What is Deontay Wilder's legacy?

A protected paper champion who fell short at the highest level.

 

So you're assuming the man couldn't learn more? His footwork was terrible, his balance was terrible, he did not learn how to set up his offense behind the jab. Rarely went to the body. Seldom used the left hook. His power only took him so far. If he had learned the things I mentioned, would he have been better or worse?

 

Ultimately, Wilder got ‘King Hit’ by Zhang, that was his last boxing match.

Wilder is awesome. Wilder sucks. Wilder wins. Wilder loses.

Predicting the outcome of Wilder vs a top 10 heavyweight of all time is literally like spinning the wheel of fortune.

If Wilder was focused, he could out jab a Larry Holmes to a boring UD victory.

 

If he could pull them off, it is better, but can he pull it off?

Im not sure im making myself clear.

if we were to create the perfect fighter in a lab, we could. However we can’t with humans and there are reasons.

He achieved more than most boxers do, with what he has been taught in his very short career. Could he have been better? Yes. Every sports person “could” be better though.

Ali could have learned a lot too, imagine Ali with body shots and digging in more power, or keeping his guard up more….but it’s not Ali any longer.

Ps. He set his moneyshot up every fight except fury 2. Fury didn’t give him a chance.

 

I honestly think that Wilder is the greatest one-dimensional heavyweight champ of all time. Who else has ever had such a successful career at the top for several years with nothing but a single punch in their arsenal? Sure, his resume was stacked with bums, but he gave us a lot of exciting fights.

I'd also argue that the Fury trilogy was the best rivalry we've seen at heavyweight in ages. Of course Usyk is the best of this era, but his fights against fury and AJ were honestly a bit boring by comparison.

 

In Wilder's prime I'd say he was a weak to a solid champion. He could have potentially beaten AJ and Dubois which was possibly 50/50 fights. The likes of Usyk and Fury were just always a level and two above him.

Fury is I'd say a good champion, Uysk is a ATG.

The one thing that no-one will deny is that he had the best power out of any boxer in this generation.

 

The 21st Century Max Baer. Big punch, underachiever.

 

That's not a bad analogy.

 

Sometimes I even impress myself.

 

Lol.

That's a good start!

 

If they ask who was the hardest puncher in History you mention Shavers, Foreman, and Wilder.

 

Having the highest KO rate of any HW champ
Being the best US HW over an extended period of time, possibly the whole early 21st century.
Being a credible title claimant for 2 years from early 2018-2020
The Fury I and III fights being considered classics where he got 4 KDs.
Being in an exclusive club officially with the 10 title defenses
Starting 42-0 which is the 5th longest opening streak for a HW champ.
Having an Olympic medal and losing to the same guy as Usyk.
Coming up in "who hit the hardest" conversations


The way I look at it Wilder resume looks a lot better if you ignore the 10x defending champion bit with an eye roll and just look at what he actually did. Feel like everyone already does this with Vitali or Michalczewski but can't with Wilder. Most of Vitalis title fights weren't real but he put up a legendary fight against a British ATG HW and we all have no problem acknowledging him as "a" champion and great.

Another thing that makes Wilders resume look better is if you look at his issues side by side with Fury and AJ who were his peers. How much better is Furys 10 lineal defenses which include Seferi, Schwarz and Ngannou? AJ has 8 official defenses with his first 2 being common Wilder opponents. Wilders probably got the easiest SOS of the 3 but his weak competition was more an issue with his era especially with the WBC.

 

Also...Wilder stupidly said he wanted to kill someone in the ring....and Baer actually DID kill a boxer in the ring.

 

Wilder did not do roadwork throughout most of his career by his own admission. So it's not too surprising that Bambi legs let him down.

 

I don't know about that Povetkin alone is better then any of wilders wins, Wladamir knocked out two gold medalist (Mercer & Povetkin) he also beat Byrd, Rachman, Brewster, Pulev, Thompson, Haye, Peter, Chagaev, Chambers, Brock, Barrett, McCline, Schulz, Botha and Imbragimov. Are a hell of a lot better then only having only Ortiz as a decent win. Unless you want to count Scuba Scott taking a blatant dive for Primo... I mean Wilder.