Carl Froch and Tony Bellew knew when it was time to hang up the gloves.
Froch bowed out with a statement knockout of George Groves at Wembley Stadium. Bellew, having beaten David Haye twice, took an opportunity against all time great Oleksandr Usyk. After he was stopped in the bout, he retired.
Many fighters, however, hang around much too long. Fans have seen it happen time and again, and are even witnessing it in many cases today. Both of the British fan favourites believe Deontay Wilder falls into that category.
Wilder was knocking every heavyweight out before he lost twice to Tyson Fury in the same fashion. Save for a quick win over Robert Helenius, he then failed to impress in defeats against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.
Speaking on X after that stoppage loss to the Chinese southpaw, Bellew urged Wilder to hang them up.
“I wish Deontay Wilder well and hope he now thinks about his wealth and ultimately his health … He’s done. Resistance and hunger are both gone.”
Froch has offered a more recent take on Wilder, taking to his YouTube channel after the American knockout artist’s comeback win against Tyrrell Herndon last month. Despite getting his name back in the winning column, the former super-middleweight world champion fully agrees with Bellew.
“Wilder, what’s next for him, has he got a career left? He’s lost four of his last six fights, he lost twice to Fury, he then sparked Helenius, but then he lost to Parker and got ironed out by Zhang so after that you kind of think he’s finished, it’s all smoke and mirrors, is he back with that punch?
“They want to see him get in there and throw the big knockout blow. At one point he was 40 fights, 39 wins, 39 knockouts. At one point, everybody he’s beaten, he’s knocked out. He had that draw with Fury, and that trilogy with Fury took it out of him, he’s made a lot of money, it’d be nice now to see him probably hang his gloves up and turn it it.
“I don’t like telling people to retire, I like to give my opinion on when these fighters are done. I think Deontay Wilder has had better days and now if he fights anybody with a pulse who can punch, he could be hurt.”
Wilder, 39, plans to fight again this year before targeting a big opponent in 2026, with Anthony Joshua – another heavyweight Froch believes should retire but Bellew wants to see fight on – remaining a possibility.
