BoxRec

expe wrote:If they were exams he was told the questions a week before and given the answer sheet to do them with.

Ha ha, great comment

There are so many huge punchers in heavyweight history that weren't ever able to win a title. That being said, the champion was normally better than Stiverne. I would love Wilder to be outclassed, but not sure that is going to happen.

who has Wilder beat?,yes he has power but who has he fought?

this has David Price vs Tony Thompson written all over it,unless Wilder catches Stiverne cold.
I cant believe your all picking Wilder

You better believe.
Wilder is a punching prodigy, while Stiverne is a pedestrian heavyweight.
He may have been gifted with an alphabet title, but I wonder how many would consider the Haitian a Top 10 fighter if he didn't own the belt.

Stiverne has a bad habit of laying on the ropes. When he did it, he was hurt and shaken by Arreola.
Arreola can punch, but he's slow and his conditioning awful.

Go to the ropes, Stiverne and the Bronze Bomber will cut you down quickly.
Stiverne has done all he can to avoid this showdown with the future of the heavyweight division. He can't avoid it any longer, barring some sort of bogus injury pullout.

The title (one version of it, anyways) comes back to America on Jan. 17.
Wilder by KO in 4.
Only in America, Don King. Only in America.

SenorPipino wrote:You better believe.
Wilder is a punching prodigy, while Stiverne is a pedestrian heavyweight.
He may have been gifted with an alphabet title, but I wonder how many would consider the Haitian a Top 10 fighter if he didn't own the belt.

Stiverne has a bad habit of laying on the ropes. When he did it, he was hurt and shaken by Arreola.
Arreola can punch, but he's slow and his conditioning awful.

Go to the ropes, Stiverne and the Bronze Bomber will cut you down quickly.
Stiverne has done all he can to avoid this showdown with the future of the heavyweight division. He can't avoid it any longer, barring some sort of bogus injury pullout.

The title (one version of it, anyways) comes back to America on Jan. 17.
Wilder by KO in 4.
Only in America, Don King. Only in America.

I disagree with that, Stiverne has shown a plethora of skills; he knows how to set traps, punch at angles, give a little shoulder roll every now and then, counterpunch highly effectively and with KO power/precision and has a decent beard to match. If that's pedestrian then I guess no person on this forum knows what boxing really is.

If anyone we should be calling pedestrian should be Wilder, he has had a total of about 26 rounds in all of his fights combined and his best competition has been over-the-hill; we have never had the chance to see his counterpunching abilities, his defense for an extended period of time, if he can he really take a punch, him punch at angles, set traps.......Nothing!!

This is a man with probably the biggest question mark on his abilities but hardly anyone questions it because he knocks out a bunch of bums in two rounds or less..................big deal; a real fighter is supposed to KO nobodies quickly.

expe wrote:

Impractical Poster wrote:Wilder... Size and power. He's a very teachable guy as well.

Must have had a bad teacher then

So, you are picking Stiverne?

I hope for the sake of many fragile national egos on this forum that Stiverne doesn't blow Wilder away in the first thirty seconds. That would be really embarassing.

On paper Wilder looks like a sure winner with all the physical advantages, and a win would finally put America back into the heavyweight picture, eh. So you may be wise to wait and read the results the day after.

Cap wrote:I hope for the sake of many fragile national egos on this forum that Stiverne doesn't blow Wilder away in the first thirty seconds. That would be really embarassing.

On paper Wilder looks like a sure winner with all the physical advantages, and a win would finally put America back into the heavyweight picture, eh. So you may be wise to wait and read the results the day after.

It would be embarrassing, but it certainly is possible. That is why this fight is so intriguing.

I'm from the UK so don't care about USA vs Canada rivalries, but in my opinion Stiverne will take Wilder out inside the first two rounds and we will see a jelly legged Bambi on ice Wilder much like we did in Price vs Thompson.

The way Stiverne disposed of the taller, more skilful Price in the amateurs shows the blueprint of beating a guy like Wilder who is a couple of inches smaller than Price, the same power and even worse footwork.

I think it will be an easy night's work for Stiverne, but that doesn't mean I think beating Wilder makes him the real deal I think Fury would beat Wilder even more easily.

I remember thinking that Areola would stop Stiverne and the shock of seeing Chris splattered like never before made me sit up and notice.
Of course it was Chris early on and I expect the same from Wilder in this fight but if he gets past that I worry for Wilder as Stiverne clearly hits hard. I have a bit of Lewis/Grant in the back of mind, you never know

Stiverne 6-7 years ago gives Wilder a better run because his hand speed was better then. For all the talk about Wilder lacking experience against higher tier opposition, Stiverne's record and activity is just as easily blown apart. Want to point out raw numbers and results without talking about the fights themselves? Because then Bermane Stiverne was stopped by a sub .500 fighter and drew with a .500 fighter in his less than illustrious career. Think Wilder took too long to be developed? Stiverne becomes a ten year pro next year who will have six fewer professional bouts than the 7 year pro sharing the ring with him.

