Who ducked Deontay Wilder?

To take one example, how is Bellew's "I ain't fighting Deontay Wilder" not ducking? I don't blame Bellew for that and at least he was honest. But he was implicitly saying: "I will never fight him, I will look for another option, such as Usyk". Bellew wasn't the only one who did the math and thought that Wilder didn't pass risk-reward.

 

People wanted to believe it more than anything. Haye (a natural narcissist) saying "Wilder buzzed me far worse than I buzzed him" is confirmation that the sparring didn't go well for Haye, as Towers said it didn't. I think that had something to do with Haye's Fury pullout too. Dave Coldwell and Adam Booth's comments about Wilder and the sparring also don't suggest that Wilder got the worst of it.

 

You can lie if you like son but I'm not interested.

 

Wilder-Stiverne 1 was close to even odds, 30-0 Ortiz was a dangerous opponent and Wilder fought Fury x3. He's never shown any lack of courage in the ring and seems to have a delusional, almost unshakable self-belief. He's also possibly the biggest punching HW ever, was thought of highly by many experts, had home and A-side advantage and didn't have such big money behind him as Joshua, so there were clear reasons to avoid him.

Hughie was offered two title shots, turned down both. He said that Wilder wanted to fight him (which could have built a Wilder-Fury fight down the road) but Hughie went in the direction of Parker instead, who was widely recognised as a weaker and far less dangerous belt holder.

Bellew said "I ain't fighting Deontay Wilder" but he was willing to fight Usyk. As if Wilder wouldn't fight a blown-up LHW who got beaten in one-sided fashion by Stevenson.

Martin, Wlad and Parker made fights with Joshua probably because there was more money on the table first and foremost, also possibly because Wilder was seen as more dangerous/less vulnerable. None of them to my knowledge accused Wilder of ducking them.

Hearn and Joshua accused Wilder of ducking them but they've also said things like "Wilder is very high risk, reward may not be worth it yet, I need more time" etc. They are not to be trusted and are highly opportunistic in their own right.

The Whyte situation was more Matchroom smoke and mirrors:

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...d-the-wilder-whyte-wbc-saga-explained.711576/

Usyk's first meaningful heavyweight fight was after Fury-Wilder 2 and he targeted Joshua as soon as he moved up from cruiser.

Povetkin failed drug tests for Wilder and Stiverne. Maybe there was skulduggery involved there, maybe not.

Wilder was brought along slowly and there were fighters his team kept him away from at points but the idea that no one of significance was avoiding him (which is the most common position held by his detractors/haters) is an absurd thesis given the evidence.

 

There was some talk about Dubois potentially being paid to step aside and Usyk-Wilder would have been much bigger.