So Deontay Wilder is back? Well, he is against the likes of Robert Helenius, ordinary heavyweights who walk in, hands shoulder height, easy to hit.
He beats guys like that six days a week and twice on Sunday. The last thing you lose is your power but it doesn’t make him world champion material again, at least not against the top men in the division. Oleksandr Usyk would punch the living daylights out of him, feint, make him miss, and nail him.
Tyson Fury jabbed the head off him in their second and third fights, beat him to the punch, made him hesitate and had him firing into thin air. He then countered with a straight right and a left hook.
Wilder had no answer. He was hesitant, afraid to throw, did not know when to throw. Sure he always has a chance to land a haymaker but the defeats to Fury have sucked a lot of the life out of him. You lose your ability to stand in punching range and fire. There is a world of difference between Helenius, Fury and Usyk.
Helenius simply didn’t test him. He walked into punching range, touched jabs and got nailed. It was all over in a round. You can’t do that against Wilder, and the good ones won’t.
That’s why Wilder took the fight. Helenius is not quick and has poor movement. When you put Wilder in with a big, stiff body without a great pedigree, of course he will knock him out.
Who do you think Wilder should fight next? Have your say here
Wilder wanted to look explosive. He is touting his wares, trying to make a noise, record a couple of quick knockouts than call out one of the big boys to make serious money again. He knows he is box office. The internet was in a lather last week with Helenius splattered all over the floor.
And there are fights to be made, as we have seen with the pairing of Fury and Dereck Chisora in a bout that will tell us nothing we don’t already know about either. If I were Wilder I’d be calling out the likes of Otto Wallin or Filip Hrgovic, big lumps against whom he can look explosive.
His No.1 target is Anthony Joshua. And I can see why. If I were Joshua I would not go near him. He has the power to worry Wilder but is unlikely to survive in a fire fight. A decent opponent would be Joe Joyce, who can walk through a storm. But Joyce might need a belt or two to tempt Wilder to take the risk. And he is not there yet.
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