What should be said about Deontay Wilder now?

[IamInuit]

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.

Breland, while on paper he is the head trainer, Jay Deas is the one that Wilder listens to during fights. Breland is just there to help preparation and pre-fight conditioning. Jay Deas is the real corner man.

Yeah but what does he say exactly when they mic the corner? In all seriousness you could stick Mr Potato Head in there atop a button box and most likely get the same results. Lets be honest here, Wilder is on borrowed time and is milking it with his athletic ability and not his boxing fundamentals.
That was a nice score against Stiverne but even a busted clock is right twice a day.

[SlimTrae]

Does other sports have such amnesiac fans as boxing does?
What HOF'er HW hasn't been tested by an average Joe?
There is a thread here about how Bruno outclassed Lennox.

Paul Phillips, Riddick Bowe & Razor Ruddock all stopped Mike Dokes 4 or less, while Holyfield went life and death with Dokes taking ten rounds. Holy as a result was called a blown up cruiser...now you guys act as if Holy was bombing out everyone.

Some guy named uh....Wladimir K....didn't get rocked by a journeyman....he got knocked the fuck out by one.

Cassius Clay needed a ripped glove to survive his journeyman scare.

Joe Louis got outboxed and beat up by Conn LHW yet the history books call him a great.

Marciano damn near got his nose ripped out the socket by a nobody before winning.

Same with Wilder.

Every weight class has a great that wasn't challenged by a great but a nobody. Be it Pac man Agapito Sanchez, Cotto against Ricardo Tores...Same with Wilder.

These are the fights where Deontay has to hone his skills, you can't wait till he fights a Wlad to do it.

And no damn HW got to the title as a perfected warrior.

Wilder won by knockout and you guys criticize what occurred in what? One Round?

[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.

Breland, while on paper he is the head trainer, Jay Deas is the one that Wilder listens to during fights. Breland is just there to help preparation and pre-fight conditioning. Jay Deas is the real corner man.

Yeah but what does he say exactly when they mic the corner? In all seriousness you could stick Mr Potato Head in there atop a button box and most likely get the same results. Lets be honest here, Wilder is on borrowed time and is milking it with his athletic ability and not his boxing fundamentals.
That was a nice score against Stiverne but even a busted clock is right twice a day.

Boxing fundamentals can be taught, practiced, and learned. Power, speed and athleticism can't. Which is why I think Wilder needs a next level trainer and he needs him now. If Wilder was a clumsy oaf who couldn't get out of the way of his own feet. Or if he had no power... or if the interest just wasn't there.... then I'd say it's a lost cause. But Wilder is like an unpolished diamond. All the necessary attributes are somewhere in there.... he just needs the right person(s) to bring them out.

[TitoFan]

Maybe the best thing that could happen to Wilder's career right about now is a loss.
Seriously.

While he's knocking people out with poor fundamentals, he's not gonna feel the need to change anything. Eventually that's gonna catch up with him. If he's really dedicated to the sport, and I've seen no reason to think otherwise, then he'll be willing to learn and make the adjustments necessary to continue getting better. Hell... he himself said repeatedly he's a work in progress during the post-fight interview on Saturday. Those adjustments could even mean a change in trainer, if necessary. He certainly won't the first to do it.

IMO he still has enough tools to beat Tyson Fury. But beating Wlad is a whole 'nother story. The way he fought Stiverne had me hoping.... but the way he fought Molina brought me back to Earth.

[walrus]

I worked the weekend so I'm watching the fight for the fight time right now. Looking forward to it. I know Deontay won but I like to watch him regardless.

[walrus]

Alright, I see a lot of what you guys are saying but I'm still big on Deontay. He got hurt, but took it in stride and recovered quickly. He also did that dope a rope thing for about thirty seconds where he was just eating punches with earmuffs on, made me a bit puzzled. The dudes power can't be denied. You are right, he still has a lot to work on but he's in a good position to do so. I'd love to see Deontay make it to the top. Actually, on these boards a large amount of criticism has been dolled out upon him since he arrived on the scene, be it his chicken legs, opponents, chin and everything else one could mention. The thing is a lot of what was said here had him written off some time ago and yet here he is. To be honest, I expect him to make the needed improvements and I think he'll be around for quite a while. Now I still need to watch both the Cotto and Khan fights. Was Cotto on network or was it HBO. Working fourty hours in three days over the weekend is completely ruining my enjoyment of boxing.

[SlimTrae]

Alright, I see a lot of what you guys are saying but I'm still big on Deontay. He got hurt, but took it in stride and recovered quickly. He also did that dope a rope thing for about thirty seconds where he was just eating punches with earmuffs on, made me a bit puzzled. The dudes power can't be denied. You are right, he still has a lot to work on but he's in a good position to do so. I'd love to see Deontay make it to the top. Actually, on these boards a large amount of criticism has been dolled out upon him since he arrived on the scene, be it his chicken legs, opponents, chin and everything else one could mention. The thing is a lot of what was said here had him written off some time ago and yet here he is. To be honest, I expect him to make the needed improvements and I think he'll be around for quite a while. Now I still need to watch both the Cotto and Khan fights. Was Cotto on network or was it HBO. Working fourty hours in three days over the weekend is completely ruining my enjoyment of boxing.

Well said.
I hope to enjoy watching this work in progress, win, loss or draw...hopefully all wins for awhile!

[J_Undisputed]

I'm probably alone in feeling like anything that the most important things wilder should learned. He should have already learned by now. We're not talking about the finer points of ring generalship or streamlining his footwork or using your parries on the inside. The same shot he got shook with is the same one he was getting clipped with and ko'd in the amateurs with. Mentally, it should be a cardinal sin in his mind to be hit with that now.

His answer was never to defend it just draw up a contingency plan to just stay out of range of it and land one, two's and get bigger so it doesn't hurt much when you do get hit with it. It doesn't fix the problem that he carries his hands low, squares up, goes straight back or actually turns away from his opponent and tries to stiff arm them after his legs get heavy and they give chase. He's put more energy toward self promoting and screaming bow squad and his post ko dances. If you're going to perfect you craft, you don't wait till you become a champ to think about it. He's dedicated half himself to the sport and the other half to marketing.

Any guy that can be trained to move his head, dip a should and through a right hook counter over the top could pull the plug on this guys career. Keep in mind this was soft Molina, a few years back if you had a sam peter, lamon Brewster, maskaev or old david tua, throwing landing that punch.... all soft guys at certain points that were never really the super elite... but big punchers ... wilders 5 minutes could have been over by now. just my opinion.