Has Wilder suddenly become the “A Side” against AJ?

[hfahrenheit]

It's fun to read the back-and-forth about if records matter or not--I think in boxing, the strongest value is having a loss, just because of how heavily it weighted; half your arguments are that Wilder is 40-0, and the emphasis is on the '0'. Quality of opposition will always matter, but only to us, and not to anyone who doesn't follow boxing.

And if you put this fight on anywhere but the O2, you're throwing money away--don't think these guys have enough American audience to do the same money in Vegas.

[TitoFan]

A side... B side... who the hell cares. I'm just glad the heavyweight division is worth talking about again. No slight on Wlad (well... maybe a little bit), but the heavies are exciting again. Never having been a "last fight" fan kind of guy, I don't fluctuate on my opinion of fighters too much one way or another based on their last fight. That being said, I think Wilder has dispelled some of my previous doubts, regardless of how... um... wild he might be. So he throws windmills when he's got the guy in trouble..... big whoop-dee-doo. He gets the job done. Same ol' same ol' with opponents. Before the fight, Ortiz was the dangerous King Kong. Avoided by all. Now that Wilder KO'ed him, he's an old, washed up bum. We should listen to ourselves sometimes. Credit where credit is due. THAT being said, I still hold AJ's win over Wlad in higher regard, just because Wlad was KO'ed for the 1st time in ages. AJ managed to bring Wlad out of his timid, defensive self, and become what we've always wanted Wlad to be..... an OFFENSIVE fighter. That fight still stands as one of the best HW title fights in years, maybe decades. About where the fight should be held? The O2 Arena doesn't sound half bad. I'm afraid a Vegas crowd might underwhelm. Wilder would have to be willing to travel for that one.

[Alpha]

A side... B side... who the hell cares. I'm just glad the heavyweight division is worth talking about again. No slight on Wlad (well... maybe a little bit), but the heavies are exciting again. Never having been a "last fight" fan kind of guy, I don't fluctuate on my opinion of fighters too much one way or another based on their last fight. That being said, I think Wilder has dispelled some of my previous doubts, regardless of how... um... wild he might be. So he throws windmills when he's got the guy in trouble..... big whoop-dee-doo. He gets the job done. Same ol' same ol' with opponents. Before the fight, Ortiz was the dangerous King Kong. Avoided by all. Now that Wilder KO'ed him, he's an old, washed up bum. We should listen to ourselves sometimes. Credit where credit is due. THAT being said, I still hold AJ's win over Wlad in higher regard, just because Wlad was KO'ed for the 1st time in ages. AJ managed to bring Wlad out of his timid, defensive self, and become what we've always wanted Wlad to be..... an OFFENSIVE fighter. That fight still stands as one of the best HW title fights in years, maybe decades. About where the fight should be held? The O2 Arena doesn't sound half bad. I'm afraid a Vegas crowd might underwhelm. Wilder would have to be willing to travel for that one.

Good post, I think many of us acknowledged beforehand that Ortiz was older than the reported 38, and the fact that he was on medication, and had failed PED tests, a clean (semi-clean) Ortiz is not the fighter he once was. In saying that I think many still consider him a very skillful fighter and a tough fight for any of the top guys. He just doesn't have the legs to carry him 12 rounds anymore in my opinion.

[Master]

Slowly but surely the 2 best heavyweights on the planet will be facing one another. For that we should be thankful for.