Golota was immense in the Bowe fights until the dq's. Still I would be a tad nervous if I had a large stash on him vs current Wilder even though he's never been in with a real threat, but I think Golota breaks him. Bowe is better than Wilder surely.
You do realise that Stiverne was both seen as a paper champ - Don King's latest Union Cane - and was seriously ill when they fought. Rhabdomyolysis is no joke.
Wilder is still a fake in my eyes until he does something significant. I'd pick most against the windmill man. Gotota at his best would end the circus. He was a decent fighter with all the tools to become a great, his mentality kept him back unfortunately.
I think Wilder would UD him. Golota was incredibly stupid, a real mental midget. I think Wilder would stay out of harm's way and win this. For all his flaws, Wilder is actually quite disciplined in the ring, he developed some ring savviness in his recent fights and can easily go 12 rounds.
Slightly off topic, what was Golata's excuse for the low shots on Bowe when he was ahead both occasions? Never quite understood why he did that, especially the rematch.
I don't think he ever really gave an explanation for that or any other of his bizarre endings to his fights other than the Tyson fight where he suffered serious injuries to his neck and eye. I've always thought his heart was never in to the sport of boxing. He was a good athlete but he wasn't a natural fighter. After he won a Bronze medal at the Olympics you'd think he'd have tried to turn pro when he got to the US but he didn't want that he just wanted to be a truck driver. He only turned pro to make money as he was strapped for cash and I think we saw that in his performances, his heart wasn't in it and when things got tough, even when he was winning he just folded. He wasn't willing to push himself or risk his health for something he didn't have a passion for and simply saw as a job he didn't like. Bowe was willing to risk his life to win those fights but Golota didn't see it the same way, he just showed up for a paycheck.
Because Bowe wouldn't stop coming at him and refused to lose. Pretty obvious. And without those debilitating low blows Bowe would have performed a lot better and Golota would have been in bigger trouble.
i'm not sure he wasn't a natural fighter, he showed some quality street fight skills like low blows, rabbit punches, biting, headbutts... you name it after the bowe fights, prior to lewis fight some of the experts considered him the best hw at that time. at least golota knew how to take care of himself with those dirty tactics, unlike wlad who turns his back and runs if he can't clinch, has panics attacks when somebody pressures him and falls down without a punch... and vitali just let lewis to batter him inside, didn't do s.hit about it, looked like an amateur that only knows how to throw 1-2, and a geek that doesn't know how to fight... that's why fat past prime lewis stopped him, cause vitali doesn't know how to fight like a man
Wilder has proved very little as a threat to any seasoned/ranked or current champion let alone one from the history books. Fighters like Klitschko & Fury would annihilate him. Joshua would KO him. But that being said I see D getting the win by DQ I would not be surprised if the following is not said to him by his management " Brrrummm Brrummm Here comes your next Spoon fed opponent, come on D open up Bruummm Brrummmm "