The skill of Deontay Wilder

[billeau2]

He fought absolute trash, there’s never been a worse HW champ resume. And he only ever held one belt, won against a fat piece of trash Stiverne.

He’s one of the worst world champion HW’s in the history of boxing. The dude lost easily to Fury, Zhang, Parker the only 3 decent fighters he ever fought. Where was his power in those fights?

He can knockout trash and bums which isn’t impressive to me.

He was in decline after the third Fury fight. If you look at the heavyweight division there have been many champions who fought bad competition. Did Wilder fight the worse? Maybe. Still the point stands. To even be one of the weakest belt holders with absolutely a punch, and nothing else, and maybe some athletic ability is impressive.

[champion4ever]

If we compare a snake to a lion as predators isn't it pretty amazing that a snake can hunt using only their head no with no arms or legs?

By the time fighters reach the upper echelons of professional prize fighting they have to have some basic skills if they are to advance. Even pure punchers have to be able to box a little bit or so conventional wisdom tells us. We have seen some one dimensional fighters who rose above the ranks. For example,Marciano, who had a very individualized skill sets given his size and reach.

So even excellent hitters like shavers and Lyle could box and had skills. I could go on and on and search for heavyweights who made it to the top but you know what? None of them were as bad as Wilder!

Wilder truly had no real boxing skills. So how could such a contender reach the status that Wilder achieved? Do I have to spell it out for you?

That's how good Wilders punch is. So good that it allowed him with no real skills to speak of, to fight as a champion. I can't think of a precedent for his success. I think of fighters like Tua, and later versions of razor rud****, who became a one-handed fighter, none of them were as devastating a puncher as Wilder.

So next time somebody is speaking about how bad Wilder was agree with them... And then ask them how a guy with no boxing skills, basically one hand, and no size could become a heavyweight champion. Because sometimes the logic is there all along if people are willing to look.

You are spot on and also he defended his title for a total of ten times; Matching only Muhammad Ali in a total of ten or more title defenses

[billeau2]

Wilder was awful, a total smoke and mirrors hype job creation by a music industry crook who applied the music industry formula to Wilder. Manufacture a non talent with synthesizers, bells & whistles, media promo and scripted choreographies. He was nothing but a bum with no class. They built him up and bought the title from Stiverne and then targeted Fatso Fury for the big kill, after dodging Joshua. But Fury could beat bum Wilder with an arm tied behind his back. And the story ended there. Wilder was nothing, that's why they had to duck Povetkin and Whyte too. Now that Wilder has no leverage and no drawing power they had to risk him vs Zhang and that fight showed Wilder is nothing on his own. He never was anything. Haymon fooled a few fools with the show but astute observers knew from the getgo. The moment of truth was when AJ and Hearn tried to get Wilder early but team Wilder faked the negotiations for PR reasons.

Really? So any toughman contestant with a punch can win a bronze model, become a Butterbean like professional by selective measures? Do you har how silly you guys sound? Wilder walked into the elite level of professional prize fighting and was successful which contradicts all the haters. The point here is not even how he measures up so much as the skill it takes to be a one armed, one trick pony (bad mixed metaphor!!) and become a dominant force in the heavyweight division.

James Joyce comes close: I mean he had no skills either except the ability to come forward and arm punch... But he never made it as far as Wilder and Wilder was more dominant.

[billeau2]

Primo Carnera. Carnera is often considered the weakest heavyweight champion... has anyone ever watched Carnera on the Tube? He had skills, moved well, could throw every punch. Marciano is unprecedented. He was ot considered a weak champion and managed to win his own way...

I do not condone Wilder's arrogance. He may well have become one of the stronger if he had put some work in on the craft. But facts are facts. There was once a one armed pitcher who played for the St Louis Browns... That is quite a handicap to overcome! Wilder, deciding to use pure athletic ability and a dynamite punch managed to show champion calibre performance. If it was a total fluke explain the Bronze medal. If it was a total fluke explain his ability to show as a bench mark, against a common opponent (Dominique Breazile) a better performance than Joshua... And if it was a fluke explain how when he got to the top he managed to catch Fury and almost win the championship.

Wilder fought the same opponents that others did including ortiz who was excellent.

How is this not remarkable? . yeah it was a weak division. How many heavyweights were champions in a strong division? Look it up might suprize some of the haters... Liston? Dempsey? Johnson? Tyson? Klitsko? Did Wilder fight even weaker comp on average? I think so, but this then also applies to Joshua and Usyk and Fury as well. Wilder fought no less competition than the rest... Ring rankings, World belt contenders... all a red herring! These accolades do not make fighters "better."

