Deontay Wilder agrees with those people who say he is the hardest hitting heavyweight, not only of this era but of any era, and the number is growing when it comes to experts and fans alike who feel this way. In fact, Wilder, when it comes to eras of the heavyweight division, feels his incredible power would allow him to have “survived in any era.”
Speaking with The Daily Star, Wilder said “nobody could deny that.” Wilder once again defended himself against the critics who say he is a raw puncher and nothing more, stating that “just because you punch someone in the face, doesn’t mean you can knock them out.” Wilder insists he has great, underrated technique and that his ring rivals are “mesmerized” by his vaunted right hand.
“For me if people label me as the hardest hitting heavyweight in history then I accept it and I agree,” Wilder said. “We have seen nobody do this before. The ones who don’t want to believe – who we call haters – they can’t always keep the drum beating that it was the opposition not being up to it. But just because you punch someone in the face, doesn’t mean you can knock them out. The math doesn’t add up, the science doesn’t allow it to work that way. We are witnessing greatness with me. Being able to have this tremendous power means I could survive any era. Nobody could deny that.”
Wilder, 42-0-1(41) has to overcome Tyson Fury in their massive rematch next Saturday before he can come a big step closer to being accepted as the best heavyweight of this era; the WBC champ needs that and a win over Anthony Joshua. But it sure is fun imagining Wilder in there with the greats of yesteryear. How, for example, would the greatest heavyweight chins, those belonging to George Chuvalo, George Foreman and Rocky Marciano, have held up to Wilder’s withering power?
How would Wilder have coped had he met a peak Mike Tyson, a Sonny Liston or, dare we even ask it, Muhammad Ali? Again, it’s a whole lot of fun conjuring up such Dream Fights.
Wilder may well be right though: his freakish punching power would indeed have given him a shot against ANY heavyweight in history. Yes, he punches that hard.