BoxRec

Horse wrote:

Yes We Can wrote:I would never hype him, i think he's average at best. But i dont think its a terrible fight for Wilder at this stage when in comparison to the rest of his cv..

Suggesting Arreola getting another title shot isn't terrible is overhyping him.

Wilder dominated Stiverne who easily beat fat boy Arreola twice. The fight is totally unacceptable.

Triangle theories dont often work.

in this case they maybe will, BUT, and its a big BUT, Arreola would be the 2nd best name on Wilders resume, give him his second longest fight, likely give him his second toughest challenge and is a viable option. There are better fights, but i wont riot if "bitch tits" gets a chance.... it'll likely be his last.

Arreola would be disappointing given the two decisive losses to the guy Wilder just dominated and a poor showing in scraping past a clubfighter last time out. He looked shot against Harper and I agree with Horse that Scott is better than Arreola at this stage.

Sure, Arreola isn't terrible compared to most of Wilder's opponents, but the latter has been a pro for going on 7 years, holds a major belt, and is often talked about as a serious threat to the number one fighter in the division, so I think we should be past 'well, at least this guy isn't a total scrub like most of Deontay's opponents'. Arreola managed to hang on to his contender status for several years despite never beating a top ten opponent in my view, and now that he's recently been heavily stopped and had a life and death struggle with a clubfighter I think he's less capable of doing that than he's ever been.

I would prefer that Arreola not get an immediate shot at Wilder, given that...
-Arreola already had a shot at the WBC silver belt with Stiverne, and then a shot at the WBC title against Stiverne. If he got another crack at the WBC, it would just seem like the WBC was bending over backwards to give Arreola unlimited chances.
-Since Arreola's second fight with Stiverne, he hasn't done anything to mount a comeback, except struggle with Ron Harper, which did more to hurt his stock than to help it. He should at least mount some sort of a real comeback trail complete with at least 1 win over a gatekeeper or better before he gets any new title opportunities.
-Wilder's only real accomplishment is beating Stiverne, and Stiverne's only real accomplishment is beating Arreola. Arreola's biggest win is against Seth Mitchell, and his only other win of note is Jameel McCline. In other words, Seth Mitchell is the entire foundation upon which Wilder's kingdom is built. If Wilder were to beat Arreola himself, that would not change anything. I believe Wilder's resume would benefit more if he fought someone outside of the Stiverne - Arreola - Mitchell line.

Steve Cunningham would be quite a great opponent. Cunningham was robbed against Glazkov, robbed against Adamek in the rematch, and he beat Mansour. Had there been no robberies, Cunningham would nearly be ranked in the top 5. Antonio Tarver would also be pretty decent, given that he's ranked in boxrec's top 10, has mild fame, is American, and has the momentum of the wins over Danny Green and Johnathon Banks.

To be honest, Wilder isn't going to get any more respect than he has now beating Cunningham, who was stopped by Fury in 7....unless you want to use it as a measuring stick. Tarver is too old to get any respect either. Don't get me wrong, I think they would be decent wins, but think Wilder needs to shoot higher than that. Cunningham is 38, and Tarver 40 or 41? Not guys worthy of title fights, imo. Especially with their resumes.

Its a valid argument that Wilder may or may not have deserved the shot, but he got it, and took the belt. Now defend it against top 5 guys - the biggest fights. You don't get a belt and then start fighting gatekeepers.

Badhusker wrote:To be honest, Wilder isn't going to get any more respect than he has now beating Cunningham, who was stopped by Fury in 7....unless you want to use it as a measuring stick. Tarver is too old to get any respect either. Don't get me wrong, I think they would be decent wins, but think Wilder needs to shoot higher than that. Cunningham is 38, and Tarver 40 or 41? Not guys worthy of title fights, imo. Especially with their resumes.

Its a valid argument that Wilder may or may not have deserved the shot, but he got it, and took the belt. Now defend it against top 5 guys - the biggest fights. You don't get a belt and then start fighting gatekeepers.

That's what many Haymon fighters do. Quillin is a perfect example. Didn't end well though ...