DEONTAY WILDER – ALL POWER, NO SKILL?

The highest knockout percentage in boxing belongs to heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. The ‘Bronze Bomber’ seems to be able to finish a fight in a moment’s notice with his abnormal strength that has planted 41/43 of his opponents to the canvas for good. His infamous right hand has been instrumental to retaining the WBC title. Wilder’s power has trumped many technically superb boxers such as Luis Ortiz which begs the question, if one has enough power, does skill or technique become irrelevant?

This looks the case for 34-year-old Wilder as he remains undefeated despite being renowned for lacking technical ability. It is hardly unsurprising that technicality is his weakness however as Wilder was a seriously late bloomer starting to compete in the sport at 20 years of age. The stereotypical champion would lecture media and fans on how they have been boxing for their entire life but this certain champion is a true anomaly. It is evident almost every time he steps in the ring that Wilder contains holes in his fighting style that usually get resolved at amateur level. But it makes sense for him of all people to have these flaws due to a short-lived amateur career spanning for just one year before becoming pro as a means of income to supply for his growing family. Blatant problems the Alabama native has that fans can always witness is that his back feet come off the floor when he’s eager to unload his heavy right hand and he will cross his feet in doing so. This is heavily discouraged in boxing because if the back foot comes forward, it leaves the boxer off balance and vulnerable. Wilder can get away with this though because if he throws that right hand and it connects, no matter where his feet are, his opponent will be more off balance than him. The WBC champion’s risky style also struggles to have a positive affect with the judges. This is clear as he tends to be down on the scorecard before putting his right hand ‘Eraser’ into full effect and claiming a knockout victory. This was most obvious in his most recent bout against Luis Ortiz. Therefore, Wilder may not be the upper echelon of crafty boxing in the division, but as long as he possesses his other-worldly power that earned him a world title, he does not need to be.

Although the poor technicality from the ‘Bronze Bomber’ is astonishing to see at world professional level, do not let that undermine the certain skills he does possess outside of his heavy hands. As the old saying goes ‘precision beats power’ and it is apparent that Wilder has both. For his knockouts to be as destructive as they are, strength is only one component because the shot needs to be timed to perfection if it is to be successful and 97% of the time in his fights it is. In addition to this, before Wilder becomes off balance from launching his missile of a right, the build up to it is carefully planned and executed. He sets up the money shot by utilising his long-left jab and patiently throws it until the opportunity for a bigger punch arrives. The champion’s performance against the ‘Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury also proved to critics that he is not just a one trick pony and that there is more to him than a career-threatening punch. Wilder throughout many of the 12 rounds moved his head and exhibited adept lateral movement at times which were the foundation to many successive exchanges in the fight. Not only does the 34-year-old utilise a good jab, he possesses a dangerous lead hook too. This is a shot that featured in both combinations which sent Fury to the canvas in their first clash and he throws it with great accuracy when entering and breaking from clinches, making Wilder’s game a lot more rounded than one may think at first glance.

Indeed, he may not be the most composed boxer ever, but the Bronze Bomber is one hell of a fighter and he will be looking to blitz the ‘Gypsy King’ come Saturday and make him the 42^nd victim to feel his wrath and not make the count.
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Max Taylor articles
Photographer – Stephanie Trapp