Deontay Wilder has many parallels to George Foreman. On Olympic medalist who barely had any amateur experience prior to the games, he turned pro and was brought along slowly... mowing everyone down in his path. Sound familiar? His opposition was questioned, but even as he stepped up, the early knockouts kept coming. Sound familiar? The only difference is Foreman aged into the strongest heavyweight division in history, and never went beyond short-term champion. Wilder is approaching one of the weakest. He could certainly be given the same Ali-style lesson by either Klitschko, but both are aging, and Wilder may play the Holmes to their Ali by the time he is seasoned.
As it stands now, who on this continent would you pick over The Bronze Bomber? Banks, Mitchell, Arreola, etc have all shown the wrong style to compete with him. Even the UK doesn't have too many people who could stand up to Wilder's power. Much like Big George, it's not so much who he is beating, but how he is beating them. However, like recent fighters with his history: Lara, Fortuna, and maybe soon Golovkin, one has to wonder when he does fall, will it be hard. Maybe Tony Thompson? Maybe Denis Boystov? To be honest, I'm not sure I'd pick any of them to last past round 7. Maybe we finally have the real thing.
Big George continued to win at the very highest level, until he suddenly crash-landed against Ali. The aforementioned examples had similar experiences. Fortuna went from 1 round destroyer to a boring draw. Same with Erislandy Lara, who has since proven his mettle. What if Golovkin is outboxed in a stinker by Martinez or Geale? Stranger things have happened... but the competition is there to make them happen. Wilder may not be so fortunate (or unfortunate) depending on how you look at it. Thompson could catch him early, and take over. Either Klitschko would probably take him into deep water and drown him now, but rest assured, he will be steered clear of those threats until he is wearing hardware. Povetkin will have been exposed by the time the year is out, and perhaps Pulev, too. The division is just too shallow.
Tomasz Adamek? Forget it. Steve Cunningham? No way. Kathy Duva won't allow her fighters anywhere near The Alabama native. Malik Scott is a possibility, as he has something to prove after being screwed in his last two fights, but he would go rounds by being defensive... and if he's looking for a legit KO loss, Wilder would be almost guaranteed to provide it. Tyson Fury? David Haye will expose him further, and the Hayemaker himself will want no part of Wilder either. Odds are Wilder will either be moved slowly enough as to wait out the Klitschkos retirement (which didn't work for Povetkin, as he was too old), or he will lose to one of them get back in line... ensuring that years will pass before Wilder will assume command. This will only happen if he is as real as he seems, but with all the tools he has shown so far, it may that distant into the future before he is really tested.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com