First thing that comes to mind is "careful what you wish for."
First thing that comes to mind is "careful what you wish for."
Eddie answered him, not sure why he turned down $4 million to face Whyte, huge money to what he's been making and would make the Joshua fight a virtual cert considering the dough on offer (if that's what he really wants)
3-Time SADDO PREDICTION COMP CHAMPION.
Good, sensible message. Horrible attempt at talking 'hood.
Ah man that was painful. Really though Wilder almost has a feel of a guy letting 'it' all slip by while the division is in motion. Whyte fight makes sense as far as building towards A.J with Dillion making his U.S debut next month and having faced A.J prior. Assuming they wanted Wilder to travel across the pond to puff up profile and A.J match? Still though Wilder acts like a guy who took short cuts to the title, well easy route, and now demands equal footing based solely on holding a trinket. For a guy who's last two have been last minute replacements he needs to stop spinning his wheels and start building to a major event. Risk-reward go hand in hand.
Sorry but business wise what Eddie said doesn't make sense. And if it doesn't make business sense then you have to consider alterior motives.
Let's use some logic.
What is the biggest fight in the heavyweight division right now?
Simple answer AJ vs Wilder. I don't think anyone would dispute that.
So Wilder says let's fight and the reply is okay but after these 2 other fights.
Let's then consider if those 2 other fights must be done first as stated.
No, they don't actually need to be done. If he fights and beats Pulev he has the same number of belts as if he fights and beats Wilder, stripped of one, gains one, the same. So they are arguing to be in the same spot but with less money after the fight.
So it must be about more future earnings right? Well, if Wilder loses which is just as likely as Wilder building his profile while they put it off obviously that is a huge loss in the back end. Potential gain if Wilder builds his profile. But not much because Wilder is already the fight most coveted. But, if he fights and beats Wilder then AJ is a bigger star with more immediate money AND Pulev can pick up that belt. Now 1 unification fight has become 2. Now Pulev is more valuable. So more money on front end and back end.
Eddies story doesn't wash. As most why we shouldn't fight stories tend to go.
He wants a massive payday and he doesn't want any risky fights in between then and now.
And there's a non-negligible chance that at the level he's at now he could easily get sparked. He doesn't exactly havesolid fundamentals, lots of holes in his swing and a shaky chin mean he's always just one punch away from having his bubble burst. Wasn't he due about twenty million to fight Povetkin before Povetkin tested positive? Whatever the number was that's the one in his head dictating his decisions. He wants a risk free path to a similar payday which means getting Joshua in the ring asap. That's why he doesn't want to hear about mandatories.
Similarly if Joshua is at risk from any of the top contenders you've got to think Wilder's right hand is top of the list of risks. Wilder has the athleticism and the wingspan to land something big and Whyte showed Joshua's chin isn't rock solid either. So Team Joshua might well want to fight a bunch of mandatories and keep Wilder at arm's length for a while. I actually watched the Wilder video and started to watch the Eddie video but had to switch it off when he put sunglasses on and started doing a Wilder impression. There's only so much a man can take.
Bottom line is the Joshua money express can continue without worrying about Wilder too much. It's not like Wilder is a massive US star and could generate a million PPV views and a big casino cheque. Wilder needs to make himself unavoidable but doesn't fancy what t would take to get there and definitely his fragile hand factors into that.
I like Wilder and his explosive power is the real deal. It's just that he's rather frail for his height and does not have a ton of boxing ability. Cheered him on as he bravely and cleverly outboxed Stiverne. However, when I saw Joshua for the first time against Martin, I knew he was the total package. I suspect Joshua hits nearly as hard as Wilder as well, but with world class boxing skills to go with the power.
It looks like there’s a 3 fight strategy for Joshua. Pulev-Mandatory, Ortiz -mandatory followed by a unification with Wilder. These are my early predictions on each fight
Of the 3, Ortiz and Wilder have potential to be most difficult. I’s not that Im giving Pulev no chance whatsoever but I think its relatively a safe 1st fight. Pulev loses his composure under fire. He did a lot of silly things vs Wvlad on his biggest night like standing on one foot when he got hurt, holding his chin high in the air vs the taller man and generally fighting the way Klitschko wanted him to fight instead of getting back to his jab. When Joshua begins to find the range I don’t see this one lasting too long to be honest
Ortiz is a good fight. I can picture the Cuban winning this if Joshua hasn’t learnt his lessons from the Klitschko fight. In particularly like going for broke and emptying his own gas tank when he has his guy hurt. For Ortiz to take advantage of this he will need Joshua to unload on him first and for that to happen Joshua has to see that he has Ortiz hurt. Given the quality of Ortiz, I don’t think there will be many opportunities for Joshua to unload on him. The likelihood is that the Brit will just win the rounds behind his jab and 1,2 without risking getting countered by the crafty veteran. Had Ortiz got his shot afew years ago I think he would’ve become champ but hes abit old now. Joshua on points in that one.
Wilder is the big fight. I don’t really rate Deontay but Ive always thought if someone taught him the basics of boxing and how to utilise the physical gifts he’s got, hed be a very hard man to beat. Hes athletic, got a great reach. Doesn’t appear to gas and if he learnt to control fights behind a strong left hand he would be the goods. My problem with him is he is afraid to step up in class to really test himself and in terms of his style technically he doesn’t throw his punches correctly. Hes not pretty to watch with his windmill punches and if he fights scared vs Joshua in that fashion he’d be blown away. It’s a hard fight to call because with Joshuas added weight hes abit stiff and there’s questions marks over his own chin as Dylan Whyte was able to wobble him momentarily. Even though I lean towards Joshua winning vs Wilder at the moment I do think that with a good trainer and exposure to a higher level of opponent, Wilder could turn out to be the best thing in the division. Like Fury before him, if guys can’t land on him, the awkward gangly style can work to his advantage and the Deontay does have the power to fall back on when needed. Fingers crossed this goes ahead next summer and Ill be interested to see Wilders opponents between now as it may change my mind on his chances. Right now I don’t think hes ready for Joshua.
Interesting reading the similar threads. One thing is for certain, this whole Wilder Joshua situation is completely ass backwards. Wilder is and has been for a few years basically waiting to cash in on a Joshua fight. A big powerful mouthy American heavyweight champ who in terms of the colour of his belt, length of service and number of defences, should be considered the main man of the division and something of a global star. Instead he's playing second fiddle to a Brit with half the number of fights and he's desperate to get a piece of the pie.
Some of that goes for Ortiz too. He's going to wait on Joshua by the looks of things and do fuck all for 18 months.
Will Wilder have a fight of any kind in the mean time? Unless he goes at Stivern again, Dillian Whyte is probably his best fight out there but he dont seem to want that, or the 4 million dollars that comes with it![]()
When God said to the both of us "Which one of you wants to be Sugar Ray?" I guess I didnt raise my hand fast enough
Charley Burley
He definitely appears to be in the backseat right now. Reacting to divisions shifts rather than making them. Far as I know Stiverne is refusing any step aside exchange etc and the networks have shown little interest in picking this unneeded rematch up. Caught this a couple days ago chatting up Ortiz here...
I can talk Joshua too. Wilder needs to fight Joshua.
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