How good was Deontay Wilder?

[TitoFan]

I like how you went through each decade. Good job.

I'll go back to Liston. Not to underrate the guy, but Sonny pretty preyed on opposition that was basically scared shitless of him. Ergo, his destruction of guys like Floyd Patterson.
But Liston was a plodder. And then there's Wilder's size and cannon of a right hand like you say. Anything's possible in the ring... but I see Liston being tailormade for someone like Wilder. I think Wilder stops him with a huge right in the early to mid rounds.

From the 70's, no way Wilder comes anywhere close to beating the likes of Foreman or Ali. Frazier... it depends... but a leaping left hook from Smokin' Joe and Wilder goes bye-bye. Frazier was super busy... and that might make all the difference.

By the 90's, heavyweights were already getting bigger and heavier. As you said... Lewis, Bowe, Holyfield... way out of Wilder's league.

Contrary to what some here have said, I don't think Wilder's necessarily done. He doesn't match up well with Fury. That much is clear. But assuming he's still got the hunger to be champion, he matches up pretty well with most other HW's out there. People dump on his lack of boxing skills... but I think he's tried mightily to fix some of the wrongs. He's teachable, even if not 100% so. Today's crop of HW's aren't anything to write home about. You get past the Furys and the Joshuas... there isn't much else out there. Someone like Andy Ruiz would be an interesting test. If the Ruiz who beat Joshua in their 1st fight shows up... it's highly likely Wilder gets beat. But with Ruiz you never know.

One thing Wilder has proven is heart. And that counts for a lot.

That seems like one of the easier ones to make Wilder v Ruiz. They were jawing back and forth about a fight before Andy returned v Arreola and thinking about it pretty interesting styles mix up. Love to see what Ruiz could do with the volume and inside mixing and perfect for Wilder to display that 1-2 and learned patience at range in spots. Then again Ruiz was dropped hard by the other side of Arreola so exactly how urgent would he be to get inside on Wilders eraser. Biggest question for me on Wilder is that grey matter now. Losing is one thing but back to back knockout losses at 36 is a totally different animal.

I know what you mean about the back-to-backs. On the other hand, Wilder showed us a side of him he'd never had to show before. The willingness to go on even as he was being beaten to the punch and was in bad condition..... heart.

Tough to say how his mindset is now after the hard reality that he'll never beat a Tyson Fury.

But let's say his mind and heart are still in it. Other than those two knockout losses, Wilder hasn't been subjected to the type of career that leads to "Punch-Drunk City." He also showed he can more than hang with big bangers like Luis Ortiz.

That's what leads me to believe that... IF... he still has his winning mentality... he can still beat most other HW's out there today.