Can This Fight Determine if Deontay Wilder is LEGIT?

[caldo2025]

That ugly black shadow that has been hanging over Deontay Wilder's shoulder since accumulating dozens of wins against less than stellar opposition is rather nervous coming into this weekend. By most worthy opinions, Luis Ortiz presents to be Wilder's first valid and legitimate opponent since he declared himself a professional fighter years ago.

But is Ortiz really a legitimate contender and will this change the conception out there that Wilder has never been tested? Eddie Hearn has been vocal about Wilder's light resume along with many fans that have just had enough of Wilder's antics inside the ring after defeating fighters that are never heard from again. Luis Ortiz is a "38" year old heavyweight and I use quotations because most feel that he is older than reported as Cuban statistics have been proven to be less than accurate over the years as the Cuban defectors have flooded the sport.

I guess it will all come down to how Wilder gets it done and just how much Ortiz appears to have left in the tank. I personally think that Wilder should get his due for a definitive win against Ortiz but if he struggles to a close or controversial decision against a fighter clearly too old then Wilder will have risked all for nothing. Either way though, my feeling is that we'll know a heck of a lot more about each of these guys after this weekend and if Anthony Joshua has anything at all to worry about. Thoughts?

[gilgamesh]

It'll certainly help. It'll be his first title defense against a Top 10 ranked opponent in a title reign that has been going on now for a little over 3 years. It's frankly pretty pathetic that he still NEEDS to prove his legitimacy, but he does.

It'll be his best win to date, and it'll certainly establish him firmly as one of the Top 2 men at Heavyweight. Nothing short of a win over Anthony Joshua would establish him as THE MAN at Heavyweight, and the same goes for Joshua.

[SenorPipino]

Well considering everyone who despises Wilder claims that Ortiz is really well into his 40s if not older (although they fail to provide a birth certificate as evidence) and now the Cuban is hiding/flaunting a bump on his hand, (a transparent effort to prepare a post-fight excuse) I doubt anything will be proven.

At least to the critics.

If Wilder loses, it's "I told you he was garbage."

And if Wilder is victorious, they'll simply say "It means nothing. Ortiz was a one handed, senior citizen. When's Wilder going to fight a legitimate opponent?"

But in the end opinions mean nothing. If you get the job done, that's what counts.

No matter what you accomplish, you can always be counting on critics to criticizize.

Wilder's more interested in counting his money.

[phillykid]

whoever wins deserves full credit imo.

Wilder, Parker, Joshua, Ortiz.. these guys are the top guys of the heavyweights of today.

Miller, Povetkin, Fury are also in the mix too but none of them are champs right now and none of them deserve a title shot more than Ortiz at the moment.

[jamamb]

whoever wins deserves full credit imo.

Wilder, Parker, Joshua, Ortiz.. these guys are the top guys of the heavyweights of today.

Miller, Povetkin, Fury are also in the mix too but none of them are champs right now and none of them deserve a title shot more than Ortiz at the moment.

i rate povetkin above parker and ortiz actually. parker imo lost to hughie and ruiz. his best win was over a guy povetkin already ktfo. he's limited. povetkin clearly has a better record then parker or any non belt holder. ortizs whole record is basically jennings, faded old thompson, and scott. and in the last few years its been nothing and hes looked really slow.

ortiz is my #4 so really it cant get much better though. i only have aj, wilder, and povetkin ahead of him. parker i have lower down, and hes lucky not to have 2 losses already to ruiz and fury.

[Thomastearns]

Deontay Wilder is already more than legit. Ask Anthony Joshua or Eddie Hearn.

Huge fight for him (and new ground for Luis Ortiz too) on Saturday. Such is the state of heavyweight boxing that Ortiz, despite great technical skills, is still a bit of an untested quantity! That's why this is one of the fights that needed to happen.

Not sure what's more scary, the prospect of Ortiz winning (hand injury permitting -or the avalanche of criticism that will be hurled upon Wilder if that happens!!

Wilder will be too quick for Ortiz I believe, and even if it ends in 1 round Ortiz is the best he will have faced so far. Wilder might be unorthodox, but he's more than capable of knocking anyone senseless in one round, and they all know it.

Is Ortiz good enough to walk the Wilder tightrope with no net on Saturday? I hope not.

[jamamb]

yes deontay will get unreal 'ha ha see he was always a fraud' if he loses

though i think some ppl will do that even he wins all the titles, kos aj, and doesnt lose till hes a 50 year old

[Ilya Muromets]

"Can This Fight Determine if Deontay Wilder is LEGIT?"

