Weird thought entered my mind today as I watched Wilder get his soul taken by Fury in the rematch. The thought was basically how far could Wilder have gone with the best of the best trainers, starting so late at age twenty. Would he have ever been champion if he didn’t swing for the fences? How long would it take him to learn traditional footwork, coordination and proper punch selection? How long to learn defensive skill sets to balance it all? Basically, starting as late as he did, did Deontay achieve everything he was capable of achieving?
I mean, if the guy would just have used the jab he showed in the first Stiverne fight, he would have been a much better fighter, so my answer is--no. He didn't use the skill he had, and didn't have the confidence to use it to fight full time fighters who were medically fit. Regardless of how much skill he possessed, he still would have fought like a bar fighter against bar fighter level competition. Would Joshua's skills have helped him against Fury--no. Fury cannot be outboxed as he is the best heavyweight boxer in the game today, and cannot be knocked out with one punch, as Wilder himself proved. The key to beating Fury is that he wins by throwing 6-14 punches a round, so you have to go out and throw 60-70. Wilder just isn't that kind of guy. Joshua's skills would not help him because he would still be stupid, arrogant, and lazy (in the sense of resisting best practices...I can see that he comes in shape).
Wilder showed against Stiverne that he has the ability to learn and evolve. His following title defences vs Molina and Duhaupas were great learning experiences, something Wilder needed before he fought Stiverne. But they never built on it. They never changed their approach. Even after Szpilka exposed some glaring technical issues(his balance and footwork). Wilder´s team is to blame even more so than Wilder. I am not even an actual boxer and I get ton´s of **** when I throw a sloppy punch due to bad positioning. What Wilder´s team did was focus on the right hand. Which to their credit, they pretty much perfected. But it´s like when Manny had only the straight left. Eventually he got figured out, no matter how good he was. Wilder needs to fix his fundamentals. The way he moves backwards is like a day 1 novice. It´s ridiculous.
Absolutely, but I fear at his game and level in boxing that it may be too late. He needs a serious trainer like Buddy McGirt that won't just show up for a check but make him learn. This has become a very bad habit of current boxers training teams not being honest with the fighter about his abilities. Wilder better learn or he might suffer from the AB disease of denial.
Is he too old to learn now? Was age twenty too old to start learning correctly since a lot of boxers started at age 10-12 years old?
I don't think you can take Stiverne I as a benchmark of Wilder's jabbing and boxing ability. Old and completely shot to shirt Ray Austin looked like prime Larry Holmes at times during their fight before Stiverne got to him. It's just if you can jab you look like a million bucks against Stiverne, who made it his life goal to block every jab with his face.
Broner? That guy is completely lost. He thinks that all he needs is to just work harder. That's why we hear him say it all the time: "I am taking this one seriously". To his credit, he works like a madman in camp. But it's mainly conditioning. IMO he has regressed as a boxer.
Broner? That guy is completely lost. He thinks that all he needs is to just work harder. That's why we hear him say it all the time: "I am taking this one seriously". To his credit, he works like a madman in camp. But it's mainly conditioning. IMO he has regressed as a boxer. And will continue to do so. Tons of talent, just a lack of boxing IQ.
No 20 was not too old but he is in his mid thirties and has almost 50 fights. In order for Wilder to improve he is gonna need fundamental basics of jabs, hook, straights, uppercuts, footwork, and some sort of defense besides getting hit in the face. The first and second Fury fights have proved that he has nothing once you stop being afraid of him and his right arm.
Transplant Tommy Hearns' soul into Wilder's body and watch the undertakers start rubbing their hands. Joshua, not so much; his technique is optimised for his build.
