There are not many fighters like Wilder in the history of the sport: Very tall, lanky, extremely skinny legs, no jab at all, zero infighting skills, good long right hand, zero chin. Julius Long comes to mind: This content is protected
Probably Frank Bruno. Still not an especially close comparison. Smith just isn't it. He wasn't the same guy as Wilder.
Bruno was always billed as 6’3” Anyone trying to suggest that Wilder is similar to Bruno is talking out of their backside. Bruno was nowhere near as athletic as Wilder but he had immense power in both hands and threw combinations of punches that were fundamentally very good. His jab was one of the best and most hurtful the division has seen and not just in technical delivery, he threw it consistently and used it to dominate his opponent and not just as a rangefinder. Bruno would KO Wilder inside 6 rounds
Wilder is extremely defensively inept though, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a quick blowout. If he starts that wild slapping nonsense when Tyson closes range on him (which he will, and with quickness) then he's going to eat a big left or OH right and lose his legs. At that point he becomes a sitting duck and gets knocked unconscious shortly thereafter. If he tries to tie Tyson up every time he comes close he might make it last longer, but it's really only a matter of time until Tyson lands something hurtful on Wilder's cranium. It's really an awful, awful style matchup for him which afford him very little opportunity to win.
Carl Williams tried to keep Tyson at the end of his jab, and he was considerably more technical and well-schooled than Wilder. Result? He ate a huge left and got dropped on his ass. I really can't see Wilder doing anything differently to stop that happening. This content is protected
Ruddock was definitely more talented. Wilder never really throws uppercuts, and that leaping right hand he throws isn't guaranteed to be that effective against a guy like Tyson who'd be constantly pressing forward keeping himself a low, moving target. Joshua has a much better chance against Tyson, though I wouldn't expect him to beat him either. But he'd at least have a realistic chance of landing something on Tyson due to his greater variety of weapons and superior ring iq (to Wilder).