Should Wilder be considered rank 3?

From the thread in Classic on fighters who have faced opponents who were at one time rated in the top 10 by Ring Magazine.

Deontay Wilder - Record: 7-1-1 (6 KOs)
Liakhovich, Stiverne 1, Arreola, Stiverne 2, Ortiz 1, Fury 1, Breazeale, Ortiz 2, Fury 2 (9 total fights)

Alexander Povetkin - Record: 6-2-1 (4 KOs)
Byrd, Chambers, Chagaev, Rahman, Klitschko, Perez, Joshua, Hunter, Whyte 1 (9 total fights)

Anthony Joshua - Record: 7-1-0 (5 KOs)
Whyte, Breazeale, Klitschko, Parker, Povetkin, Ruiz 1, Ruiz 2, Pulev (8 total fights)

Andy Ruiz - Record: 3-2 (2 KOs)
Liakhovich, Parker, Dimitrenko, Joshua 1, Joshua 2 (5 total fights)

Dillian Whyte - Record: 3-2 (0 KOs)
Joshua, Helenius, Parker, Rivas, Povetkin1 (5 total fights)

Joseph Parker - Record: 2-2 (1 KO)
Dimitrenko, Ruiz, Joshua, Whyte (4 total fights)

Tyson Fury - Record: 2-0-1 (1 KO)
Klitschko, Wilder 1, Wilder 2 (3 total fights)

 

Wilder and Povetkin have fought more fights against opponents who were at one time rated in the Ring Top 10 than the other contenders. They both have 9. Wilder has a better record against them than Povetkin does and scored more KOs.

 

Should be:

1. Tyson Fury
2. Anthony Joshua
3. Alexander Povetkin
4. Andy Ruiz
5. Oleksander Usyk
6. Deontay Wilder

 

I have him as 3 with a massive question mark.

The beating which Fury put on him was so complete and Wilder's inability to adjust so abject, that there must be a question mark over his future. His assets are those most likely to dull with age. Not the power, but the speed. He hasn't got great technique to fall back on. The aura that had been grown around him has all but gone.

So he's 3 for now, but any of the top heavyweights now has a blueprint to follow should he face them. Not everyone can do what Fury does, but they can watch the two Ortiz fights and the two Fury fights and the limitations are there for all to see.

If he stays inactive then the winner of Usyk and Joyce or Whyte and Povetkin will have a claim on that ranking also.

 

I better had told that prime Hunter was CW size. Because CW division had a lot of really legit guys, he definitely wasn't bad and was really 100% legit.

 

I think there needs to be greater context applied to this because the numbers can be misleading if one takes them at face value. For instance, what does it mean when Wilder blows away a Liakhovich who had not been ranked for over half a decade and was coming off back-to-back knockout losses going in? How many of them were current or recent top-10s, how many were top-5, etc.? Even more than that, it can be said that someone like Chisora was better than Arreola, despite Chisora never officially getting rated.

To answer the question, however, I think Wilder should be #3. Povetkin's knockout of Whyte was gorgeous, but he was losing the fight up until then and has looked past his prime for many years now. He is really a Klitschko-era fighter and it's only a matter of time before he falters. Covid only increases that risk. Wilder is probably in a better physical state than Povetkin or Ruiz, given his age and penchant for being in shape. Ruiz has the best recent victory over either Wilder or Povetkin, but he will be thought of as the Buster Douglas of this era until proven otherwise. Wilder is still a big question mark mentally, so his place is tenuous at best.

 

Definitely shows the context of how weak the division has been, and of course Wilder signed up to go to Russia and face Povetkin.

He didn't make Povetkin fail the drug test.

 

Wilder at this point is rank 3...


Among American heavyweights.

 

Fair point, but by the same token, in Wilder's last win, he was losing wide to Ortiz. Ortiz actually beat the count, but wasn't allowed to return to his corner (definitely some hometown cooking involved in that stoppage). Compare that to Povetkin coming from behind against Whyte by starching him out cold.
Add to that Wilder is coming off a loss. Povetkin is coming off a win.
I would personally rank Povetkin at #3 in light of that.
Doesn't mean he will be there for very long though.

 

Povetkin should be number 3 heavyweight like it or not. But he just defeated by Ko the number 2 rated Ring Heavyweight in the world and he did it on the road. Wilder coming off knockout loss in a bad showing. Pretty clear WHO SHOULD BE rated 3. Based on last performance

 

That’s grossly misleading and needs context. Povetkin defeated good fighters that would go on to be ring rated after Povetkin defeated them like Chambers and Takam. Takam by the way seems to be missing from list and was ring rated number 9. Also missing number 1 ring rated cruiser weight Huck. And I’m not 100 percent sure but I would be surprised a little if Larry Donald was never rated.

 

I don't have a problem with that rationale. I stated that Wilder's place is tenuous because I recognize that there isn't a lot of firmness in his position, or many guys at heavyweight, for that matter. It's a revolving door situation.

 

On resume and recent accomplishments it has to be Povetkin at #3. In reality it's probably Usyk.

 

Truth. As a quant pro (I won't go into details) it's very misleading.