Is it time to give Deontay Wilder pound-for-pound consideration? The short answer is “no.”
That’s not a knock on Wilder, who deserves respect for what he has accomplished over the past five years. It simply means that he isn’t among the 15 best fighters in the world regardless of weight, which is what pound-for-pound is.
First of all, Wilder isn’t even the top heavyweight. The vast majority of those who saw his draw with Tyson Fury last December thought Fury, who is included in “Honorable Mention” here, deserved the decision even though he went down twice.
Honest observers have to be able to see through poor judging when assessing fighters.
And we have to stick with the definition of pound-for-pound. Consider this question: If Vassily Lomachenko and Terence Crawford were 6-foot-4 and around 220 pounds yet retained their skills and speed, how would they fare against Wilder?
Wilder’s punching power can be the deciding factor against anyone. At the same time, the heavyweight titleholder has never faced boxers with anywhere near the ability of Lomachenko and Crawford. The closest we could come to them in terms of skill set throughout history is Muhammad Ali, who was a once-in-a-century talent.
We imagine that Lomachenko and Crawford would drive Wilder mad with their mobility, their quickness, their overall ability. Luis Ortiz, who Wilder stopped with one punch in the seventh round Saturday in Las Vegas, is a good boxer but he’s light years behind our Nos. 1 and 2 pound-for-pound.
The only fighter better than Ortiz on Wilder’s resume is Fury and we know what happened there. Who else has he beaten? His next toughest opponent might’ve been Bermane Stiverne, who isn’t exactly the type of fight against whom you demonstrate your pound-for-pound credentials.
To be fair to Wilder, we should mention that heavyweights are at a disadvantage against smaller fighters in this discussion. A man 6-foot-7, like Wilder, just can’t be expected to move like a smaller fighter. And smaller fighters can move up in weight in pursuit of more opportunities to prove their mettle.
Wilder understands that.
“When you’re dealing with the pound-for-pound list, I really don’t think it belongs in the heavyweight division,” Wilder said the news conference following the Ortiz fight. “We can only be in one division. We can’t go up and down like all of the smaller fighters, so it doesn’t really apply to us.”
We don’t agree completely. Again, Fury is an “honorable mention” here. And, certainly, Ali, Larry Holmes and perhaps other big men had the unusual ability to crack the pound-for-pound list during their eras.
For now, though, we believe it’s best to appreciate Wilder’s chilling knockouts and refrain from comparing him to the best all-around fighters in other divisions. And we can have this discussion again if he knocks out Fury.
Check out our Top 15 list below. And let us know what you think.
BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND
- Vasiliy Lomachenko
- Terence Crawford
- Canelo Alvarez
- Naoya Inoue
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Gennadiy Golovkin
- Errol Spence
- Juan Francisco Estrada
- Mikey Garcia
- Artur Beterbiev
- Josh Taylor
- Manny Pacquiao
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
- Leo Santa Cruz
- Kosei Tanaka
Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Miguel Berchelt, Mairis Briedis, Tyson Fury, Shawn Porter, Julian Williams
