Joshua and Wilder should get their mandatories out of the way...

[joe strong]

What I want is for Joshua & Wilder to get the mandatories out of the way. I don't want a Stiverne rematch but it is what it is. Get it done & take him out. I do understand that there is always a risk of losing or getting injured in any fight. That would be a tough pill to swallow if Wilder got hurt or lost in the rematch for NO money since no network wants to air the fight. I can see why Wilder is looking elsewhere. Obviously Wilder wants to make the Joshua fight but he is also trying to fight Ortiz because Showtime will at least pick it up & he could probably make a couple million for that fight. Stiverne is a serious roadblock.

Joshua should have little trouble taking out Pulev. Actually I don't see Pulev lasting more than a couple rounds. He is too tough for his own good. He is there to be hit & he will stand in the middle of the ring exchanging punches. He has no power so I would expect him to go down quickly. Pulev is a good fighter but he is not much better than Chisora. He gets way to much credit by many here. Who has he beat? So many posters here say Chisora is washed up or not that good yet that is Pulev's best win. He beat an overrated Dimitrenko, 43 year old Tony Thompson, Ustinov, Kevin Johnson & Sam Peter who were both retired. In my opinion he is somewhat overrated & unproven as he has not beat a top HW. Yet the same people who support him will crap on Wilder's resume.

I don't know what to think of Ortiz as he is still somewhat of an enigma. He looked really good against Jennings but the only other names he has on that resume are Malik Scott who he looked sluggish against along with wins against a washed up Monte Barrett & Tony Thompson. What makes anyone think Joshua or Wilder would duck either Pulev or Ortiz? They really haven't done anything that special to make me think they would be avoided. Ortiz brings nothing to the table when it comes to money.

Get these fights out of the way so we can start having big fights. I don't see either Pulev or Ortiz beating AJ. I don't see either of them beating Wilder either.

[BigZ44]

Agree with you on most of this Joe, definitely on both guys getting the mandos out of the way. I'm higher on Pulev and lower on Wilder than you, but that's alright. Most important thing is for these guys to deal with the fights they have to take so they both have the freedom to make better fights in the near future. Hope the WBA doesn't strip Joshua, but if they do, so be it. The division as a whole has been a little quiet the last couple months, hopefully some guys get more active and it starts heating up again soon.

[joe strong]

Agree with you on most of this Joe, definitely on both guys getting the mandos out of the way. I'm higher on Pulev and lower on Wilder than you, but that's alright. Most important thing is for these guys to deal with the fights they have to take so they both have the freedom to make better fights in the near future. Hope the WBA doesn't strip Joshua, but if they do, so be it. The division as a whole has been a little quiet the last couple months, hopefully some guys get more active and it starts heating up again soon.

I'm not that high on Wilder but I think he doesn't get enough credit. I was totally all over Wilder & thought he would get exposed. I thought Stiverne would crush him. Before Arreola lost to Stiverne twice I thought Arreola would crush him too. I thought there was no way that he would become HW champion. I was wrong but he still needs a big win to get respect.

[BigZ44]

I'm not that high on Wilder but I think he doesn't get enough credit. I was totally all over Wilder & thought he would get exposed. I thought Stiverne would crush him. Before Arreola lost to Stiverne twice I thought Arreola would crush him too. I thought there was no way that he would become HW champion. I was wrong but he still needs a big win to get respect.

Agreed. He has the great equalizer with that power, I just don't feel like I can really buy into him yet based on the guys he's beaten. I never thought much of Stiverne and he hasn't looked any good since that fight. Wins over Molina, Szpilka and a washed up Arreola don't move the needle much for me either. I honestly think Duhaupas is Wilder's best win

[Afi23]

While AJ had to get the Wladimir situation settled, Wilder should have taken care of the Stiverne situation this spring-summer instead of calling out Unification fights that he knew couldn't be made at the moment. Instead of running his mouth the past few months, he should have taken care of Stiverne, because now that "business has resumed" for Joshua since the retirement announcement, Wilder's mandatory his now one more hurdle.

[joe strong]

Agreed. He has the great equalizer with that power, I just don't feel like I can really buy into him yet based on the guys he's beaten. I never thought much of Stiverne and he hasn't looked any good since that fight. Wins over Molina, Szpilka and a washed up Arreola don't move the needle much for me either. I honestly think Duhaupas is Wilder's best win

Duhaupas turned out to be a pretty tough cookie. This may sound foolish but I know for a long time I couldn't take Wilder seriously because I was traumatized by the Charlie Zelenoff video. I was how the f**k can this guy be taken seriously if he is wasting his time on this internet sideshow? I thought they were both in on it as a hoax but still it left me scratching my head. It was tough for me to take him seriously for a long time until he beat Stiverne.

[joe strong]

While AJ had to get the Wladimir situation settled, Wilder should have taken care of the Stiverne situation this spring-summer instead of calling out Unification fights that he knew couldn't be made at the moment. Instead of running his mouths the past few months, he should have taken care of Stiverne, because now that "business has resumed" for Joshua since the retirement announcement, Wilder's mandatory his now one more hurdle.

The problem is no network wants to air the rematch. I would have loved to have him get it out of the way now but the WBC said unification would trump any mandatory. Team Wilder tried to pursue Parker & Joshua. You can't blame him for that. He has even tried to get Ortiz because Showtime will air that fight but team Stiverne won't take step aside money. Stiverne also missed a drug test which has made things even more complicated.

[Afi23]

The problem is no network wants to air the rematch. I would have loved to have him get it out of the way now but the WBC said unification would trump any mandatory. Team Wilder tried to pursue Parker & Joshua. You can't blame him for that. He has even tried to get Ortiz because Showtime will air that fight but team Stiverne won't take step aside money. Stiverne also missed a drug test which has made things even more complicated.

I hear you but even a SpikeTV or BounceTV on a friday night in 'Bama couldn't get the job done? Obviously, unless Haymon wants to dig into his own pockets, both fighters wouldn't be making a high 6 digits purses going that route but still.

[joe strong]

I hear you but even a SpikeTV or BounceTV on a friday night in 'Bama couldn't get the job done? Obviously, unless Haymon wants to dig into his own pockets, both fighters wouldn't be making a high 6 digits purses going that route but still.

Wilder is in a tough spot as he is not a massive draw himself & if it doesn't happen in Alabama it would be a tough sell. This fight is pretty hard to make with no TV deal. Wilder was getting fights on PBC so you would hope some network like the ones you mentioned would show it. The delay had a lot to do with Klitschko's decision on a rematch. Everyone was waiting to see what direction the HW landscape would go in...

[The Gambler1981]

That is pretty much how I have felt this whole time get that stuff out of the way win some fights and talk up the bigger fight and then it will be all the bigger.