Comments Thread For: Wilder Forces Us To Confront Our Fears & Joys In Boxing Fandom

[davidw9785]

Amazing article. Does a great job of summing up the internals tensions in boxing as a sport. A lot of quotable sentences in there:

"Part of our discomfort with him saying what he said is that it forces us to confront the grave possibilities of this sport we enjoy. He comes perilously close to making us all accomplices in something we didn’t necessarily sign up for. But once he comes perilously close to doing so by knocking someone out in a satisfying way, we are not angry anymore."

My signature is a tribute to this devastating right hand that folded Breazeale like a lawn chair.

[hitking]

Its because he really wants to see Joshua v Wilder. DAZN made an offer, Wilder turned it down, said it would make more on Showtime but then never came back with a counter offer but instead has lined up other opposition. What is he supposed to think? Who is he supposed to blame? Its Wilder, him and his manager have even said they dont want Joshua next.

As for the 50 million Dollar offer from Deontay Hearn and Joshua asked to proceed from the original offer which covered nothing but the 50 million. Finkel refused to send terms, Finkel refused to send a contract and Finkel refused to hold a meeting about the terms and the contract. Not to mention the 24 hour deadline. What is Hearn supposed to do when Team Wilder refuse to send a single piece of official paperwork. How do you proceed from there? So they walked away from that offer cuz it wasnt really an offer.

So are we gonna ignore that AJ said he wanted the fight to be in the UK or nah? Specially because his fans had been there for him his entire career. And it wouldn’t be right to take his biggest fight to America.

[CocoonOfHorror]

This article really encapsulates my feelings about Wilder-Brezeale pre-fight, during fight, post-fight.

I can't recall any boxers who were killed by a one-punch KO (though I'm not a boxing historian by any means). It seems like all the deaths have been in extended beatings. Under boxing rules, Wilder's power makes it less likely that he will kill someone because the opponent is much more likely to be counted out or for the ref to step in.

[OnePunch]

Amazing article. Does a great job of summing up the internals tensions in boxing as a sport. A lot of quotable sentences in there:

"Part of our discomfort with him saying what he said is that it forces us to confront the grave possibilities of this sport we enjoy. He comes perilously close to making us all accomplices in something we didn’t necessarily sign up for. But once he comes perilously close to doing so by knocking someone out in a satisfying way, we are not angry anymore."

My signature is a tribute to this devastating right hand that folded Breazeale like a lawn chair.

wrong.

most of us simply "accept" that serious injury, or even death, can unfortunately happen from time to time. No different than say auto racing for example. But we take no joy from it. And you certainly dont see Denny Hamlin saying he hopes Kyle Busch hits the wall in turn 4 and dies.

The difference here was that Wilder did not simply just acknowledge the possibility of serious injury or death, he gleefully wished it upon his opponent, and seemed to take some sort of sick pride in knowing that he likely would not be criminally charged. That takes things to a whole other level. The fact that he walked it back after the fight (likely on the advice of management) doesnt unring the bell.......

[Terrell1555]

I don’t have a problem with Wilder saying it, I just hoped it didn’t happen! I’m under no illusion that Boxing is the most dangerous sport and the potential for someone to die is in every single bout! I’m glad Dominic wasn’t killed! And I’m also glad that after the contest Wilder showed extreme class and apologized to DB’s family!

This article also tries to make it look like Wilder ducked AJ and that is some BS.

BOMMMBSQUAD!!!

[davidw9785]

wrong.

most of us simply "accept" that serious injury, or even death, can unfortunately happen from time to time. No different than say auto racing for example. But we take no joy from it. And you certainly dont see Denny Hamlin saying he hopes Kyle Busch hits the wall in turn 4 and dies.

The difference here was that Wilder did not simply just acknowledge the possibility of serious injury or death, he gleefully wished it upon his opponent, and seemed to take some sort of sick pride in knowing that he likely would not be criminally charged. That takes things to a whole other level. The fact that he walked it back after the fight (likely on the advice of management) doesnt unring the bell.......

I don't disagree with what you said, but comparing boxing competition to NASCAR competition is pretty misleading. In boxing, winning a competition means trying to punch another man in the head better than he punches you.

Regardless, I agree that the "get a body on my record" shtick is excessive and unnecessary (in my opinion). I think he said those things for publicity and controversy. And I also agree that most boxing fans understand the danger and that fighters have died directly from injuries sustained during a boxing match. BUT, I also think that a lot of casual fans don't fully appreciate that.

I'm definitely not going to defend Wilder for saying those things, but I just find the reaction fascinating when he states the unsaid obvious and revels in it. I can tell it is something he thinks about quite a bit, since he makes his living in the hurt business.

[Fire4231]

If anything Deontay’s Opponents are probably safer from the possibility of death than others.

Ring deaths usually happen when a fighter has sustained punishment and many concussions during a fight. It’s a fighter too gutsy for his health.

One punch KO’s cut off the circuitry but awareness usually comes back home to base.

[john l]

I don’t have a problem with Wilder saying it, I just hoped it didn’t happen! I’m under no illusion that Boxing is the most dangerous sport and the potential for someone to die is in every single bout! I’m glad Dominic wasn’t killed! And I’m also glad that after the contest Wilder showed extreme class and apologized to DB’s family!

This article also tries to make it look like Wilder ducked AJ and that is some BS.

BOMMMBSQUAD!!!

And half these idiots who are bashing Wilder for what he said go ga ga over Mike Tyson saying similar things(tried driving the nosebone into the brain after his 1st TV appearance vs J FERG).It has more to do with them being AJ fanboys then it does with what Wilder said.I did not like it because its bad for boxing, but MANY have said similar things.Foreman once said he wanted to know what it was like to kill a guy and so did Liston.That comment from Foreman came obv in his 1st career.

[FairPlay]

"Said viewpoints failed to take a variety of factors and context into consideration, but even for those holding them, Wilder’s sudden, violent one-punch knockout of Breazeale washed them away completely."

No it didn't. And no reason to continue reading the article after this ******ity.

[kafkod]

Its because he really wants to see Joshua v Wilder. DAZN made an offer, Wilder turned it down, said it would make more on Showtime but then never came back with a counter offer but instead has lined up other opposition. What is he supposed to think? Who is he supposed to blame? Its Wilder, him and his manager have even said they dont want Joshua next.

As for the 50 million Dollar offer from Deontay Hearn and Joshua asked to proceed from the original offer which covered nothing but the 50 million. Finkel refused to send terms, Finkel refused to send a contract and Finkel refused to hold a meeting about the terms and the contract. Not to mention the 24 hour deadline. What is Hearn supposed to do when Team Wilder refuse to send a single piece of official paperwork. How do you proceed from there? So they walked away from that offer cuz it wasnt really an offer.

You summed that up perfectly, which is good, because it means I don't have to bother doing it myself, and I have had it with talking about that bull**** $50milliom offer.