I've long held the (unpopular) belief that Chisora would've beaten Wilder. So, fantasy matchup time... Late 2018 - instead of fighting Whyte (a competitive SD loss, which could've gone either way), Chisora instead signs up to fight Wilder who has just beaten almost 39 year old Luis Ortiz for the first time (and not without controversy, if we're honest). Who wins? And how? My suspicion is that Chisora's relentless and fearless pressure denies Wilder the space to throw and Chisora wins by KO. Wilder obviously has power and speed, and at this stage his "aura" - but I've always thought stylistically he'd have hated Chisora and struggled to pull the trigger. 60/40 Chisora IMHO - and either way by KO. What do you guys think?
Wilder knocks him out but Chisora of 2018 beats Wilder of 2023/24 2018 Whyte is a whole different argument though.
Interesting... I don't disagree that current Wilder loses to '18 Chisora for obvious reasons. But if 2018 Whyte beats 2018 Wilder, why wouldn't Chisora? I mean, Chisora went 50/50 with Whyte and his overhand right carries huge power (not too much less than Whytes left hook)... So if Whyte beats Wilder, why not Chisora?
TBF I can see Chisora winning rounds through pressure, but he will ultimately walk on to Wilder's right hand and be stopped. Similar story for Whyte, whose world level aspirations were always a mirage IMO.
Fair. Then again... Who says Wilder's world level claims were anything other than mirage? And who says Wilder would: A) Still be on his feet to throw that big right hand? B) Have the time and space to plant his feet and throw it big? And connect cleanly enough to KO Chisora (which has always been possible, but not particularly easy).
I've always had the suspicion that Chisora would of been a nightmare for Wilder too. He's got a good chin and is relentless in pushing back his opponents. We all know Wilder sucks on the back foot which we saw against Fury in the 2nd fight, the Parker fight and the Zhang fight. Would I put money on it, no chance but I think it would of been a much tougher fight for Wilder than many expect due to their styles.
I feel like Chisora in 2018 wasn't taking the sport too seriously, Wilder was confident and retained all of his speed and athleticisim, Wilder would have KO'd him. 2020/21 Chisora vs 2020/21 Wilder is a more interesting question imo, Chisora absolutely could have won that one.
And yet went 50/50 with the same Whyte that Wilder was ducking. He'd also beaten Takam by TKO earlier in the year - I felt like he picked up again after the loss to Kabayel, but to each their own. Ie: the Chisora that lost to Usyk and went 50/50 with Parker Vs the Wilder that lost Fury #2 and #3 I think Chisora would've won in that time period - I wouldn't necessarily have bet on it in 2018, but in 20/21 I'd have been willing to.
I actually had Chisora winning the first Whyte fight but that was a while before, 2016 iirc. The rematch was close too but Chisora got slept by a left hook, I see Wider catching him like that too if they had fought in 2018. Takam was an okay win but I don't put much stock in that translating to beating Wilder because Takam was never anything more than a gatekeeper. Yeah exactly. Fury damaged Wilder so severely in fight #2 that if Wilder had fought Chisora in 2021 instead of the Fury trilogy, Chisora absolutely could have attacked the body early and won an accumulation stoppage. I'm not sure though, that one is close to 50/50 for me, Wilder still had something left as he showed in fight #3, round 4 when he dropped Fury twice.
You clearly rate Wilder much higher than I ever did - but you make good arguments. I didn't/don't rate 38/39 year old Ortiz (he was weeks from 39 in Wilder #1) as being above gatekeeper level either, though an argument can be made that he was a bit better several years earlier - I don't think Takam would've beaten Wilder, but he would've been pretty high up on Wilder's resume all the same. I generally think Chisora's style would've been a problem for Wilder as long as he was fit and game (and he was always game) - it's possible Wilder would've endured his punches (and I don't think Deontay ever took punches like Del's overhand right without being hurt badly) and found space to plant his feet and throw... I think there's a good chance he'd have been out cold before he found that space, though.
50/50 fight. Wilder was always a bum but 2018 Wilder threw caution to the wind which was dangerous for himself AND opponents. Could Chisora capitalize? I'm inclined to think Wilder lands something before Chisora does but it very well couldve been Chisora ending Wilder then and there (as 40 year old Ortiz himself almost did)
Wilder has NEVER had a powerful left hook in his entire career so that take is pure fiction. Deontay - for a very small window of time...against severely overmatched opponents - had an excellent straight right hand that was both fast and blindingly powerful. There is no ATG HW I would favor Wilder to beat. There are very few HW champions - in history of boxing - I would favor Wilder to beat. Remember, Luis Ortiz was never a HW champion (in addition to being 39 and 41 when Wilder fought him) and Wilder never beat a HW champ in his entire career...even w watered down champs of the ~4-5 belt era *Correction: Stiverne was WBC champ for 1 fight after winning vacant title vs Arreola. So Wilder did beat one former HW champ twice (although 2nd fight was a Rd 1 KO where opponent wasnt even hit by punch - magic) @ellerbe
Depends really. Chisora has some good version of himself, and some version where he looks like a ****. It's a pity this didn't happen, as Chisora had a solid chin, and this would have been a good prove where Wilder power really is.
