Now I don't understand how AJ came back after Wlad knocked him down

Good insight, thanks. I wouldn't say that Wlad "almost lost" to Williamson tho. That was a flash knockdown mostly due to imbalance, he was comfortably winning on the scorecards and the cut that ended the fight was really bad.

 

Zhang couldn't finish off Jerry Forrest and he wasn't even 38 at this point. Luis Ortiz couldn't finish Wilder while being 39. Foreman couldn't finish Alex Stewart, but he was older than Wlad. So this "most likely" thing is not that accurate.

 

Zhang gassed horribly against Forrest but that fight proved to be an anomaly. I would not be surprised if Zhang barely trained for it. He showed far better stamina against a far superior fighter in Hrgovic.

Wilder is tougher than Joshua. Even at 40 he seems to have a better chin and more mental composure than 36 AJ. Ortiz had Wilder badly hurt, and Wilder got an extra 20 seconds from the doctor. Against Martin on the other hand, 42+ Ortiz only needed 30 seconds to finish him after hurting him badly.

Foreman gassed against Stewart after dropping him a few times. It is possible he would also gas against AJ. Ditto Zhang and Ortiz. But they would all throw the kitchen sink at AJ to finish him. Ruiz/Dubois showed that can work.

 

Wlad looked like a mentally beaten man in the corner and he looked gassed. We have seen far worse cuts allowed to continue. The doctor got Wlad out of jail there, and he ducked a rematch rotten. Very controversial fight.

 

100%. Wlad always was an overthinker and relied on the feedback he got. If it wasn't for Vitali's advice he probably would have finished AJ.

 

Zhang always gasses horribly. He gassed in the second half of the Hrgović fight as well, but Hrgović didn't have power to get him out of there, so he just outpointed him for the rest of the bout.

Wilder has a better chin than AJ, sure, but Ortiz had him on ***** street and couldn't finish the job. Charles Martin ain't on AJ nor Wilder's level. But out of those 3, I probably give Ortiz a better chance to finish AJ off, but on the other hand, I don't give him much chance to last at the age of 41 to hurt AJ enough to have a chance to finish him off. He was getting dropped by Martin's jabs.

Ruiz and Dubois weren't prone to gas like these old men were. That's why I don't think any of them finish AJ off. They running a risk of gassing out completely.

 

Wlad was in no danger of losing after receiving that flash knockdown. Fights have also been stopped with not as deep of cuts. Williamson looked more gassed than Wlad at the point of stoppage. No rematch needed for this.