What should be said about Deontay Wilder now?

[Beanflicker]

Could be a case of Wilder taking his man lightly, but I think it's a little short sighted to talk about how Arreola took him out early so Deontay should have as well. Molina hurt Arreola, got reckless and ran in with his hands down, and got caught with a big counter left hook. In this fight, Molina was a lot more defensively minded and didn't go crazy even when he seemed to hurt Deontay. It's a tough when you're fighting a 240lb guy with big power, who just wants to sit back and have you walk into a counter haymaker.

I think it's pretty clear Deontay needs to diversify his offensive attack and learn to better disguise that big right hand, but to start writing him off because it took 8 rounds to KO a guy is a bit foolish IMO.

[Sleepwalker]

Wilder looked a little gassed after the 4th. This was mainly due to him missing so many overexerting hard shots. The body punches landed by Molina may have had something to do with that as well.

Imagine if Molina had committed to the body more often.

Did anyone catch Holyfield's expression right after the fight was called? The first that came to mind, I believed Holyfield was thinking: "i KNOW I could have beaten this guy".

Sure, the commentator said something like: "...and there's Holyfield who looks impressed". I didn't get that vibe at all.

[X]

some thoughts;

Firstly, Evander did look distinctly unimpressed!

1. Wilder is definitely exciting. You can't take your eyes off his fights because SOMETHING will definitely happen. Wlad is a vastly superior fighter, but he is much less exciting.

2. He is a magnificent athlete, good size, looks like a proper athlete with no fat. Good coordination.

3. He seems a classy enough guy, good jab, decent left hook and definitely big knockout power.

4. Unfortunately, he hasn't learned his trade. He has actually had very little ring time to learn to box properly and maximise his assets. I fear this will be his undoing as his defence under pressure was truly awful. He pulls back in a straight line, fends his opponent off with his arms and leans back from the shot with his chin out. You can get away with that for a while, but when he fights someone the same size as him I think he will get tagged

5. He is definitely vulnerable when he gets hit.

I quite like a Wilder, but I suspect his reign may not last long. Wlad would win easily, and I also rate Povetkin as a very good skilled technician. I think Pov might have a little bit too much for Deontay. Unless Wilder connects with an early bomb, I can't see how he beats the Russian. Can you imagine what someone like Vitali, Evander, Riddick or Iron Mike would have done to Wilder?.

[Gandalf]

Wilder is a bit like a HW Amir Khan IMO. He makes a lot of mistakes and will lose fights, but he will always make them fun. I think he gets sparked the minute he fights one of the big men as he goes back in straight lines and doesn't seem sturdy enough.

[tysonesque]

He's a shit champion in a shit heavyweight division.

[TitoFan]

My question is.... is Deontay Wilder teachable?

We all know his bad habits. He holds his hands too low... he moves straight back, his chin a target for a long-armed boxer... he looks amateurish when he goes for the kill, throwing any semblance of defense out the window and leaving himself wide open for a huge counter shot... his head movement leaves a lot to be desired... etc, etc. So can he be taught to correct those deficiencies?

For starters, he's got Mark Breland as a trainer. Now... I'm not gonna criticize the man because I haven't really seen him with other fighters, but.... one thing that struck me during the fight was how subdued Breland sounded. It's like the microphone would have to get really close to the man to be able to hear what he was saying to Wilder between rounds. I'm not saying he has to get in Wilder's face and become a screaming lunatic. But is he the one to help rid Wilder of his bad habits? Can he chew on Wilder's ear enough to improve him?

The raw material is there. Wilder is as athletic and powerful as any HW today. He can be harnessed. He's got raw talent, enthusiasm, and a lot of potential. But I think he needs a next level trainer, as well as some more rounds with credible competition, to bring that potential out.

I for one wish him well. I'm tired of seeing fat, blubbery heavyweights that look nothing like athletes, and those who have faced Wlad seem to cower into a shell.

[Ron Swanson]

Opinions of Deontay should be almost the same as on Friday. Sports fans tend to only look at what they last saw. That's silly. All evidence should be considered.

OH, those myopic 'sports fans' again....looking at what they ~last~ saw....except that, what they "last" saw was the fight itself.

Did you have an opinion?

[Gandalf]

My question is.... is Deontay Wilder teachable?

