Is Wilder actually that athletic?

he has a high vertical leap, one of the most common tests for athletic ability, especially in the nba and nfl... he was dunking the ball like a pro according to CHEF... and obviously his power is natural, athletic gift, considering how sloppy is his technique...

has a glass chin though

 

He has pencil legs and neck, too. Doesn't look athletic at all, just skinny.

 

Yeap, he has twigs for legs. They are a bazillion forwards in the NBA that would break him down in all around metrics.

 

Most of the things you've criticised him for have nothing to do with natural athleticism.

Poor punching form is a technical flaw not a physical one.

His lack of significant improvement due to failing to pick up or add new skills is once again not a physical flaw but an intellectual one.

Wilder is clearly fast, powerful and quite agile. He's more naturally gifted than anyone he has fought so far, it's why he's remained undefeated. It clearly isn't down to technical skill or ring smarts that has allowed him to do that.

When he does eventually face someone with more than just a little talent along with some skill he'll likely be in trouble.

 

If boxing was ever to introduce basketball dunking between rounds then I guess it would be a useful skill.

Having terrible footwork, pencil thin legs and pencil thin neck are all proven to make you easy to catch and hurt at HW, leading to you being bounced off the canvas like a basket ball. So I guess basketball also comes in handy there too.

 

Headvetkin is more athletic than Wilder.

 

He's athletic but also very uncoordinated for a top fighter.

 

If he is genuinely atheletic and an all rounder athlete, his footwork would also be good?

Good hand eye coordination and footwork are the basic building blocks of being an all round athlete. Look back in the day at all of the sportsman you know who are top football players and cricket players or top boxers and footballers. Thats an all round athlete.

He is only 50% of the athlete that you refer to- the hand eye coordination part. Footwork in boxing is really really important and his lack of footwork is the reason why he has completely avoided any of the other top fighers. He would be really easy to counter and be cornered by a decent HW with his atrocious footwork

 

No

 

He is not an elite level athlete. He has some natural athletic ability. However his coordination is poor.
Most of his wins are do to his height and reach. If you ever been in the ring it's a huge obstacle if someone has a great height and reach advantage. Plus for the most part how many good 6'7 fighters are out there for his opponents to be able to spar with to prepare for him. Not many.
He doesn't face athletes for a reason. Arreola, Molina, Szpilka, Wawrczyk, Duhaupas and all the others are chosen for a reason. And you can blame Povetkin if you want to I don't want go down that rabbit hole, but always felt that fight would never happen. If it did Povetkin, who is athletic, and who is tested against taller fighters, and can find good guys to spar. Would of Ko'd Wilder inside of 4 rounds.

 

I'd define natural athleticism as being born with good physical abilities without the need to learn or hone through repeated drills. So someone who is naturally athletic has already achieved a level of physical ability without even any training. Some guys can go into the gym and bench 100kg their first time while it takes others months if not years to do that. Some guys can naturally run pretty fast with little training. Anthony Joshua can run 100m in about 11 seconds which is tremendous for such a huge guy who has never trained specifically for the event while others no matter how hard they train will never be that fast.

Wilder is a guy who came to boxing late and clearly doesn't have the smarts or drive to become overly proficient at the technical side of boxing, he lives off of his natural athleticism and physical attributes. The ability to become proficient in multiple sports may mean a person is naturally athletic it may also mean they are very disciplined, driven, adaptable and learn quickly rather than being exceptionally gifted from a physical perspective.

 

Wilder's biggest natural skill is his choice of management: they manage him so well he's staying clear of any danger.