Deontay Wilder KNOCKOUT VICTORY: American Heavyweight Continues to be Spoon-fed – BOXING NEWS

By Geno McGahee

Last night, American heavyweight, Deontay Wilder, 27-0, 27 KO’s, easily destroyed Matthew Greer, 15-9, 13 KO’s, in two rounds. When it comes to the crop of heavyweights from the states, Wilder has taken top spot as the man to watch after the quick collapse of Seth Mitchell in his last fight. The problem with Wilder is that he is not fighting anyone with a pulse.

Greer’s 15 victories were over a collection of fighters that had a collective record of 89 wins and 136 losses and 11 draws, giving them a 37% winning percentage. Greer cannot win a fight unless he’s facing a career loser. Look at the opponent before Greer: Kelvin Price. He brought in a record of 13-0, 6 KO’s, going in, but the collective record of his opposition was: 88 wins, 86 losses and 6 draws, giving them a 48% win rate. This is what the opposition of Wilder has in common. The more that he fights these scrubs, the more that it appears that his handlers have little faith in him as a heavyweight.

Overprotecting heavyweights is a common thing. We saw it with Alex “The Destroyer” Stewart, Shannon Briggs and Lou Savarese, all heavyweights that built up impressive records early on over opponents that did not belong in the ring. Briggs was the only one out of the crop of 1990s heavies that were overprotected to win a title. Wilder is clearly being overprotected. He needs to step up against a mid-level guy at this point.

Wilder should take on a guy like Dereck Chisora, Chazz Witherspoon or Sherman Williams…battle-tested veterans that could give Wilder some trouble and help him grow as a heavyweight. Until we see Deontay in the ring with a fighter that has pulse, the jury is still out. A record is only as impressive as the opponents it’s built upon.