Deontay Wilder Said Boxing ‘Dies’ Without Exciting American Heavyweight – He Was Wrong

Deontay Wilder and his belief that boxing thrived off the excitement of an American champion has been proven wrong. After a year, out of popular demand, as he would say, Wilder made his comeback to the ring. He had his last fight against Tyson Fury in a trilogy fight last year on October 9. Following his second loss to Fury, Wilder maintained a year of absence from the ring.

If boxing did thrive off the excitement of American Champions, Wilder’s comeback should have brought a record-breaking PPV. Wilder made his comeback on the 15th of this month and had a knockout win over Robert Helenius in the first of the scheduled twelve rounds. However, the PPV his fight gained was far from justifying his thesis.

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Wilder had said, “One thing about boxing that I’ve proved is that boxing thrives off of excitement, but the excitement of an American champion. Once that dies, so does boxing.” 

To raise the temperature in the room, he had even added, “I was living proof, because I’m coming back on popular demand, because that’s all I’ve been hearing from high and low. From homeless people all the way up to millionaires.”

The PPV that Wilder vs. Helenius generated is shocking given Wilder’s claim about how boxing thrived off the excitement of American champions in the ring.

Deontay Wilder vs. Robert Helenius had only 75,000 pay-per-view buys

Despite the star power and popularity Wilder had, his comeback generated only 75,000 pay-per-view buys. Boxing journalist Dan Rafael reported the said figure: “The Deontay Wilder-Robert Helenius fight generated approximately 75,000 pay-per-view buys in the United States, multiple sources with knowledge of the event told Fight Freaks Unite.”

If boxing thrived only off the excitement of an American champion, then the return of Wilder should have filled what was earlier lacking. There is no doubt that Wilder is an exciting fighter and has a fanbase that wants to see him. In fact, his victory over Helenius was worthy of praise and a thing of beauty.

What about others?

Despite weighing 40lbs less than Helenius in the ring, Wilder slept him with one right. With a 91.3% knockout ratio in pro boxing, he is certainly a figure to watch in the ring. However, to say that boxing thrived only off the excitement of American champions, one would be miserably wrong.

With the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Artur Beterbiev, Vasyl Lomachenko, and Oleksandr Usyk still active in boxing and constantly contributing, we must acknowledge that it is not just the American champion that propelled the game of boxing.

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What do you think about Wilder’s thesis? And do you believe Wilder vs. Helenius should have gained a bigger PPV? In addition, what would you say about others’ contributions to boxing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.