I fully agree. He fell into the same trap as Lennox Lewis towards the end of his career. Clinging to the belt he grew so fond of and not letting new contenders near it. It tarnished both mens careers and our memories of them.
If Stiverne couldn't land on Wilder he wasn't going to land on Vitali who was harder to hit do to the lean back style Stiverne would get Jabbed to death against Vitali
Why? Vitali would have beaten him up badly and Wilder would still be fighting joke opponents. As it is he's now "champ" and will have to act accordingly.