Wilder is 36-0 with 35 KO's yet he's not a star?

[Lester Tutor]

fighting bums will do that to you.

but then we have Gennady Golovkin...

[FlatLine]

He only beat 1 possibly decent opponent to win the title - Stiverne - and Stiverne only won a vacant title in a rematch against a guy he'd already beaten, Arreola. Wilder is basically untested at high level because so is Stiverne. No big wins, no big names.

But, the guy has all the qualities to be a star personality-wise and it'd be great if he does become a massive star inside and outside the sport. Fury, Ortiz, Haye all have better all-round skills but Wilder does have that one punch knockout game-changing power, plus he's still learning and improving his skills.

If he beats Povetkin in Russia, he's going to up his stock around the world. Champion goes to challenger's backyard to beat him. Great story. Good luck to the guy, he's a great character for the division.

[PK3434]

He doesn't have a promoter. Instead, he has (at least) 3 managers. It's a good way to not become a star and to have most of your fight purses taken from you.

[Vinnykin]

In 30+ fights he hasn't fought any body most boxing fans have in their personal top 10. I hadn't heard about Stiverne honestly, the fact Wilder beat him means nothing to me. I checked Boxrec after seeing his ko % and it's quite obvious why he has that record. He's been learning on the job, beat a weak champion for the belt and has fought nothing but bums in his defences. That's the reason why he's not a star. He hasn't been in a BIG fight yet.

Now that he's a champion with a belt and is away to fight a genuine top 5 opponent this could change very quickly. If he wins in Russia I'll regard him as a genuine champion. Also, If he wins that he's 1 fight away from being the genuine undisputed number 1 in the division. By the end of this year, if he wins his next 2 fights he will be a star Imo. I just don't see him beating Povetkin or Fury/Klitschko but fair play if he does

[Luilun]

Why is this kid not a star like Tyson and Holyfield were back in the day? You'd think he'd be all over ESPN every time he fought like Tyson used to be...

He's an Olympic medal winner, and has the highest KO % in boxing I'm guessing amongst guys with 30+ fights...

Is it because boxing is just a niche sport these days? Wilder has the personality to draw people in like Tyson did yet he's a virtual nobody outside of big fans of the sport..

What has to change to bring back the days where an American Heavyweight Champ is a household name? Everyone knew who Ali,Frazier,Foreman,Holmes,Tyson,Holyfield were....now people couldn't pick Wilder out of a lineup...

Most of his opponents were found in some alley drinking Night Train

[deathofaclown]

When you're 36-0 with 35 KO's and people are still not sold on you, i think that speaks volumes about your level of competition.

[Dr Rumack]

1) Came up in Wlad's shadow.

2) Faced very few top 10 opponents. Hard for people close to the sport to start selling him to people.

3) Looks awkward in the ring.

[Ray*]

He was brought along slowly, maybe due to his amateur background so yeah he shouldn't and wouldn't be getting the sort of praise you think he would get.. His resume reflects how slowly they have brought him.

[kafkod]

Either the American public know enough about boxing not to be interested in the kind of fights Wilder has been taking for the past 7 years or they just don't give a **** about the sport any more, and wouldn't care about him even if he'd beaten Wlad, instead of leaving that job to Fury.

[Dean_Razorback]

people isn't stupid, at least not that much stupid to believe he is the real deal. they've seen it struggle with guys like molina, they know he is no tyson nor holyfield