Deontay Wilder is 'the biggest punching heavyweight since Mike Tyson' but 'has no class or skillset', says Tony Bellew

DEONTAY WILDER is the 'biggest punching heavyweight since Mike Tyson' but has not got the class or skillset to match it, Tony Bellew said.

Wilder has 41 knockouts in his 42 wins and a 93.2 per cent KO ratio, making him one of the most devastating hitters of all time.


It served him well enough to reign as the WBC champion from 2015-2020 until he was dethroned by Tyson Fury.

Wilder dropped Fury twice in their 2018 fight, but was floored on two occasions himself in their rematch and beaten in round seven.

Bellew, who twice fought at heavyweight beating David Haye, argues the American lacks the technical ability to match his power.

He told talkSPORT: “There’s telegraphing punches and then there’s skimming the lights above the ring – that’s what Deontay Wilder was doing.

"His punches were that wild and that crude. He was out of control.

"He may have crazy power and he might be the biggest punching heavyweight since Mike Tyson, but he has no class and he has no skillset to match that power.

“So it’s like a bull in a china shop. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.

"He can’t set his attacks up, his jab was just useless in the fight, he didn’t know what to do. Even when he had Tyson Fury down and out he couldn’t finish him."

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Fury, 32, faces Wilder, 35, in a trilogy bout on July 24 after he was ordered to do so by an arbitrator.

He failed to walk away from his contracted rematch to instead unify the division with Anthony Joshua.

Joshua, 31, is now left to face mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk, 34, in September.

AJ still hopes to fight Fury afterwards and Bellew questions whether the Gypsy King would be able to fight off his rival like he did against Wilder.

“Think about this, if Tyson Fury gets dropped by Anthony Joshua, do you genuinely believe he’s going to be able to see out the round?" Bellew said.

"Anthony Joshua is one of the best finishers – right now he’s the best finisher in the heavyweight division.”

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