Deontay Wilder is a devastating puncher and likely the hardest hitting heavyweight of this era, but how does that compare to past generations?
Wilder went 43 fights undefeated in his career before his first loss to Tyson Fury, drawing one, winning one by decision and scoring knockouts in the remaining 41. He has little doubt that what he has shown makes him the heaviest puncher in the history of the sport.
“Anyone who faces me should be worried. Women lie, men lie, but numbers don’t lie and I am the hardest puncher in boxing history and numbers don’t lie, at all. Every guy I’ve faced I’ve knocked out or put on the canvas, so I’m very dangerous.”
One man who disagrees is George Foreman, no slouch in the power department himself. ‘Big’ George – who still holds the record as the oldest world heavyweight champion – told TMZ Sports that there was ‘no way’ Wilder’s claim is accurate and that there were many from years gone by more dangerous.
“He’s good, but he hasn’t approached Joe Louis, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, he hasn’t approached that kind of recognition yet – no way.
“For me, he has to have a performance like Mike Tyson did against Trevor Berbick. I was down visiting Vegas when I saw that and I thought, “This guy is a nightmare!” When he gets a Tyson type knockout of Berbick I’ll put him up high but, right now, nah!
“I wouldn’t want to be the person testing between those two, but Tyson could hit man.
“Wilder is a good fighter, but he’s not in the picture for the greatest ever.”
That response came after Wilder’s second win over Luis Ortiz, the hard-hitting but ageing Cuban heavyweight. Nothing has happened lately to change Foreman’s opinion – ‘The Bronze Bomber’ has won just one of his five fights since.
He was stopped twice by Tyson Fury before a quick knockout win over Robert Helenius. After a bout of inactivity, Joseph Parker outpointed him and he was then knocked out by Zhilei Zhang.
In the aftermath of the Zhang fight, many felt Wilder would retire. He has since confirmed that he will fight on, however the question remains as to whether or not he can find that killer instinct once more.
