Deontay Wilder’s record under the microscope

By Boxing News - 03/08/2020 - Comments

By Bruce Scott: Following Deontay Wilder’s first professional loss in last month’s rematch with Tyson Fury in Las Vegas, the ‘Bronze Bomber’s’ boxing record has been put under a microscope analyzing his first 39 opponents and their rankings.

What is immediately striking is that this infographic subsequently highlights 19 of the 39 boxers that Wilder faced were unranked by world boxing.

The infographic was produced after Wilder had defended his WBC belt in 2017 against Bermane Stiverne.

It showed that the 41-year-old Haitian-Canadian boxer was the highest-ranked boxer that the American had fought.

Before Stiverne it’s amazing to see that the next highest-ranked fighter Wilder fought was Siarhei Liakhovich, which was his 29th fight and Liakhovich was ranked No.43. Before he fought Liakhovich, Audley Harrison was the highest-ranked fighter he faced who was ranked No.136

Stiverne was the fourth-ranked heavyweight in the world going into their first fight back in 2015, where he lost his WBC title to Wilder.

This fight was Wilder’s 33rd professional fight and it was the first time that ‘the Bronze Bomber’ went the full 12 round distance and ultimately won via points.

By the time of their rematch two years later in 2017, Stiverne was unranked by world boxing and was subsequently dispatched by Wilder more comprehensively in a first-round knockout.

Wilder’s next highest-ranked opponent he faced was Polish fighter Artur Szpilka, who was ranked 24th in the world, and before he was stopped in the ninth with a huge right hand, he was winning on some of the judges’ scorecards.

While another of his successful defenses was Frenchman Johann Duhaupas, who was only ranked 34th, and ‘the Bronze Bomber’ was quoted in 2018 saying: “Duhaupas was his toughest opponent at the time. We went 11 rounds and he was taking everything.”

Some would suggest that Wilder not fighting more capable opponents earlier in his career has come back to haunt him after being badly exposed and dominated by Tyson Fury in their rematch. The general consensus is Wilder should have tested his skills earlier so he would have been able to compete against a prime elite fighter

The American has subsequently gone on social media for the first time since his loss to the ‘Gypsy King’, stating that he plans to invoke his rematch clause allowing him his chance at redemption.