Wilder has earnt my respect this year.

[_Rexy_]

I attended the fight live bro, so haven’t really watched any of the BT broadcast apart from rewatching the fight itself when I got home.

Sky completely dominates the tv market in this country and further dominates the sports sector, hence the reason you get so many deluded idiots regurgitating all this Sky Sports propaganda.

do you just fly to vegas for all the big fights? I seem to recall you being at Mayweather/Hatton too.

[billeau2]

Never been a huge Wilder fan and his lack of fundamentals and technical skill makes it unlikely I ever will be.

But this year he’s CHOSE to fight Luis Ortiz and Tyson Fury as voluntary defences. Just let that sink in... he’s fighting these guys voluntarily in an era where fighters consistently duck mandatories, top contenders, dangerous fighters etc.

Both Ortiz and Fury are very difficult to face stylistically and in the case of Ortiz the fight wasn’t even hugely rewarding financially. However they were/are both fights the public wanted/want to see and Wilder has delivered them when he wasn’t obliged to do so.

I won’t go into the AJ BS cause I can’t be bothered with all the fanboyism, but all those who understand the sport know what happened there...

Anyway, regardless of what you think of Wilder, if you are truly a genuine boxing fan, you have to respect his choice of opponents this year.

While we are giving it up for the bamma slamma lets also understand he improved quite a lot. Ortiz was a tough fight for him to take because of the technical aspects he had to deal with in that fight. He hung on and Ortiz hits hard...so he showed a chin, and he has started to work off that jab nicely at times, set traps now and then... Hes always going to be at a disadvantage as the puncher, because punchers need those last three rounds, and he is never going to accumulate rounds but if he keeps perfecting his attacks and pays attention to defense he can always find opportunities in the fight to be succesful.

My own feeling, regardless of how povatkin compares to ortiz, is that ortiz was the tougher fight for him. Povatkin has no reach yet squares up... Big punchers with good wingspan are bound to find Povatkin, just like Joshua did.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

do you just fly to vegas for all the big fights? I seem to recall you being at Mayweather/Hatton too.

I’ve started going more often recently, before I went Canelo-GGG 1 I hadn’t been to a Vegas fight for years.
Mayweather-Hatton was the first Vegas fight I ever went to.

[famicommander]

Pretty much agree with all this, the division is very weak IMO. Usyk is a nightmare for anyone at HW when he moves up.

It remains to be seen if he can stand up to a shot from one of the bigger punchers in the division. Wilder, Joshua, and Ortiz definitely hit way harder than Gassiev or Tony Bellew.

Even at 6'3" he's giving up a lot of height and 4-5 inches in reach to Wilder and Joshua.

I have no doubt he can land punches and win rounds, but I don't think he can hurt them. His power isn't elite at cruiserweight, so it's definitely not elite at heavyweight.

Eventually he's going to get hit. He's a fantastic defensive fighter but even Floyd got his chin tested every now and again. If his chin can take it, he could beat them all. But that's a big ask.

[Randall Cunning]

Completely off topic here, but did you manage to catch the Alvarez-Golovkin 2 fight in the UK, or know of anyone who watched the fight in the UK.

Was having a conversation in a separate post, where I was arguing my sense that there was likely a reach difference between the presentation/push for a fight from the UK by Sky Box Office, compared to BT Sport PPV however, not being a Brit, I had no real way to corroborate that.

Thanks for any info you can share

HBO would be Sky, Showtime would be BT Sport, that kind of a level. Though Sky has huge coverage in pubs, if youre in a bar Sky Sports is on the TV. I have Sky but you can still buy BT Sport PPVs without having BT, its crucial they get people to know how to buy it, I found it a pain in the ass to get Canelo/GGG 2

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

While we are giving it up for the bamma slamma lets also understand he improved quite a lot. Ortiz was a tough fight for him to take because of the technical aspects he had to deal with in that fight. He hung on and Ortiz hits hard...so he showed a chin, and he has started to work off that jab nicely at times, set traps now and then... Hes always going to be at a disadvantage as the puncher, because punchers need those last three rounds, and he is never going to accumulate rounds but if he keeps perfecting his attacks and pays attention to defense he can always find opportunities in the fight to be succesful.

My own feeling, regardless of how povatkin compares to ortiz, is that ortiz was the tougher fight for him. Povatkin has no reach yet squares up... Big punchers with good wingspan are bound to find Povatkin, just like Joshua did.

Yeah Povetkin despite being a pretty skilled fighter was in no way a legitimate threat, whilst Ortiz certainly was IMO possibly because he is much more complex to deal with stylistically.

[Mammoth]

He should beat Fury so him and Usyk will be the ones getting the fighter of the year mentions.

[KillaCamNZ]

Ortiz was 38, and Fury has fought twice this year. Let’s try and keep to the facts

Ortiz's profile says he's 38 - that doesn't make him 38 in reality. If Albert Pujols can turn lying about his age into a few hundred million dollars, Ortiz is capable of a slice of that.

And Fury fighting Seferi and Pianeta is the equivalent of sparring a couple of crash test dummies.

Still, here's hoping Fury-Wilder is a hell of a fight.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

It remains to be seen if he can stand up to a shot from one of the bigger punchers in the division. Wilder, Joshua, and Ortiz definitely hit way harder than Gassiev or Tony Bellew.

Even at 6'3" he's giving up a lot of height and 4-5 inches in reach to Wilder and Joshua.

I have no doubt he can land punches and win rounds, but I don't think he can hurt them. His power isn't elite at cruiserweight, so it's definitely not elite at heavyweight.

Eventually he's going to get hit. He's a fantastic defensive fighter but even Floyd got his chin tested every now and again. If his chin can take it, he could beat them all. But that's a big ask.

I’ve always had the opinion Usyk would be a nightmare at HW after watching him stand Joe Joyce on his head over 5 rounds in the WSOB several years ago. I honestly don’t think size will be that much of an issue, the power is obviously a factor though.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

HBO would be Sky, Showtime would be BT Sport, that kind of a level. Though Sky has huge coverage in pubs, if youre in a bar Sky Sports is on the TV. I have Sky but you can still buy BT Sport PPVs without having BT, its crucial they get people to know how to buy it, I found it a pain in the ass to get Canelo/GGG 2

I get the comparison but the gap between Sky and BT is way bigger than the HBO-Sho gap.