Problem is, the longer Wilder takes to get Ruiz out of there, the more chances he's giving Ruiz to put him away. I admit the Foreman comparison was lazy but I picked it because he destroyed elite competition in the same time he did his journeyman, generally speaking. I admit Ruiz isn't the best at initiating and we could get a fight like Wilder-Ortiz 2, but people talking like Wilder can land on this guy at will with nothing coming back are deluded
I'll take Ruiz, and if Wilder pulls it off, and it was fair and square, I will give him and his fans all the credit in the world. They are both legitimately top 6 guys in the division, so props for them taking the fight, and let the better man win.
Not sure Ruiz is a gunslinger anymore. Wilder is aging but the mentality seems to be the same, go out there and throw his bomb. I think it will work. Fury clearly put some miles on Wilder's chin but even in the third fight it still took a hell of a lot to keep him down.
Pressure fighter Foreman destroyed Frazier 1 and Norton in 2 rounds but the only other top 3 opponents he fought were Ali and Young and he lost those, getting dropped in both. So at that level he was 50-50. Wilder has been similar to Wlad. He can take solid opponents out early and sometimes he does but he's generally conservative. For the entirety of Wlad's 9.5 year title reign he wasn't dropped once, didn't gas out once, barely took any punishment. Between Sconiers and Ortiz, much the same could be said of Wilder. Do you think it's delusional to believe that Wilder outboxes Ruiz? Wilder has all the tools to do so: vastly superior amateur accomplishments, a huge disparity in height and reach, significant advantage in footspeed and massive punching power to deter Ruiz. Parker only had modest advantages in the pedigree, length and footspeed departments but still edged it in his backyard.