Officially this is true... but back then a lot of people laughed at that rating, and 20/20 hindsight has proven the doubters right. Stiverne basically got the rating by beating clearly past it Arreola (who was barely top10 in his prime) twice, winning a vacated belt, and not much else. After that he never won a proper fight (one gift against Rossy) and has been dropped in each and every one of them. Stiverne might be one of the worst beltholders with the worst overall resume in history.
I don't even think Arreola was top 10 material, he was always over hyped because he was exciting and had a punch. But when you look at his resume he lost to every fighter he stepped up against even former light heavy Adamek. He never beat anyone who was any good, Molina is probably his best win. I personally think he was always top 20, gatekeeper level. Stiverne was better clearly based on their 2 fights but beating a gatekeeper doesn't make you a top contender. Stiverne wasn't awful, but after he won the title he basically lost what little commitment he had, he showed up for training camp for Wilder overweight and ended up giving himself Rhabdomyolysis in trying to get himself into shape with so little time and so was compromised for the first Wilder fight.
Please elaborate on why you think Wilder deserves to fight the winner, coming of two losses? Incredible..
Exactly this. The dude is coming of 2 should be 3 losses. Wilder needs to fight the likes of Parker and Whyte at least. The Wilder fanboys are deluded and insane.
Wilder doesn't deserve a title shot he's coming of 2-3 losses. Let him fight a few names first there's plenty of fights to be had but he won't because his career has been about avoiding named opponents.
Well it was reported that Wilder turned down 4 offers to fight AJ all of which at the time where over double Wilder career high purse. Wilder even admitted that he turned down a chance to fight AJ for more to fight as due as he stated "he felt sorry for him" (in other words it a cherry pick gone bad). Wilders team have no faith in winning the fight with AJ and have built Wilders career living off AJs name.
Absolutely, Mark. To me this point seems to still be riding over a lot of other people's heads. Wilder behaved like a champion in that last fight with Fury. When did AJ ever show that much heart?
It's quite clear Joshua never wanted to fight Wilder because he knew he'd get KTFO. Hearn knew this too, that's why he forced all negotiations to be always be in favor of Joshua. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just a fanboy. Very convenient for Joshua to "collect" all his belts while never leaving the UK, thanks to Hearn. And also thanks to Hearn, he ensures any time Joshua loses he will find a way to get it back. Joshua failed against a hungry Ruiz and was too afraid to engage a fat unmotivated Ruiz in a rematch. Time after time he has shown a much weaker chin than Wilder which is why he fights gun shy. Joshua is just a forced, manufactured champion by Eddie Hearn and he's trying to do the same with Whyte, despite Whyte getting KTFO as well time after time. Once all the belts are fully out of Hearns control (which will happen after Usyk knocks Joshua out in the rematch), we'll finally get to see the more meaningful fights like Usyk vs Fury and Usky vs Wilder or anyone else on the rise. Hearn and Joshua and Whyte can have a threesome somewhere else.
I know your trolling it seems to be a prerequisite for your position.... That being said Wilder fought Fury coming of a lay off and considered to have an average chin and power. Yet Fury clowns him in the first then batters him fights 2 and 3. Wilder is a bum and no amount of mental gymnastics by clowns like yourself will change that fact. His resume is a joke for someone holding a major belt for 5 years and beating King Kong means nothing as he is another bum who hasn't fought any of the other guys in the top 10. I'm no fan of Joshua but he makes far more than anyone else whether you hate him or not. The fact he can fill a football stadium with 80000 is proof of that. It's well known Wilder ducked despite being offered career best payday. Your love is an utter joke. If he has the balls to fight anyone in the top 10 he gets starched. He won't because he only picked Fury because he thought that would be an easy fight. It wasn't...
Yet later on, Wilder the Fool admitted in a video to Fury that he turned down the AJ Fight / Offer which gave him more $$$$ to instead fight Fury. Complete Duck. Or are you conveniently erasing this from history? It is there from Wilders own lips. Also, whilst WBC Champion, why did he not try to unify with Parker? Let alone Vlad.
I don't remember who was #9 in Ring Magazine seven years ago. Sorry. Stiverne was rated higher when Wilder beat him the first time than Ortiz was for either Wilder fight.
Stiverne was #3 in TBRB at the time. No matter which of the most highly recognized ratings you go by, Stiverne was either #2 or #3.
So? Ortiz was far better than Stiverne, just because ESPN rated him higer than other heavies at one point don`t mean much, I need to know who these fighters were.