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Deontay Wilder is fighting this weekend. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
But it’s OK if you hadn’t heard. After all, it’s on the same night as the lightweight title rematch between Devin Haney and George Kambosos Jr., a fight that’s gotten (and deserves) more attention.
It’ll be Wilder’s first appearance since he was whacked by Tyson Fury a year ago and the first time he’s performed without a green belt at stake since the Obama administration.
He’s 0-2-1 with a pair of stoppages against Fury and 42-0 with 41 KOs against everyone else, which isn’t exactly good news for Robert Helenius, the thrice-beaten Scandinavian giant in the opposite corner who couldn’t go the distance with the dubious likes of Johann Duhaupas or Gerald Washington.
Duhaupas finished him in six in 2016 and Washington got him in eight three years later.
Incidentally, Wilder KO’d both those men in WBC title fights over a combined 16 rounds.
So, by the time Saturday night becomes Sunday morning, it’s a pretty good bet that the “Bronze Bomber” – installed as a prohibitive –800 pick by the guys at DraftKings – will have ticked up his record and polished up his image with a highlight-reel KO that’ll resemble a toppling redwood.
And in the aftermath, hmmm… let’s guess that he’ll thump his chest, yell “Bomb Squad” a couple times and immediately predict the demise of the nearest belt-holder who’s not 6-foot-9 and 270 pounds.
It’ll all make for good Fox/PBC television, but, in the grand scheme, won’t mean much.
He’s not the best heavyweight in the world based on the results against Fury. In fact, he’s probably not even second-best in the world based on the recent accomplishments of ex-cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk. And despite what he’s claimed in the Helenius run-up, he’s certainly not an immortal either.
“I’m a Hall of Famer right now,” he told this very website last month.
“I already know when those five years are up and I’m done competing, I’m automatically in the boxing Hall of Fame, no questions asked. If not, I’ll be very surprised.”
It’s a predictably bold statement from a perpetually bold guy.
And he is absolutely right. But he’s also very wrong.
Given the iffy nature of some who’ve been cleared for 21st century takeoff into the central New York mecca – Gatti, Qawi, Chacon and McGuigan, among them – I concede it’s a 2022 reality that Wilder will indeed be a first-ballot inductee whenever his name is on the ballot.
The 10 defenses and spectacular KO rate will be ample rationale for the yes votes, dismissing that he was twice splattered by the only champion he met — other than Bermane Stiverne, that is — and few of the other challengers arrived with anything resembling a legitimate title-shot pedigree.
But, in line with that 2022 reality, it is what it is. And I’m OK with it.
Though barely past a half-century myself, I’m fully aware of my undisputed dinosaur emeritus status when it comes to Hall-voting criteria, which in its simplest terms goes like this:
Was the fighter among the best in his peer group for a prolonged stretch of time? Not a one-year star or a popular guy who got TV time solely due to persona or style (cough, cough…), but one of those guys – for at least a handful of years – who were on a short list of the best fighters in the world?
If the answer is yes – think Mayweather and Pacquiao – he’s got my vote.
If the answer is no – think Butterbean and Kardashian – he’s got my apologies.
Wilder, though perhaps not to the degree of the examples cited, deserves a hard no.
He gets points as a stat compiler and an extra nudge thanks to Olympic medal street cred.
But unless my hurricane-addled mind is failing – two weeks without electricity will do that to a guy, believe me — I don’t recall many suggesting even at the peak of his powers that he was any more an all-time great than simply the pick of a historically inglorious heavyweight litter.
At no point during his reign did he even make The Ring’s year-end pound-for-pound top 10.
His most dedicated fan couldn’t rank him better than fourth (trailing Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko and Fury) among the division’s title claimants since 2000, and the less ardent might even concede the trouble he’d meet with the likes of Usyk, Vitali Klitschko or even Anthony Joshua.
That’s in an era particularly no one lauds as “golden” when it comes to the big men.
And if you dropped him in the ’90s with Holyfield and Bowe, or the ’80s with Holmes and Tyson?
Well, let’s just say this conversation would have been over a long time ago.
* * * * * * * * * *
This week’s title-fight schedule:
IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO lightweight titles – Melbourne, Australia
Devin Haney (champion/No. 1 Ring) vs. George Kambosos Jr. (No. 3 WBC/No. 2 Ring)
Haney (28-0, 15 KO): Sixth WBC title defense; Two KOs in seven 12-round fights (7-0, 2 KO)
Kambosos (20-1, 10 KO): Third title fight (1-1); Held WBC title at 135 (2021-22, zero defenses)
Fitzbitz says: I’m not a huge Haney guy and I thought Kambosos would eventually get to him the first time around. But it was such a disparity that I can’t see it being reversed. Haney by decision (90/10)
Last week’s picks: 1-0 (WIN: Martinez)
2022 picks record: 30-12 (71.4 percent)
Overall picks record: 1,239-404 (75.4 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body’s full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA “world championships” are only included if no “super champion” exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.