[daggum]

Really? So any toughman contestant with a punch can win a bronze model, become a Butterbean like professional by selective measures? Do you har how silly you guys sound? Wilder walked into the elite level of professional prize fighting and was successful which contradicts all the haters. The point here is not even how he measures up so much as the skill it takes to be a one armed, one trick pony (bad mixed metaphor!!) and become a dominant force in the heavyweight division.

James Joyce comes close: I mean he had no skills either except the ability to come forward and arm punch... But he never made it as far as Wilder and Wilder was more dominant.

James Joyce had tons of skill. Guess you never read his books

[ELPacman]

I forget whose quote this was but it was something to the effect of, "he had one trick, but it was a hell of trick". This may or may not actually been directed towards Deontay as well, lol.

[billeau2]

James Joyce had tons of skill. Guess you never read his books

Good catch, fair play.

[daggum]

If we compare a snake to a lion as predators isn't it pretty amazing that a snake can hunt using only their head no with no arms or legs?

By the time fighters reach the upper echelons of professional prize fighting they have to have some basic skills if they are to advance. Even pure punchers have to be able to box a little bit or so conventional wisdom tells us. We have seen some one dimensional fighters who rose above the ranks. For example,Marciano, who had a very individualized skill sets given his size and reach.

So even excellent hitters like shavers and Lyle could box and had skills. I could go on and on and search for heavyweights who made it to the top but you know what? None of them were as bad as Wilder!

Wilder truly had no real boxing skills. So how could such a contender reach the status that Wilder achieved? Do I have to spell it out for you?

That's how good Wilders punch is. So good that it allowed him with no real skills to speak of, to fight as a champion. I can't think of a precedent for his success. I think of fighters like Tua, and later versions of razor rud****, who became a one-handed fighter, none of them were as devastating a puncher as Wilder.

So next time somebody is speaking about how bad Wilder was agree with them... And then ask them how a guy with no boxing skills, basically one hand, and no size could become a heavyweight champion. Because sometimes the logic is there all along if people are willing to look.

Thats how bad his comp was. He has a 25 percent ko ratio agaisnt ring ranked fighters aka good opponents. That is historically weak.


Political connections and soft matchmaking.

[Bennyleonard99]

Really? So any toughman contestant with a punch can win a bronze model, become a Butterbean like professional by selective measures? Do you har how silly you guys sound? Wilder walked into the elite level of professional prize fighting and was successful which contradicts all the haters. The point here is not even how he measures up so much as the skill it takes to be a one armed, one trick pony (bad mixed metaphor!!) and become a dominant force in the heavyweight division.

James Joyce comes close: I mean he had no skills either except the ability to come forward and arm punch... But he never made it as far as Wilder and Wilder was more dominant.

Wilder is and was so bad, I wouldn't put it past his manager to have bought the bronze medal. He's never looked remotely like a top ten or 20 fighter, even against PBC employees Stiverne, Ortiz and all those divers. He looked exactly like a scripted phony who landed the right hand on a guy who got a bonus to eat it. Sorry, after seeing true greats like Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield, Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Louis, Holmes in real action, Wilder looked like a six rounder in comparison. The worst fighter on earth can be made to look okay if he has the two most powerful and corrupt managers running his career. Haymon and Finkel engineered an awful scam. The smoking guns are ducking Povetkin, Whyte, AJ and the Zhang fight lol.

[billeau2]

I forget whose quote this was but it was something to the effect of, "he had one trick, but it was a hell of trick". This may or may not actually been directed towards Deontay as well, lol.

That is the whole idea of the thread. Let me be clear that as a fighter, including as a great puncher, like Louis, Dempsey, etc, Wilder does not belong in the conversation. However he was an interesting rarity in that he managed to go very far with just a great punch.

I am not even certain where he belongs when we look at excellent punchers like Lyle and Shavers, men who had skills as well... Because Wilder truly had nothing else to compliment his punch... except fast feet, which do matter. But punch for punch, it stands as remarkable that Wilder was able to climb the ladder with such devistating power. I also would have to consider him for a relatively short list of those who hit the hardest in the history of the sport.

Max Baer might be our most similar fighter to Wilder. He had other good punches but was severely lacking in defensive attributes. Max also hit very hard.