Stylistically, this is bad for Stiverne based on what we saw in the Ray Austin fight. Yes, the Ray Austin fight was 40+ months ago. It was also only 4 fights ago for Stiverne. What development he's hand and what he's done in the gym since then is pure mystery. I think he eats the jab and the right hand and goes down in a heap. If he doesn't, great for him. Maybe Don King can manage another fight in the remaining 11 months of the year. That would be a miracle.

zorndeslammes wrote: For all the talk about Wilder lacking experience against higher tier opposition, Stiverne's record and activity is just as easily blown apart.

I think many people overlook this.

Stiverne's record is largely filled with mediocre opposition and his best opponent, the one that seems to have many people putting him above Wilder, not only fell short every time he fought a world class opponent, he's also significantly different from Wilder in style and dimensions. Ray Austin was more similar, and Stiverne was losing into the 10th round against him.

crusader wrote:

zorndeslammes wrote: For all the talk about Wilder lacking experience against higher tier opposition, Stiverne's record and activity is just as easily blown apart.

I think many people overlook this.

Stiverne's record is largely filled with mediocre opposition and his best opponent, the one that seems to have many people putting him above Wilder, not only fell short every time he fought a world class opponent, he's also significantly different from Wilder in style and dimensions. Ray Austin was more similar, and Stiverne was losing into the 10th round against him.

There's some "what have you done for me lately?" in this. People can remember the Arreola fights. Mind you, they can't remember any of the other ones, but they remember those. Honestly, the winner of the fight is a top 5 fighter, but they definitely aren't the #2 man in the division. That's Povetkin until one of them goes for a little run. Knowing who we're discussing, should that be Stiverne, that run is never happening. He probably gets clocked out by Povetkin in Russia though.

I guess the oddsmakers probably realize Wilder's track record or lack of one thereof.

The oddsmakers have it as pretty much even odds starting out. That's a big indicator that this fight can go either way.

I'd favor Wilder slightly because of size and the big punch. So far the nobodies that Wilder has fought could not take his punch. It will be interesting too see if Stiverne can take Wilder's punch. Since Stiverne is on another level.

Really can't stand the Wilder hype train. He can punch, to be sure, but he has never faced a guy even as good as Arreola.

That being said, Stiverne is, as someone stated above, a very pedestrian Heavyweight. He's a fringe contender at best who was essentially gifted a title in a rematch. His down fall in this fight is that he loves to lay on the ropes and not do anything for rounds at a time. Even though I think Wilder's power is overstated, he still hits hard! He'll stop Stiverne and finally get his "signature" win.

Wilder is a huge unknown, so if he wins I will be very interested to see him in against some real contenders. Even upper level fringe contenders like Chisora.

I agree with Punchoutsb.

Wilder. Watch Ray Austin (6' 6) v. Stiverne. And then remember Wilder >>>> Austin.

Too many of you actually believe that Stiverne looks competent, even imposing
But I guess I can understand. You've witnessed so many shoddy heavyweight "contenders" over the past decade, that you've forgotten what a talented big man looks like.
Wilder will remind you on Jan. 17.

BTW, the only betting line I've seen on the bout has Wilder opening as a 9-5 favorite over the heavyweight "champion."
Not bad for a guy who, as many of you insist, has never had a true professional bout.

SenorPipino wrote:you've forgotten what a talented big man looks like.

They're reminded every time Wlad defends. No need to get all hyped over Wilder til we see what he's got.

Though props to you for going with the unbeaten prospect this time...learned from the Kovalev/BHop fight

ruin795 wrote:Wilder. Watch Ray Austin (6' 6) v. Stiverne. And then remember Wilder >>>> Austin.

wilder ist a better puncher and athlete than austin, but I'm not sure he is a better boxer than austin was back then. wilder has legit power but he is still very easy to hit and we don't know about his chin.

I think in this fight everything is possible, from an early wilder KO to and early stiverne KO. both fighters have some skills but also a big unknown component. wilder could be the real deal but he also could be david price (who was a similar punching prospect and is probably a better technical boxer than wilder).

stiverne on the other hand also has fought mostly stiffs apart from areola and as opposed to wilder who always shows up in shape he tends to show up fat and overweight.

punchoutsb wrote:

SenorPipino wrote:you've forgotten what a talented big man looks like.

They're reminded every time Wlad defends. No need to get all hyped over Wilder til we see what he's got.

Though props to you for going with the unbeaten prospect this time...learned from the Kovalev/BHop fight

I said "heavyweight contenders," not heavyweight champion. Besides his brother, Wlad is the only guy in the past decade who has demonstrated proven ability.
The contenders? Pretty sad.

Wilder should do it, he's quicker and has the power. He needs to box clever though.

I don't think Wilder's hands are quicker. Stiverne's handspeed in underrated in my opinion (Arreola said something akin to 'it's not so much the power of his right hand as it is the speed--I couldn't see it coming') and while I've seen ample talk of Wilder's speed but he doesn't strike me as particularly fast.

Stiverne is slow-footed though so perhaps he'll struggle to evade the right hand quickly enough.