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Just finished rewatching Wilder - Stiverne I.
If Wilder really is the hardest-hitting heavyweight of all time, or at the very least, one of the best, then Bermane Stiverne (when he was fit and healthy and not already almost 40) had one of the best chins of all time.
To those who say Wilder broke his hand in the fourth round. I’m no medical expert but I doubt he had a severe issue with the right hand the way he kept throwing it all night. It wasn’t like Gervonta Davis in the Cruz fight where it was clear one of his hands was mostly out of commission.
Let’s still assume his punch wasn’t the same after the fourth round. In the first three rounds Stiverne still took, and even walked through, multiple of Wilder’s signature one-two to the face (you know, the one that crumpled everyone to the canvas). Some of those punches were loud and thudding and threw the sweat off of Stiverne, and he shook his head or yelled at Wilder and threw back (unsuccessfully - he wasn’t an accurate puncher, but that’s for another post).
Why doesn’t Bermane Stiverne get his due? I like Fury and all, but he didn’t show half the punch resistance to Wilder’s best that Stiverne did. Stiverne, unlike Fury, just couldn’t capitalize on his ability to rock and roll with Wilder’s punch power. And, to be fair, Stiverne was old and fat and folded in their rematch, whereas Fury came in and got the knockout. But you see what I’m saying. Prime Stiverne was something else, just didn’t have the offensive skill to capitalize.
If Wilder really is the hardest-hitting heavyweight of all time, or at the very least, one of the best, then Bermane Stiverne (when he was fit and healthy and not already almost 40) had one of the best chins of all time.
To those who say Wilder broke his hand in the fourth round. I’m no medical expert but I doubt he had a severe issue with the right hand the way he kept throwing it all night. It wasn’t like Gervonta Davis in the Cruz fight where it was clear one of his hands was mostly out of commission.
Let’s still assume his punch wasn’t the same after the fourth round. In the first three rounds Stiverne still took, and even walked through, multiple of Wilder’s signature one-two to the face (you know, the one that crumpled everyone to the canvas). Some of those punches were loud and thudding and threw the sweat off of Stiverne, and he shook his head or yelled at Wilder and threw back (unsuccessfully - he wasn’t an accurate puncher, but that’s for another post).
Why doesn’t Bermane Stiverne get his due? I like Fury and all, but he didn’t show half the punch resistance to Wilder’s best that Stiverne did. Stiverne, unlike Fury, just couldn’t capitalize on his ability to rock and roll with Wilder’s punch power. And, to be fair, Stiverne was old and fat and folded in their rematch, whereas Fury came in and got the knockout. But you see what I’m saying. Prime Stiverne was something else, just didn’t have the offensive skill to capitalize.
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