Until recently, Deontay Wilder was one of the most feared heavyweights in the division, and was known for his devastating knockout power.
Deontay Wilder was on track to finish every opponent in his way before Bermane Stiverne broke Wilder’s 32-fight KO streak in 2015.
Wilder KO’d Stiverne in their rematch, but his career took a turn when he faced Tyson Fury and was taken to the final bell for the second time.
Since then Wilder has, unfortunately, gone downhill, having been beaten twice by Fury, and more recently being outclassed by Joseph Parker and stopped by Zhilei Zhang.
It was his comeback from the Stiverne win in 2015, though, that gave fans the first indication that maybe Wilder was not the most devastating force in the division.
Anthony Joshua KO’d Eric Molina six rounds earlier than Deontay Wilder could
In a bid to continue his path of destruction after hearing the judges’ scorecards for the first time, Wilder faced 23-2 Eric Molina.
Molina had lost only once since 2007, a KO loss to Chris Arreola, who Wilder defeated a year after his fight with Molina.
The fight was Wilder’s first world title defense, and Molina had hoped to join the likes of Bernard Hopkins in becoming a fighter who lost their pro debut but went on to win a world title.
Despite giving a good account of himself, these aspirations would not materialize, as Wilder dropped Molina in rounds four and five, before stopping him in round nine.
Just one year later, Molina found himself fighting for a different world title, this time the IBF crown against Anthony Joshua.
Unfortunately for Molina, what took Wilder nine rounds took Joshua just three, as he flattened his challenger with a chopping right hand.
Deontay Wilder cements himself as the bigger puncher with dominant KOs over Anthony Joshua’s former foes
Though the Molina fight paints one picture, Joshua and Wilder actually have five opponents in common.
Whilst Joshua looked better than Wilder against Molina, and beat Parker where Wilder was unable to, there are three other fighters the pair have both faced.
In 2014, Wilder, who went to war against Luis Ortiz, forced Jason Gavern to quit after the fourth round, where Joshua stopped him in three.
Though it seems Joshua has gotten the better of most mutual opponents, there are two that Wilder decimated far worse than Joshua could.
In 2019, Wilder, who dislikes Jarrell Miller, knocked out Dominic Brezeale in the opening round of their contest, a feat which took Joshua seven rounds, though there was three years between these fights.
The most compelling, though, is Wilder’s savage knockout win over Robert Helenius in round one, just one year before Joshua stopped him in seven.