Grade Deontay Wilder's performance last nite

[New England]

I disagree wit dis. They're not "ruining him" but his team is doing him a disservice IMO.

Feeding him a steady diet of tomato cans does not move him along and progress his career. Wilder has sparred with Wlad/Haye and other top heavyweights so when you put him in with a guy like Firtha it's a huge step down.

His management needs to put him in with someone who's gonna give him a challenge and who's gonna test him; Wilder is perfectly capable of beating a top 20 opponent, so why is his team so afraid of putting him in with one?

I've been following Wilder since he went pro and I want him to succeed but what I'm afraid of, is his management taking the path of least resistance to a title shot and then having their fighter get dominated and KTFO.

I've read numerous reports about how Wilder is positioning himself for a title shot next year and I've also heard Wladimir Klitschko talk about him as a potential opponent. With this in mind, is fighting guys like Firtha gonna prepare him? -Obvioulsy not.

I'm sure Wilder could beat guys like Adamek, Wach, Dimitrenko, Zimnoch, Kevin Johnson, Glazkov, et al. His management needs to put some faith in their fighter and take the calculated gamble

wilder literally just turned 28 a couple of days ago. that is a baby in HW terms, especially when you've got a guy with a long frame.

you are overestimating wilder. he's not that far along yet. the guy started boxing when he was a grown man. he's talented. he's not a good boxer. he's got the potential to make a ton of money down the line. putting him in with guys who are supposed to give him several rounds and lose are exactly what he needs. he didn't get it early in his career. he needs it now.

wilder should be in there with dominick guinn, a relatively dangerous opponent who can go rounds. that's what they tried to do with liakhovich. firtha likewise, as he went the distance with banks and povetkin.

[gauze]

i give him a B+. he showed a nice variety of punches and that jab is looking good. i dont think he's quite ready for a top 10 fighter but he showed some improved skills against a guy who came to fight.

he needs to stop loading up on that right hand, but overall i think he's on his way

[gauze]

wilder literally just turned 28 a couple of days ago. that is a baby in HW terms, especially when you've got a guy with a long frame.

you are overestimating wilder. he's not that far along yet. the guy started boxing when he was a grown man. he's talented. he's not a good boxer. he's got the potential to make a ton of money down the line. putting him in with guys who are supposed to give him several rounds and lose are exactly what he needs. he didn't get it early in his career. he needs it now.

wilder should be in there with dominick guinn. a relatively dangerous opponent who can go rounds. that's what they tried to do with liakhovich. firtha likewise, as he went the distance with banks and povetkin.

i like the guinn fight. he's rugged and as far as i know, never been stopped. it's a good guy to build wilder with as he's not a big puncher.

i like guinn by the way. always root for him except for when he fought james toney. solid gatekeeper

[BostonGuy]

Guinn or Kevin Johnson would be good opponents at this point. Both are solid fighters with sound defense but offensively are challenged. Both guys have never been knocked out so it would be a plus if Wilder was able to.

[Tom Cruise]

It wasn't as bad a performance as some have made out. He saw something new in this fight as Firtha came in with a little ambition and put him on the back foot and he did ok. Even though they look bad his punches had good snap and the ko still came in devastating fashion.

However i was surprised at how dodgy his footwork still is. With all the world class sparring he's getting id have thought it would be further along by now

He also needs to bring his hands back way quicker. Honestly i only boxed for a short time but that was drilled out of me within a few weeks. Cant stand and admire your work when your in with better opponents so why do it now? This is all practice for the future and he should treat it like that.

Still enjoying the KO's though

[Tom Cruise]

Guinn or Kevin Johnson would be good opponents at this point. Both are solid fighters with sound defense but offensively are challenged. Both guys have never been knocked out so it would be a plus if Wilder was able to.

Kevin Johnson mght be a bit much right now but in a few fights that's a decent match up. He would definitely go rounds and he has an excellent jab which could cause wilder a lot of problems

[beez721]

I've followed Deontay Wilder since he made his pro debut in '08. It's been tough to gauge how decent a fighter he is, since most of his fights end within 2 rounds and his competition has been dismal, at best.

Last night we learned a lot about this guy. We saw him against an opponent who didn't fold under pressure the first time he was hit. Firtha is a tough dude and came out with guns blazin' in the first round and made Wilder somewhat uncomfortable. However, beyond that, Firtha didn't have much to offer really. By round two he was barely throwing punches and seemed to be in survival mode for the remainder of the fight. The punches he did throw weren't very sharp and did little to dissuade the Bronze Bomber.

OK, let's talk about Wilder. I was disappointed. He doesn't have the look of boxer. His punches didn't look natural and fluid and it seemed like his muscular physique somewhat constricts the natural motion. He looks like more of a body builder than boxer.

He throws the jab with a side-arm motion so it's more a flick than a straight jab. His footwork and defense seem to be suspect as well.

Alright, let's talk about some of the pros. In an era where people frequently criticize a fighter's condition, Wilder is a specimen of peak physical condition. He's in tremendous shape and doesn't have an ounce of fat on him. Wilder is also super aggressive and his power is undeniable; he also has the "killer instinct" that many of his peers lack. Wilder likes landing the huge punch and knocking guys out.

That said, he is nowhere near a title shot IMO. He needs to despartely step it up against a credible opponent; someone like Boystov, Helenius, Mago, Wach, Dimitrenko. He hasn't fought anyone who has put up any semblance of resistance. He needs to be tested (more than once) before he gets into the ring with a top opponent like Wlad.

pretty much agree with every thing you said. he definitely needs to take on a guy that can give him some resistance to see what hes really made of. a wach or guinn would be perfect. he really needs to shorten up on his punches and improve his defense. I love the power tho. its legit

[TGD]

[The Gambler1981]

Really he has only now reached being a real prospect, you could pretty much call him 0-0 right now because those first 30 fights were an apprenticeship and now he should be put on a real career path.


Still that is a slow process and doesn't involve him fighting top guys for a while yet, he needs to fight better guys going forward but he is still a raw prospect so what you want to see is improvement out of him each fight and which is what I have seen.

I dare anyone to go back and watch a few early fights of his and then watch the last few preferably in order and say he hasn't gotten quite a bit better.