Yes, if the fight is legit, that is, not fixed, and if Ortiz is perfectly healthy, and if Doctor Margaret and her NeVADA drug planting crew stay the hell away, then yes. But if those factors are true than I expect the Cuban to win. I should say I would like him to win. I don't know the future. Wilder hits very hard. No one questions that. But I remember how unheralded Eric Molina seemed to have him in trouble and then seemed to deliberately back off. Boxing is so crooked. Ain't it ridiculous that I have to hope a big fight is on the level for a change. At least it's not in Nevada. That's a good start. The books have Wilder a 3-1 favorite. Those odds sound legit to me. I bet on the Cuban!

[jamamb]

wilder will win

[Ilya Muromets]

wilder will win

Thanks for the spoiler. Now that I know what's going to happen it will be no fun watching it.

>:-(

[jamamb]

sorry mate

[Lackeos]

I'll just copy-paste what I said in another thread. tl;dr, we don't know how prime Ortiz still is until we see his performance.

"The version of Ortiz that beat Jennings would be the better win. In the past 15 months, Ortiz has only fought 2 clubfighters, he's turned 38, and commissioners / Wilder have said they don't think Ortiz should be fighting anymore on account of high blood pressure. So I really have no idea what the current version of Ortiz brings to the table. I would prefer to actually witness the fight in order to judge what kind of Ortiz showed-up."

[asdfjkl]

For me this is it indeed, if Wilder beats Ortiz in a fair way, then he's the genuine rank 3 of the world below AJ and Tyson Fury, But no longer below Povetkin. Also, he earned a fight against either Tyson Fury or AJ. The other way around, if Ortiz wins, then Ortiz earned this spot.
I still think Ortiz can and will win if the fight happens fair and I still think Wilder will receive more punches in this match as in the entire rest of his entire carreer yet.
Ortiz might be very old and injured on top of it, but I think he's still better as Wilder.

I sadly have to say, that I still don't expect this fight to actually happen, Wilder usually got an excuse to avoid a fight and fact that Ortiz has already been tested 7 times about a week ago sounds to me like Wilder and his team are doing everything they can to avoid the fight. Even if they step into the ring, I still expect something very controversial to happen and even if Ortiz wins fair and square, I still expect it to change into a no contest over time. Wilder has always been massively overprotected, Wilder could have fought Dillian Whyte ( a much worser boxer in my opinion) for 5 mil, but still chose to fight Ortiz for 2 mil, why? I can only imagine conspiracy theories.

[actjac]

That ugly black shadow that has been hanging over Deontay Wilder's shoulder since accumulating dozens of wins against less than stellar opposition is rather nervous coming into this weekend. By most worthy opinions, Luis Ortiz presents to be Wilder's first valid and legitimate opponent since he declared himself a professional fighter years ago.

But is Ortiz really a legitimate contender and will this change the conception out there that Wilder has never been tested? Eddie Hearn has been vocal about Wilder's light resume along with many fans that have just had enough of Wilder's antics inside the ring after defeating fighters that are never heard from again. Luis Ortiz is a "38" year old heavyweight and I use quotations because most feel that he is older than reported as Cuban statistics have been proven to be less than accurate over the years as the Cuban defectors have flooded the sport.

I guess it will all come down to how Wilder gets it done and just how much Ortiz appears to have left in the tank. I personally think that Wilder should get his due for a definitive win against Ortiz but if he struggles to a close or controversial decision against a fighter clearly too old then Wilder will have risked all for nothing. Either way though, my feeling is that we'll know a heck of a lot more about each of these guys after this weekend and if Anthony Joshua has anything at all to worry about. Thoughts?

I thought that EVERY opponent of Wilder's was automatically a bum when they fought Deontay.

[SenorPipino]

That ugly black shadow that has been hanging over Deontay Wilder's shoulder since accumulating dozens of wins against less than stellar opposition is rather nervous coming into this weekend. By most worthy opinions, Luis Ortiz presents to be Wilder's first valid and legitimate opponent since he declared himself a professional fighter years ago.

But is Ortiz really a legitimate contender and will this change the conception out there that Wilder has never been tested? Eddie Hearn has been vocal about Wilder's light resume along with many fans that have just had enough of Wilder's antics inside the ring after defeating fighters that are never heard from again. Luis Ortiz is a "38" year old heavyweight and I use quotations because most feel that he is older than reported as Cuban statistics have been proven to be less than accurate over the years as the Cuban defectors have flooded the sport.

I guess it will all come down to how Wilder gets it done and just how much Ortiz appears to have left in the tank. I personally think that Wilder should get his due for a definitive win against Ortiz but if he struggles to a close or controversial decision against a fighter clearly too old then Wilder will have risked all for nothing. Either way though, my feeling is that we'll know a heck of a lot more about each of these guys after this weekend and if Anthony Joshua has anything at all to worry about. Thoughts?

