry picking and political maneuvering of a fighter. Guys like Pulev and Povetkin could have easily beaten Stiverne and easily made 10 or even more defenses against the men Wilder’s team chose to defend against. Because of that he shouldn’t be rewarded just because he had favorable connections.
Wilder didn’t face Wlad, Joshua, Usyk, Povetkin, and failed against Fury by KO twice. That type of guy shouldn’t be in the Hall. Bad precedent.

 

Wilder doesn’t come close to AJ - AJ beat Wlad, defeated top 10 ring rated men in Povetkin, Pulev and Parker. And regained the title against Ruiz after losing it. And I still believe he has work to do.
Norton and Vitali are on the weaker side of induction but Norton beat Ali and arguably won the trilogy (and took decades post retirement to get in) and Vitali came back from a career ending injury to reclaim the title and was lineal for a time. Wilder is really stretching the boundaries of who would make the Hall. Wlad will be the only fighter from his reign to make the Hall. 11 year run as champ. But now they will allow Wilder in - when he isn’t as good as Usyk, Fury or Joshua - it’s a stretch to put him I .

 

I just don't know what really separates him from Shannon Briggs tbh

 

Two can crushers. What separates them is Briggs came along when the American presence in the division was still strong. Now the division is starved of American names so there is this push to make Wilder’s accomplishments more relevant than they actually are.

 

I wouldn't, he's not close to those guys on achievements or H2H - I'd put him alongside Rahman or Tua... Capable of upsetting someone good, but never really a serious champion with a respectable resume.

He might get in through being American and having a long reign as an excuse, but he wouldn't belong there IMHO.

 

He's a 21st century Earnie Shavers but will get in on the 1st ballot because everyone that ticks the right boxes gets in nowadays.

 

Compare Wilder to someone like Chris Byrd and Wilder’s inclusion to the hall of fame is even more insulting. Wilder had every advantage in height and reach and still managed to swerve top competition to milk a worthless belt. While a blown middleweight like Byrd had the stomach to face Wlad twice, Vitali, Ibeabuchi and Tua. Not to mention Holyfield. And he muscled out some good wins. And he won’t get a whiff at the HOF. Wilder is a firm No

 

No chance is he a HOF’er. But great run of KO’s and won everyone’s respect by showing some unbelievable heart against Fury. Guy won’t ever give up! Kudos for that. But he’s never beaten anyone worthy.