Wilder's Right Hand?

Some other posters on here had a good take on this; Wilder’s power came from his fast twitch muscle fibers and explosiveness, which are among the first things to go.

 

Wilder has been lied to all his career, he has never been a good boxer but that bomb put boxers out for fun promoters fooled him and tried fool the public. When he was found out and when he had to try be a boxer he was found out

 

his right hand only has power when he has enough space to double hop like Bald Bull. Chisora kept on getting too close the entire fight

 

They said the same about Tyson. But I guess Tyson was just really heavy handed without the speed because his power never left him. Like in the Botha fight. He was awful but the power bailed him out.

 

He can still crack when he lands well, but he doesn't have that touch of death power he used to. His power in large part came from his explosive speed, technique (the cross was the only shot he could throw correctly) and the distance he crossed while throwing it.

But as he's gotten older he's lost much of his speed and athleticism, he's fighting better competition that does not give him space to load up and cross distance with his right, and another element that I think is at play is that Wilder has totally bought into his own hype.

Glazing from fans and KOs like in the Helenius fight have convinced him that he doesn't need to throw his right hand with good technique or proper setups for it to be as devastating as it was. He now just tosses it out, sometimes even slapping with it, and expects it to have the same effect.

 

That and or, he isn't fully committed to his shot. Remember, a young Wilder would alway commit and fall off balance or into his opponent when he let his right go. I haven't noticed that his last few fights.

 

I’ve posted this many times and again on the British RBR thread: “power is the last to go” is just a myth.

It defies biomechanical logic to say otherwise since power is the result of athleticism through rotational force alongside physical factors like bone density.

 

There are numerous fighters whose power was based on speed and explosiveness and once it was lost the power has gone too.

David Haye, Herbie Hide, Shane Mosley, Roy Jones to name a few. Same with Wilder.

 

Tyson’s much better form and getting his whole body behind his shots kept him more dangerous in my opinion

 

Someone should do a PHD on this topic. It would be good to see some in depth data analysis analysing data from punchers in all weight classes to see what the trends are in punching power as they get on in years.

Problem is you will have some outliers who gain or even lose KO power as they advance through the weight classes and of course fighters who may be doping.

 

That's more when it muscle mass power than hand speed/fast twitch. And Wilder has had injuries.

 

Did he ever really have it?

I'm not buying it.

In his prime Stiverne took him 12 rounds, Molina took him 9, Duhaupas 11, Szpilka 9, Arreola 8....That doesn't scream "Hard hitting HW" to me.

He used his athleticism and speed to knock out immobile older men, who were not top level athletes let alone boxers. The likes of Wlad and Lewis generate significantly more power in EVERY possible thrown punch than what Wilder generates. I think Usyk is a heavier puncher btw.

 

Similar to Ingemar Johansson. When he lost the timing, the right was not longer so lethal.