Simple question. Wilder in the entirety of his American championship campaign fought a mix of Don King and PBC guys until he met Fury, who... well, took his belt, derailing his career. It should be noted he did win his come-back against Helenius, but he too was a fellow PBC guy (friend, and former sparring partner). He was then favourite to beat Parker but instead suffered a very wide points loss. After which he was unceremoniously stopped by Old Man Zhang. So, why do you think he started losing? Also, a question more for the comments section: Why is it that the PBC/Don King circuit fighters never seemed to do very well against contenders from the rest of the world this last decade?
Combination of things. Simply exposed...fighting better competition Badly damaged in the Fury fights Got old Regressed by firing Breland
I would agree that it is not one factor by itself. But if you were to choose one factor as being primary, which would it be?
I think both Fury losses took a lot out of him. Combine that with age, inactivity, trainer changes and injuries it makes sense he would fall off. Mentally too I believe those losses took something from him as well. All of that combined in facing tough opponents in parker and Zhang combined for defeat
To be honest...exposed. This is a guy that after 40-some-odd fights was still struggling with Eric Molina and Artur Spilka. He just never was that good.
Forced to finally face a top level fighter who wasn't ancient and his glass jaw got exposed! Would've happened sooner if it was for the (very) careful matchmaking
Fought better opposition He was VERY protected for years, most of his title defenses were not even in the top 25
Fury took his soul, the second loss tore him apart mentally and he’s never recovered, and the third fight completely finished him. He was going to mental wellness retreats, ayuahasca or whatever it’s called. In fact, I know personally another mental wellness retreat that he went to on top of that which a friend of mine works for. It’s sad to see that he could never get over those two losses.
all the above reasons. also, when other fighters think you are dangerous/invincible....they doubt themselves. they don't perform up to their potential. when a fighter does not have ...or loses ...his belief that he can and will beat any one before him....that goes a very long way.....especially if he really/truly believes it. think Wilder's belief...in himself..his ability, left him.
Wilder and Fury gave us a trilogy to remember but they also ruined each other off the back of it.Wilder had that narcissistic fight gene/thought process some fighters have and the first loss to Fury began to erode this how would I say belief of his and then with the second loss to Fury and also the ageing process playing its part,this elitist mind set he had began to diminish but to Wilders credit he still had that win at all costs mentality where he clearly would never quit and he would have to go out on his shield like a Boss and he did ! but he still could not accept the losses and tried to justify them with multiple excuses to convince himself otherwise for the loss he had just taken. History has proved to not be nice to Wilder but at a time he was rightly seen as the baddest MF in the Heavyweight division whilst racking up some scary KOs !
He got beat the hell up by a better fighter and started racking up losses. Same case as Joshua with Ruiz.
I think the Fury trilogy took too much of a toll on him, especially mentally once that aura of only needing to be perfect for one punch faded. Yes fighting better opponents is a factor, but Parker and Zhang were always going to be awful match ups for Wilder style. Prime for prime he still beats about half of the top ten I reckon.
Of the top ten of the era? He didn't beat Fury, Parker or Zhang. He wouldn't beat Usyk and wouldn't have beaten old Wlad either. He ducked Joshua and Whyte, probably because he knew he would've lost to both. He conveniently managed to swerve Povetkin, who would've beaten him, too. Who's left who'd be top ten for the era? Joyce? Cast iron chin, but slow and open to a big punch... Equally, hit more than hard enough to stop Wilder if he got going first... Stylistically it could've been interesting. Ruiz... Depends entirely on what shape he turned up in - on a good day he'd win easily, on a bad one he'd have taken a lot of damage... But he's not easy to stop and could've hurt Wilder. Ortiz might just sneak in - prime Wilder against old Ortiz on heart meds, first time around nearly went against him. Chisora might even sneak in... And stylistically would've been a nightmare for Wilder IMHO, I think Del would've won. I'm not seeing Wilder beating a quarter of that lot, especially not consistently. He's just a myth. Entertaining, but a myth. Probably lower top ten himself, in truth, just exceptionally well managed.