AJ - Wilder: how big a fight is it?

[man]

in terms of sports value. it clearly isn't
ali - frazier I, not ali -foreman, but it is IMO
bigger than tyson - lewis, since mike was
shot.

to me this is a real big one, up there with
the great fights of the past. two knock out
artists in their prime.. both in great shape.

this might be the fight that defines this
generation of heavies and i for one believe
this current crowd ain't that bad compared
to the past to begin with.

[SenorPipino]

Wilder vs Joshua would not be all that big in the US. Neither is remotely close to a household name.

Joshua vs Fury sounds big for the UK. In America, I doubt that the result would even be mentioned in the evening sportscast.

And yes, Tyson was OTH when he met Lewis. But Tyson was still a megastar and even in the US, Lewis had established himself as a name and a respected champion.

It was much bigger, much more anticipated than Wilder/Joshua will ever be.

[Thomastearns]

The Tyson that fought McBride in 2005 was a bigger star than Wilder is now.

Deontay needs to start blasting out the deadwood that stands between him and Joshua. I think he has the greater capacity for improvement than Joshua. He was excellent against Ortiz, despite the controversy, and needs to take it further if he can. Anthony Joshua, the supreme professional, may already be as good as he can be. His performance against Parker fight looks better with time and it's difficult to see how and where he can improve on that.

Rob McCracken is probably working overtime to find a viable strategy against Wilder, but is there one?

[jamamb]

wilders almost 33 and has been pro 10 years and is still very crude, im not really sure well see much improvement , i think hell just be who he is, a technically flawed but explosive fighter

[Enlightened-One]

The Tyson that fought McBride in 2005 was a bigger star than Wilder is now.

Agreed.

Deontay needs to start blasting out the deadwood that stands between him and Joshua.

I’m not really sure if this is the case, because Mauricio Sulaiman has already stated that he’ll do everything in his power to ensure that Wilder is capable of defending his WBC title against Joshua.

You know what the WBC is like when it comes to exploiting opportunities to optimise the revenue they receive from sanctioning fees...

I think [Deontay Wilder] has the greater capacity for improvement than Joshua.

I think I understand the point you’re making, but it can be misinterpreted.

In terms of boxing technique, Joshua is almost certainly more fundamentally-sound than Wilder. However, we haven’t really witnessed any improvement from the American in this area and he’s no spring chicken anymore.

Wilder has a lot more to learn, but I'm not convinced he's able to do so.

He was excellent against Ortiz, despite the controversy...

I thought that the only area where Wilder was indeed “excellent” in during that fight was his heart, because he overcame adversity by weathering the storm to stop the exhausted Cuban.

Other than that, Deontay appeared to be strategically inept and also looked stylistically crude. His performance during that fight was highly-flawed, even though it was admirable.

Anthony Joshua, the supreme professional, may already be as good as he can be.

You may or may not be right about this.

I do believe that AJ’s performances has improved with each bout he has participated in and I haven’t seen any signs about this plateauing yet.

Rob McCracken is probably working overtime to find a viable strategy against Wilder, but is there one?

Even though Wilder possesses devastating one-punch KO power, his lack of boxing ability makes him very vulnerable against any fundamentally-sound boxer that possesses a decent engine, whilst being able to return fire with equal venom.

If the Brit stays out of harm’s way and adopts a defensively responsible approach (by addressing his stylistic flaw relating to having a lack of head movement in order to avoid the straight right hand) , then he’s capable of dominating Wilder. It’s easier said than done though.

[keirw]

It has the potential to be a very big fight, but not on the level of the Lewis/Tyson/Holyfield era or the Ali/Foreman/Frazier era. It will probably never be, purely due to the comparative lack of profile the two fighters have in the states.

It has the potential to get bigger though, if Wilder keeps giving it the big talk at every opportunity and Joshua looks good in beating Povetkin.

As long as the fight gets signed by the end of the year they have plenty of time to ram it down people's throats.

I can see Wilder doing videos with mainstream youtubers, maybe doing some light sparring with someone like Logan Paul and Joshua going onto James Corden's talk show, having one of those cheesy freestyle battles.

[Sequitorian]

The only "fights" that are big in the USA anymore are the circus fights ...

... like Mayweather / McGregor ... that sort of thing ...

People don't care about fights ... they only care about spectacles ...

[Sequitorian]

You guys who weren't around when boxing was big really missed something special ...

... a big fight was as big as a presidential election ... (and more important) ...

[man]

He was excellent against Ortiz

really? "excellent"?

[Thomastearns]

One of the fascinating aspects of this potential superfight is that we have very little means of directly comparing the two of them.
The only common opponent in the ring is Eric Molina. Joshua took him quicker but Wilder took him out first.

As far as the physical matchup goes, Wilder is slightly taller with the slightly better reach. Wilder also seems to have the better stamina and may just be the better athlete to boot.

Joshua definitely has the better resume and the better technique but hasn't faced anyone remotely like Deontay Wilder.

As EO pointed out Wilder can just sit and wait for his title shot, but I'd still like to see him really assert himself over the division so that the US fans start to really believe that the full heavyweight title is finally 'coming back home', as it were.

As long they both remain unbeaten it could be our generation's Ali v Frazier. It will be definitely be the biggest fight in boxing but is unlikely to come within shadowboxing distance of matching the celebrity attendance of the fight of the century which had in attendance Norman Mailer, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Miles Davis, Bill Cosby, Diana Ross, Dustin Hoffman, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen, Bob Dylan, Ted Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Hugh Hefner, Gene Kelly, Bert Sugar and future contender George Foreman amongst many others no doubt.