We all know his bad habits. He holds his hands too low... he moves straight back, his chin a target for a long-armed boxer... he looks amateurish when he goes for the kill, throwing any semblance of defense out the window and leaving himself wide open for a huge counter shot... his head movement leaves a lot to be desired... etc, etc. So can he be taught to correct those deficiencies?

For starters, he's got Mark Breland as a trainer. Now... I'm not gonna criticize the man because I haven't really seen him with other fighters, but.... one thing that struck me during the fight was how subdued Breland sounded. It's like the microphone would have to get really close to the man to be able to hear what he was saying to Wilder between rounds. I'm not saying he has to get in Wilder's face and become a screaming lunatic. But is he the one to help rid Wilder of his bad habits? Can he chew on Wilder's ear enough to improve him?

The raw material is there. Wilder is as athletic and powerful as any HW today. He can be harnessed. He's got raw talent, enthusiasm, and a lot of potential. But I think he needs a next level trainer, as well as some more rounds with credible competition, to bring that potential out.

I for one wish him well. I'm tired of seeing fat, blubbery heavyweights that look nothing like athletes, and those who have faced Wlad seem to cower into a shell.

Good post. Wilder is smart and maybe he has it in him to curb his rawness, but he just seems far too green to be a champion which sounds strange of a man with over 30 fights. His ride to the top has been TOO easy and he should have been testing himself and adapting on the way up. Instead he focused on knocking out journeymen simply to pad a KO record. It might well be his undoing. However, unlike Amir Khan I like the chap and hope he can improve. He just isn't ready for a Wlad Klitschko yet and looks a bit awkward with his belt right now. The last fight should have been much easier than it was. He was lucky his opponent was game yet very limited.

[IamInuit]

Once again the Wbc is involved so we will see where that goes. They are obligated by the "rules" to start negotiations with Povetkin and then if its undecided go to a purse bid. I doubt Haymon can outbid the Russians so look for some weasel like reinterpretation of what was supposed to happen but didn't.

[ono]

I think when a fighter is rocked like Wilder was, he does lose a little bit of his aura. He is very raw, and he will get away with that against 95% of the division and even in the fights where he may not be getting away win it, his power could get him out of trouble.

He still looks novice like when he lets his hands go but he somehow managed to generate great power.

A couple of weeks ago I was thinking that Joshua was a couple of years away from a Wilder fight, but I actually think if they went in together now it's a 50-50 fight. And in a year or so, forget about it. Joshua irons him out.

[Fenster]

I thought the Atomic Windmill looked poor because Molina was in survival mode from the opening second, and Wilder came into the fight - like everyone else - thinking that a few solid clumps and it's goodnight Irene.

Joshua would iron him tomorrow let alone a years time.

[erics44]

Wilder is supposed to be a massive puncher but Arreola stopped Molina in the first.

He struggled to control him.

Its more a case of this fight proved how poor Stiverne was.

Wilder will make for fun fights but hes not going to be a title holder for long. Oddly enough I still think he beats Povetkin with his height.

molina was a lot more ambitious against arreola

he was there to survive against wilder

if he had had a bit more belief against wilder he might have caused a massive shock in the 3rd

[ross]

The question should be how Molina would have done with the other top heavies.

We already know what Arreola would do to him.

[El Kabong]

Any video of Wilder getting rocked?

I think Wilder being raw is part of his aura. It gets a lot of guys who aren't technically good boxers off their games because there's this idea that Wilder will throw without regard to what might come back at him so it might make them wary of trying to counter him or set him up for a trap. I think his rawness plus his power is what has given him this "wow" factor....but you scratch the surface and he's just another boxer, get somebody in there with some guts someone not afraid to roll and counter against him, someone not intimidated by his size, someone who knows they will be safer in the pocket against him vs on the outside and then you'll see Deontay struggle.

I think Povetkin has a great chance to upset the apple cart here, he has to be thinking if Molina can catch Wilder let alone hurt him then Alex can knock him down and if he can knock him down then it's likely he can knock him out.

[Dark Lord Al]

The question should be how Molina would have done with the other top heavies.

We already know what Arreola would do to him.

Styles make fights , Arreola beat Molina , Stiverne beat Arreola , Wilder beat Stiverne.