By Scott Gilfoid: Promoter Eddie Hearn had little good to say about Deontay Wilder following his impressive come from behind win over Luis Ortiz last Saturday night. Hearn says Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) is “limited” and could lose to almost anyone in the division, but his power saves him each time.
Eddie Hearn sounding bitter
Hearn stating that Wilder can be “BEATEN by anybody” seems to suggest a sense of bitterness with the Matchroom Boxing promoter, as his own fighter Anthony Joshua was just knocked out in his last fight. Moreover, Joshua’s career hangs in the balance in his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. on December 7th.
A loss for Joshua in that fight could be the end of his career. That would be a major blow to Hearn’s Matchroom promotion if Joshua were to retire after a second defeat to the American Ruiz.
Wilder’s incredible right-hand power saved him against Ortiz (31-2, 26 KOs) with him knocking the Cuban challenger out in round 7 of one-sided fight. Ortiz had taken Wilder to school in the first six rounds, and then suddenly, it was over. Wilder connected with one of his BOOMING right hand power shots in the 7th, and that was it. Ortiz found himself on the losing end a second time.
Wilder is a very LIMITED fighter – Hearn
“I’ve seen the KO. Everyone was saying, ‘1-nil Ortiz, 2-nil Ortiz, 3 nil Ortiz, 4-nil Ortiz, 5-nil Ortiz, but I was still waiting for the inevitable, and I was waiting for it to come,” said Hearn to IFL TV in reacting to Wilder’s win over Ortiz. “All of a sudden, flashing up at my feet, ‘Wow,’ and saw the knockout. That’s what he does, isn’t it?
“He’s [Wilder] very, very limited as a fighter skill-wise, but he has this freakish power that could turn your lights out at any time, and he’s very good at it,” said Hearn about Wilder. “That’s why he’s so exciting, Deontay Wilder, because he’s vulnerable, he can be beaten by anybody, but if he hits you on the chin, your bang in trouble,” said Hearn.
Saying that Wilder can be “beaten by anybody” is an odd statement by Hearn, because the Alabama native is undefeated still, and no one has proven they can withstand his power. Even Tyson Fury was dropped twice by Wilder, and arguably knocked out in their fight last year.
Wilder’s power was too much for Ortiz, who gave him a good fight up until the 7th. You can question Ortiz’s decision to try and brawl with Wilder in the seventh, because that was what led him to getting knocked out. Ortiz had been doing well when he was boxing Wilder, and throwing single shots. In the 7th, Ortiz changed things up by throwing combinations, and that left him in the position where he was caught.
Hearn has had a bad weekend
It was a bad weekend for Hearn. His top super middleweight Callum Smith put in a bad effort in winning a controversial 12 round decision over John Ryder in Liverpool last Saturday night. Hearn looked like he was still down in the dumps this morning after what happened in that fight. It’s got to be tough for Hearn to digest what happened in the Smith fight, and realize now that he’s not as good as he originally though.
There’s nothing Hearn can do about Callum. The guy was royally exposed by ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder, and now he can probably forget about getting the Saul Canelo Alvarez fight that he and Hearn so badly crave. Canelo isn’t going to stick his neck out and look bad in front of the entire world by choosing to fight Callum. The fans would completely insult Canelo if he fights Callum now after that performance.
Hearn is then seeing Wilder look spectacular in knocking out Ortiz, and, of course, he’s going to have nothing good to say about him.
Wilder has one-punch power
“I don’t think anybody gave Wilder a round, but that’s why the division is so tight,” said Hearn. “You can have any fight going any way you want. You’ve got Ruiz-Joshua in two weeks in Saudi. Either guy is capable of hurting each other, and that’s why it’s so exciting. Ruiz could win every round, and AJ could knock him out in the 12th round.
“Joshua could school him off the jab, and keep him at the distance, and Ruiz could chin him in the 11th round. I mean, that’s a fight there where Wilder hadn’t won a round in the halfway stage, and then knocks him clean out with one punch. That’s what he’s got, one punch power,” said Hearn.
Wilder may have won a round or two against Ortiz, but that’s immaterial. What’s important is the fact that Deontay WON. That’s all Hearn and the boxing world needs to remember about the fight, since it the end result that is important. Deontay came out of the fight with Ortiz smelling like a rose with his crowd-pleasing highlight reel knockout.
Unfortunately, you can’t say that about Callum Smith, can you? The boxing public think Callum was given a gift decision by the three judges that worked his fight, and Hearn has got to be unhappy. The way Callum looked, he’d be vulnerable against any of the top super middleweights.
Wilder struggled to call out Joshua-Ruiz winner – Hearn
“He struggled to say it during the interview,” said Hearn about Wilder stumbling over his words moments after the fight in saying he wants to fight the Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. winner. “‘I want the winner of Ruiz and the other guy,'” said Hearn in remembering what Wilder had said in calling out the Joshua-Ruiz 2 winner.
“So, as refreshing as it is for the first time in a long time, what’s next [for Joshua] after Ruiz is totally irrelevant right now. It’s about just trying to beat Andy Ruiz. I think Joshua against Wilder is the most thrilling fight in world boxing, to be honest with you, because we know both guys have been hurt before.
“Both guys punch very hard, both guys are really fast, but like I said, it’s all irrelevant, unless Anthony can beat Ruiz at the moment, and that’s the complete focus,” said Hearn.
The only reason why Wilder struggled with Joshua’s name is because he thinks that he doesn’t want to fight him, so he wasn’t going to help him out by name dropping. The only one of those two that Wilder believes he has any chance of negotiating a fight with is Andy Ruiz Jr. Deontay has NO faith that Joshua will agree to fight him, and that’s why he feels it’s pointless to mention his name.