Unless of course they can find a way to get Tom Cruise, Donald Trump, Bob Dylan, George Foreman, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, JK Rowling, Michael Buble, Kanye West/ Kim Kardashian and other members of America's current royal family. Perhaps not.

[ValMar]

It would be the most important boxing event since 2003.
Nobody can convince me the opposite.

[tiny_acres]

It would be the most important boxing event since 2003.
Nobody can convince me the opposite.

Exactly

[ValMar]

It would be the most important boxing event since 2003.
Nobody can convince me the opposite.

Exactly

[Syntax Error]

It's definitely the biggest HW fight since Wladimir V Haye & it's arguably the biggest HW fight since Lewis V Holyfield 2 in 1999.

[Sequitorian]

Someone needs to provide an historic record of boxing viewership ...

[klitoris]

It's pretty big if Joshua would invest some of his career into getting known in the US. After Povetkin he should ideally fight Miller in New York in the winter. That could set up a Vegas fight in the Spring, but Joshua is making way more sponsorship money in the UK which is one of the reasons why Hearn is reluctant to bringing him to the States.

[funso banjo baby]

it would be a big fight

but AJ v Povetkin is also a decent fight against the worlds number 1 and 2 imo

No one is an established bona fide world champ yet.

Wilder's WBC strap is built on fairly crap challengers

both AJ and Wilder can toss all the Molina's and Breazealles between them but it doesn't make their case for legitimacy any stronger.

like it or lump it the real big fight could still be against Fury if he can hack it at the top level again.

[jamamb]

ajs fought wlad, parker, whyte, takam, brezeale and now poverkin, hes easily among the most legit champs right now in terms of consistent quality of defenses

[candyslim]

I sometimes think we (serious boxing fans) are the wrong people to ask. That probably sounds crazy but what I mean is that to me, last Saturday's fight between Usyk and Gassiev was a massive fight, for the first undisputed Cruiserweight title since Holyfield back in 200? I was really excited about and looking forward to it.

The thing is. You talk to workmates here in the UK, most of whom love football, and are casual fans of most sports including boxing, and you're lucky if you find one who has heard of Oleksandr Usyk never mind Murat Gassiev. To them this was a total non-event.

My point is, to get a real handle on how big a fight actually is, sometimes you have to look outside the world of boxing and focus on the general sports fan or even the general public. From just my personal experience I'd say that most people in the UK know who Anthony Joshua is. Not that many know who Deontay Wilder is, but the percentage might be unimpressive but it is definitely growing. We want to see the fight today but there is little doubt in my mind that the longer the wait the bigger it will be, unless of course one of them loses in the meantime.

Nice point about the celebrities Thomas

[ValMar]

I sometimes think we (serious boxing fans) are the wrong people to ask. That probably sounds crazy but what I mean is that to me, last Saturday's fight between Usyk and Gassiev was a massive fight, for the first undisputed Cruiserweight title since Holyfield back in 200? I was really excited about and looking forward to it.

The thing is. You talk to workmates here in the UK, most of whom love football, and are casual fans of most sports including boxing, and you're lucky if you find one who has heard of Oleksandr Usyk never mind Murat Gassiev. To them this was a total non-event.

My point is, to get a real handle on how big a fight actually is, sometimes you have to look outside the world of boxing and focus on the general sports fan or even the general public. From just my personal experience I'd say that most people in the UK know who Anthony Joshua is. Not that many know who Deontay Wilder is, but the percentage might be unimpressive but it is definitely growing. We want to see the fight today but there is little doubt in my mind that the longer the wait the bigger it will be, unless of course one of them loses in the meantime.

Nice point about the celebrities Thomas

The great majority (90%) of my friends/workmates (considering maybe a hundred of them) would watch Joshua-Wilder.
Only one (as I know) watched Usyk-Gassiev, and only one knows who Lomachenko is, and Crawford is totally unknown.

[candyslim]

You're right of course. Most of my male colleagues would watch AJ against Wilder even if they had never heard of Usyk before my attempts to educate them

I stand by what I said as a general principle though.

[SenorPipino]

Boxing is merely a niche sport in the US.

There are no big name fighters who anyone recognizes with the exception of Pacquiao and the now retired
Mayweather.

Usyk-Gassiev? 99.999% of Americans would think that it's some sort of antacid.

Not too many more would have a clue what Joshua-Wilder is.

[candyslim]

Usyk-Gassiev an Antacid, Oh very good I like that

Antacid ? Isn't that 'Formic'?

That's a joke for those who know their etymology from their entymology

[BigBenHo]

At HW its the biggest fight since AJ-Wlad Klitchsko

Its the biggest US vs UK HW match up since Lewis vs Wilder

Often with American fighters they are content to stay in the US. So its rarer for a top US guy to face a top UK guy unless the UK guy is travelling.

Hearn sees this as too much risk at this point, because of Wilders power. If he switches AJ off its going to be hard for him to put those PPVs on and milk him.

[BigBenHo]

At HW its the biggest fight since AJ-Wlad Klitchsko

Its the biggest US vs UK HW match up since Lewis vs Roidyfield

Often with American fighters they are content to stay in the US. So its rarer for a top US guy to face a top UK guy unless the UK guy is travelling.

Hearn sees this as too much risk at this point, because of Wilders power. If he switches AJ off its going to be hard for him to put those PPVs on and milk him.