By James Sexton: A lot of writers and personal friends are split on this topic, and for good reason. At first look, it is very impressive with an undefeated 6’7 American Heavyweight Deontay Wiler, who picked up a bronze medal at the 2008 olympic games, and has since amassed a professional record of 27-0 including 27 knockouts.
On paper, Wilder is a real star in the making. However, his critics like to point to the fact that in his time as a professional he has not defeated a single legitimate opponent, yet has still been knocked down by these lesser foes.
I am not here to knock his accomplishments as a boxer. From watching him it is immediately apparent that he has an incredible amount of power in his shots. It just seems that when you describe someone like Audley Harrison as a ‘step-up’ in competition, you have to wonder what he has been matched with up until this point.
Another point is that it was in his 26th appearance as a professional that he fought for the WBC continental HW title, and it will be several more appearances before he can hope to fight for a World title. To put this in perspective, Lennox Lewis had won the British, Commonwealth, European and World titles within 23 appearances, and some have done it earlier than that. Guillermo Rigondeaux, thanks to his stellar amateur background will be fighting Nonito Donaire next for a world title in his 12th appearance as a professional.
It seems to me that Golden Boy Promotions are setting Deontay Wilder up for a real fall when it comes to facing the big names in the heavyweight division if they continue to feed him this caliber of opponent. We have already seen Seth Mitchell and David Price pay the price for easy matchmaking and I feel it is only a matter of time before we see Wilder and Tyson Fury receive an “L” on their record if not eased into deeper waters.
The main point of this article is not to count Audley out; it is likely the last time he is going to be in a fight like this, and he has won two Prizefighter tournaments in his time as a professional. It all depends if Harrison actually turns up to fight.
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