Wilder's last 3 v Povetkin's last 3

I'm not a huge Wilder fan or a Povetkin critic, and I'd slightly favor Povetkin in a matchup with Wilder, but I think its a bit bizarre that Sasha gets so much praise for his last three fights and Wilder so much criticism. Stiverne is arguably better than Povetkin's best win in that span, against Takam, Duhaupas beat Charr, Molina is the only one indisputably weaker then the most comparable opponent for Sasha, Perez. All told, Wilder's last three opponents are at about as good as Povetkin's last three.

Granted Wilder is a champ now, and you'd expect better opponents than a challenger, but on the other hand Povetkin is more established and is gunning hard for a title shot. Moreover, Wilder's last 3 have come in the last 9 months, Povetkins have come in the last 18 months. Generally you give someone with greater fight frequency a little more slack. I'd rather see a lot of fights than fewer fights, so long as the busier fighter winds up fighting comparable top opponents.

Meanwhile, Wilder won fairly handily in all three fights, winning about 90% or more of all the rounds in those 3 fights. Povetkin won slightly fewer rounds in his three fights.

Again, Wilder rightly deserves some criticism for his weak title defenses. And Povektin probably wins h2h. But the criticism, at least to this point, is way overblown, and he would have a much better chance against Povetkin than a lot of critics suggest.

 

That statement doesn't make sense, but I think you mean to criticize Stiverne. Any fighter can be picked apart like that. Who is Takam's best victory over, 50yo Thompson? Who is Perez's best win, Abdusalamov? Whose own best win was against a Jameel McCline who was greatly faded from the version who was destroyed by Arreola (Stiverne's best win) but who still managed to knock Abdusalamov down.

The fact is Stiverne has a better resume than Perez and probably better than Takam. I'd pick him to easily beat Perez and make him a slight favorite against Takam.

 

Hhhmmm. Very reasoned and intelligent response to my argument. Not sure I have anything that can come back from such a brilliant riposte.

 

Which isn't what I said. Beating Stiverne is more impressive than beating Takam or Perez. Beating Duhaupas is more impressive than beating Charr. Leaving Perez and Molina as the sole weak link. It arguably washes out as about equal.