Kirks Championships : Boxing Prediction League : 2018

Rios UD, Prograis KO, Medina UD

 

Just wanted to give some meaningless thoughts on the Wilder vs Ortiz fight.

- Crazy how much that fight is similar to AJ vs Wlad, and makes the setup to that showdown even better for me lol. The old challengers give a good showing, probably beats the younger champions if the fight happens a few years earlier, gets in to trouble with the young fighters power before coming back to seriously hurt the champions only to fall short and get stopped in the championship rounds.

- Much like the Canelo Golovkin fight, its weird to see a fight play out so much like you thought it would look, only to ultimately be wrong. In both cases, I was wrong on how well the winner (in canelos case, the non loser) would ultimately take the flush power shots. Wilder vs Ortiz went so much how I saw it going, even up to the 7th where I thought it was over..... waiting.... waiting.... Wilder is surviving, Wilder isnt going down, and.... the round is over.

Credit to Wilders toughness (which I never doubted, imo he had already proven that) and to his chin. Ortiz did land some flush punches that I thought would hurt Wilder more than they did. And I felt Ortiz would be able to dictate the fight to Wilder, which I believe he did for the most part until, imo, that 7th round he shot his load trying and failing to finish Wilder, I think he gassed enough to allow Wilder back into the fight a bit... and it was just a matter of time before Wilders power showed up.

- I did doubt Wilders power a bit.... I have to say, he is making me a believer. Its hard to really gauge, since we dont really know how good Ortiz's chin really is, but Ortiz seemed like a damn rock in there early on. It seemed, up until Wilder hurt him the first time, that Wilder was punching a mountain that was walking him down. If Ortiz goes on to show shaky whiskers, I will take that into consideration.

- This was one of my favorite fights of recent times. So much on the line, both fighters extremely extremely pumped for the fight, and a very thrilling second half of the fight. The bitter sweetness of being happy for Wilder and sad for Ortiz.

- Regardless of what legacy Wilder does or doesnt build... one thing he might just be able to claim, is that in boxings long and storied history, he just might be the most powerful sub 215lb fighter to ever step in the ring. The 214lb Wilder that KO'd 241lb Ortiz is at least in the conversation.

- I hope I am wrong but I have a feeling fighters will have even more reason to avoid Ortiz now. He was high risk low reward before this, now he brings even less to the table, while still being formidable.

- I would pick this Ortiz against most everyone in the top 10 outside AJ, Parker, and Pov. And to be totally honest, I think he would have had a huge, huge chance at beating AJ. I dont think AJ is as elusive as Wilder and that AJ would have ultimately been an easier target. Thats not saying I would officially pick Ortiz, but I think he is a live dog against both AJ and Parker. A fight against Povetkin would be very interesting.

- Hopefully, AJ vs Wilder happens next. No more waiting... lets just get the fight.

- If no AJ, the Whyte vs Browne winner will suffice.

- I cant believe I am about to say this, but the more I watch of current Wilder and of AJ, the more I realise just how competitive this fight really is. People are really overlooking Wilder in this matchup.

- In closing, I think Wilder is criminally over hated in the boxing community. In the boxing groups I am in on social media, I see ordinarily good posters calling him trash, other people saying he sucks, and of course on here the hate he gets oozes out of the forum every day. I get that nobody likes how he talks about our sports legends. If any fighter wants to be hated, just follow that route. Especially when you have done relatively little to nothing, compared to the ones you are criticizing. And I also get that his resume sucks. But lets not pretend he didnt try to fight guys like Ortiz and Povetkin years ago, I swear he gets more hate for the fights being canceled then they get for being responsible for the cancellation by failing drug tests.

The guy shows guts, grit, and aggression when he fights. He has signed to fight what were at the time two of the most dangerous fighters in the world (Pov and Ortiz), he is gunning for AJ, he praises his opponents after the fights, and he wants to unify the division. Not saying there shouldnt be justified criticisms of his abilities and his resume, I just think the intensity of the hate he gets and the venomous nature in which its spit at him seems ridiculously overboard for the reasons given.