Moses Itauma vs Prime Deontay Wilder

Wilder is not hrgovic. He’s never been anywhere near as durable as him at any point in his career and Zhang is a miles better win than anything on Deontay’s resume. Even mediocre boxers have went 9 or 11 rounds with wilder and he’s not lasting long enough for Itauma to gas out anyway.

 

Itauma would starch the limited Wilder. He had neither the chin, nor the skill to avoid Itauma's onslaught. I give Wilder a 20-30% chance of catching Itauma and stopping him. But, no more than that. Itauma is a MUCH better boxer than Wilder. He also hits more than hard enough to get Wilder out of there.

 

Those are the two factors that make me favor Wilder here.

Itauma has to strike early AND finish it early or else the evidence we have says he gasses and becomes vulnerable.

I think he maybe gets Wilder down around the sixth, goes all-out for the finish and can’t quite get it done.

Somewhere between seven and 10, Wilder lands the big right hand.

And when Wilder does that, it’s curtains. He parts Moses like the Red Sea.

 

What’s “ awfully strange “ is you mentioning Bermane Stiverne’s loss to king as if it has anything to do with his punching power. And wilder was shot by the time he fought Zhang. Luis Ortiz had a punch to put someone through a brick wall. Let’s not forget the gut wrenching trilogy that wilder had with Fury where both men took as much they gave and the last two fights of their meetings wasn’t a prime wilder either.

Deontay Wilder wasn’t stopped until he was around 34 years old with over 40 bouts behind him and to a true linear champion. Moses Itauma got stopped in his 15th pro fight by a fringe contender. This comparison should draw some obvious conclusions to pretty much anyone

 

Excellent post. I would also add, unlike Hrgovic, Wilder has deadly power, and that right hand will likely make Itauma apprehensive once he tastes it. Don't see him opening up on Wilder like he did Hrgovic.

 

How come he didn't hit Charlie Zelenoff like that?

 

Wilder wasn't stopped earlier due to his shitty level of competition. It's easy to avoid getting stopped if you won't fight anyone in the top 10.
And Zhang was older than Wilder when he blasted him out.

If Hrgovic is a fringe contender than what does that make Wilder?

 

double like

Said it then and I'll say it now: Ortiz and Stiverne were no-hopers going into the Wilder fights.

 

Ortiz who couldn't stop Malik Scott is now apparently some amazing puncher. This is bonkers.

Scott must have had a Titanic chin to have withstood such a monster puncher

 

Why is this so personal to you?

And yes, Zhang may have been older, but it’s painfully obvious that Wilder is far more diminished at this point. Being shot isn’t determined solely by age. Mike Tyson is a perfect example: he was already a shell of his former self against Lewis, even though Lewis was older than him. The difference is that Lewis was still considerably closer to his prime, Wilder has always relied heavily on his athleticism and freakish power, and once the fast-twitch explosiveness that made those attributes so dangerous starts to fade, he doesn’t have much in the way of fundamentals to fall back on. And those back-to-back brutal beatings and stoppage losses to Fury certainly couldn't have helped matters, to say the least.

 

I don't think Ortiz is as big a puncher as Zhang, but the only thing bonkers here is the logic. Zhang himself failed to stop two guys who were later knocked out by Jared Anderson. He also failed to score a KO in half of his last 10 fights.

 

Zhang had nowhere near the mileage on him that wilder had. And he took a crap ton of shots before finally succumbing to them. Luis Ortiz was the boogeyman in the division for a few years and definitely ranked. Did you not see the direct hits on the chin wilder took from him ? Bermane Stiverne was a belt holder. You must be trolling.

 

how about a world champion with ten successful defense, highest knockout percentage in history and a participant in one of the most action packed heavyweight trilogies of all time ?

 

Scott ran from Ortiz, dove to the canvas seven times, didn’t win a second of that fight, and retired at a fairly young age after that.

Scott only got taken out by Wilder.

You’re talking about the guy who put Scott on his ass the most times and the only guy who took him out.

You really didn’t think that one through.

 

I think Wilder is made to beat him. A beautiful straight right with power would rock Itauma.