I thought that EVERY opponent of Wilder's was automatically a bum when they fought Deontay.

He just makes them look like bums.

[Badhusker]

It all depends on how much you hate him.

[punchoutsb]

Absolutely, and regardless of whether Ortiz is out of prime or not.

The division is barren; even a past prime Ortiz is still near the top, so a win over him proves Wilder's place at the top.

[asdfjkl]

That ugly black shadow that has been hanging over Deontay Wilder's shoulder since accumulating dozens of wins against less than stellar opposition is rather nervous coming into this weekend. By most worthy opinions, Luis Ortiz presents to be Wilder's first valid and legitimate opponent since he declared himself a professional fighter years ago.

But is Ortiz really a legitimate contender and will this change the conception out there that Wilder has never been tested? Eddie Hearn has been vocal about Wilder's light resume along with many fans that have just had enough of Wilder's antics inside the ring after defeating fighters that are never heard from again. Luis Ortiz is a "38" year old heavyweight and I use quotations because most feel that he is older than reported as Cuban statistics have been proven to be less than accurate over the years as the Cuban defectors have flooded the sport.

I guess it will all come down to how Wilder gets it done and just how much Ortiz appears to have left in the tank. I personally think that Wilder should get his due for a definitive win against Ortiz but if he struggles to a close or controversial decision against a fighter clearly too old then Wilder will have risked all for nothing. Either way though, my feeling is that we'll know a heck of a lot more about each of these guys after this weekend and if Anthony Joshua has anything at all to worry about. Thoughts?

I thought that EVERY opponent of Wilder's was automatically a bum when they fought Deontay.

It doesn't work that way, there are a few risky boxers and there are a few bums, Wilder allways chose the least risky boxer out there, time after time after time, also usually boxers barely anyone knew, or boxers that weren't even pro at all. Funny enough, allmost all of these boxers improved a lot ever since, they used to do it for fun and once they reccceived a world titleshot and a few 100k with it on no time notice they start taking it seriously.
Duhaupas, the post delivery mailbox maker for example, or Molina the teacher indeed. All the others could do was smash Wilder his leftovers up, Duhaupas, despite drastically improved, got smashed up by Povetkin, Kownacki smashed up Szpilka, Miller did Washington, AJ did Molina, so it's obvious Wilder did nothing special.

[Enlightened-One]

Can This Fight Determine if Deontay Wilder is LEGIT?

No, because Luis Ortiz is nowhere near as good as the media hyped him up to being.

Deontay Wilder will inevitably score a stoppage victory within three rounds and people will continue questioning his credentials, regardless as to however good they previously perceived the Cuban as being.

[danconnollyeire]

His 32, 10 years in and fought no one. Fighting a 79 year old man proves nothing. AJ has unified titles in less than half that time

[jamamb]

whos clearly better then ortz though? only aj id say is clear. deontays working with what the divson offers. he beats ortz and he has the best win of any active non-aj fghter

32 should leave him several more good years as a heavy

[Enlightened-One]

whos clearly better then ortz though? only aj id say is clear. deontays working with what the divson offers

Luis Ortiz isn’t anywhere near as good as he’s been hyped-up to being. The Cuban hasn’t achieved anything during his professional career to deem him worthy of receiving the lavish amount of praise that has been bestowed upon him.

Ortiz would probably lose against the likes of Hughie Fury, Dillan Whyte and Andy Ruiz Jr.

You might not agree with my opinion today, but when you witness Deontay Wilder defeating the Cuban with ease, you’ll inevitably share my viewpoint come Sunday morning.

For the record, I’m not suggesting that ‘The Bronze Bomber’ is going to win because he’s that damn good, instead I’m claiming that ‘King Kong’ isn’t all that impressive!

[Stuarty]

It'll be his best win but that's a sad reflection on his career to date. Was impressed with Ortiz early on when he first hut our screens. Great technique, calm under pressure, good footwork etc... All the traits you'd expect from a top Cuban. I've not been impressed with him in a long time now though. He looks a lot older than what he says he is and has laboured in his last few fights. Looks to have peaked a while ago. Hopefully he can ask a few questions of Wilder but I expect a Wilder KO inside 5.

My predictions have been dog shít recently though

[tigermoth87]

Ortiz is vastly overrated but, he's got a reputation and some decent scalps so he's a good opponent.

If AJ, Wilder and Povetkin are A level, I'll put him at B- behind Parker and Pulev but above Miller and Bellew.

[geronimo]

He will be a very good victory and we will know if he's a fraud or not, finally. But this is coming tool late, if he will beat other credible opponents he'll become a "legit " WBC champion.