Fighter Focus: Deontay Wilder has it all to play for

Deontay Wilder has it all to play for on Saturday in Saudi Arabia. A potential fight with Anthony Joshua, who faces Otto Wallin in the co-main event, hangs in the balance. As does Wilder’s reputation as the best non-champion in the heavyweight division. Only Tyson Fury has beaten ‘The Bronze Bomber’ in the pro ranks. That fact is as crucial to the aura of Wilder as his fearsome 97.67% knockout percentage.

Former WBO champion Joseph Parker provides the opposition in Riyadh. A name fighter with a solid record, the likeable New Zealander still feels like a high-profile foil more than anything else. Parker has gone 9-2 since losing his WBO title to Joshua in 2018. But the biggest victories were a pair of tough nods over a shopworn Derek Chisora. Meanwhile, when Joseph has stepped up close to his old world-class level, he has been beaten by Dillian Whyte and Joe Joyce. Wilder is another rung up from those men.

However there is some doubt in the industry over the level Wilder occupies in 2023. John Fury told The Sportsman, “Wilder’s always going to be dangerous with the power he's got. You don't know how much he's got left either. He got three good hidings off Tyson didn't he? He’s got a lot of miles on his clock.”

Since the last of those “hidings” as the Fury patriarch puts it, Wilder spent a year out of the boxing ring. On his return, he starched Robert Helenius in a single round. Another lay-off followed, meaning Wilder has boxed for just two minutes and 57 seconds since October 2021.

At this point the idea of Wilder is the most powerful thing about him. Throughout those two years he has been the question every heavyweight has had to answer. The imagined supremacy of the ‘Bomber’ has haunted a line of men who haven’t faced him. At some point over the last two years Andy Ruiz Jr, Joe Joyce, Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk and Zhilei Zhang have all had to listen to “Wait until Wilder gets his hands on him” rhetoric.

But Wilder hasn’t climbed through the ropes with any of these men. Or any men for that matter, bar the shellacking of Helenius. Saturday has many intriguing sub-plots where Deontay is concerned. The one that has grabbed the focus is its status as an aperitif for a Joshua clash. But the real talking point should be how much the 38-year-old former WBC champion has left in the tank.

Unlike Helenius, Parker is the sort of boxer who will find the structural weaknesses if Wilder has any. If his skills have dulled through inactivity, the New Zealander will punish him. Parker is far fresher, having had five fights to Wilder’s one since the third Fury bout. At 31 he is also the younger man and if the fight goes into deeper waters, somewhere Wilder hasn’t been for a good while, it could make for an interesting night.

 It remains hard to pick against Wilder though. If the fighter we have seen for the majority of his career turns up, then we’ll all be watching replays of the knockout on Monday and talking up a Joshua fight. But the inactivity plants a doubt and Parker is among a small group of fighters who could take advantage of that doubt. It isn’t likely but it isn’t impossible. Sometimes that’s all you need in a heavyweight fight.