Try to picture Wilder at 278lbs, I can't possibly form a picture in my mind of what that would look like
If, ifs and ands were pots and pans you'd never have to do the dishes. Wilder was going to lose one way or the other unless he connected with the right and he did and he still lost.
Okay I get your point. But If he could support 2000lbs on a fantasy bone structure he would be a literal giant.
The bench is useless for boxing maybe but real world strength? Wrestling is a whole lot easier from the top when you can press twice the opponents weight for reps.
What if Wilder had fought legit opposition and worked to develop his skills as a boxer instead of fighting hand picked tomato cans to pad his record? He might have risked losing that zero on his record, he might not have had the long string of knockouts and all the hype that came with it but he would have probably become more of a complete boxer. Forget about the weight, he looked fine at the heavier weight. He can’t move his head, can’t fight when an opponent takes the fight to him, has horrible footwork, no defense, and relies on that big right hand way too much. It was bound to catch up with him sooner or later because he chose hype over substance. In the end, it bit him in the ass. Wilder looked to be in great shape in the third fight. He tried to jab and go to the body. Looked good in the first round but he eventually reverted back to what he was in all of his previous fights, a plodding one dimensional headhunter. You can’t learn boxing fundamentals at his age, 30+ fights into a pro career. I give him credit for trying but it was too late.
The extra weight cost him some speed and drained his tank faster but it added tnt and helped him take more punishment. Over the piece I reckon it helped more than hindered so not a factor in the loss.
Dumbbell benching is smarter and safer than barbell for an athlete (which is what Wilder was bragging about) if you are going to do it but overall yes. Even strong men competitors litteraly the strongest men in the world, focus more on shoulder presses than benching for upper body strength. I don't know enough about wrestling training to comment but Wilder thinking flat benching 350 with terrible form would do anything to develop the strength he needed is sad.
Dumbbell benching is not more or less safe I have been around athletes most of my life it is all form dependent if you do either for too long you get tweaks it's best to just mix up your grips and things like that to combat it and the barbell is much better for upper body strength. The reason strongman do more overhead pressing is because it is required for there contests where as benching is not. Though the overhead press is my preferred lift you just cannot make that claim also note plenty of strongman do benching to assist there pressing. I don't know why either. I thought he was just trying to add mass honestly but yeah benching was not going to do anything against Fury neither would overhead pressing or squatting he was going to be clobbered like we saw either way.
I don't think Wilder could have done anything to offset Fury. He had 3 chances to win and did not, so what more can we say? He came in heavier and still lost the same way as the second fight. Fury is just better.
What if he was 215lbs, what if he could box off the back foot, what if he had legs like Tua, what if instead of being a boxing simpleton he had learned to box correctly? Fact is he was very, very lucky to get away with a draw when lighter against the worst version of Fury we will probably see until he's old and shot. Wilder never beats Fury, don't care what weight he comes in at or how many times he fights him, he always gets beaten because he's simply not as good as Fury period.
