In every generation, there are those boxers who separate themselves from the pack, who become larger-than-life figures. Everyone in and around their wait class wants to fight them. Fans and media hound them. They sell more tickets and more pay-per-views than the rest. They get more endorsement opportunities than others. They frequently appear in movies and/or on TV. Other celebrities love to hang with them.
In this generation, it's Canelo Alvarez. A few years before that, it was Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
And if we go back to the Muhammad Ali days, it was Oscar De La Hoya, Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard and, of course, Ali himself.
Listening to Deontay Wilder talk at the Day of Reckoning opening news conference on Nov. 15 in London, and then watching his three fights with Tyson Fury, left me wondering why Wilder isn't on that list?
He's been one of the most exciting fights in the sport for over a decade. He has sought out the biggest fights possible for as long as I can remember. He has chased -- literally -- Anthony Joshua all over the world in order to try to make a fight between them.
Wilder is no classic fighter. He's prone to mistakes that leave himself open, but as fans, it's something to admire because he does it in pursuit of a knockout.
All three of the bouts for the WBC and lineal heavyweight titles between Wilder and Tyson Fury were enthralling. Wilder decked Fury four times, including once in the 12th round of their first bout on Dec. 1, 2018, in Los Angeles in which it seemed he'd scored a clear KO. Fury miraculously arose and made it to the final bell. The bout was a split draw and cried out for a rematch.
They fought twice more, in 2020 and 2021 in Las Vegas. In those two, Fury knocked Wilder down five times, three in their second bout and twice more in their third. Fury, never one to get cheated, scored a pair of knockdowns in their third bout.
Their 2021 bout in Las Vegas remains one of the best heavyweight bouts of this century, and probably longer.
They were fascinating battles and as entertaining as they were, if someone guaranteed we could see three bouts like them again, what boxing fan among us could possibly say no?
Fury won the last two, by seventh- and 11th-round TKO, after the first was a split draw. But though he lost, Wilder established himself as a can't miss fighter. There has rarely been a fighter like him, one who possesses such great power and is so eager to use it. Wilder isn't the type looking to burn rounds to set something up. When the bell sounds, he comes out double barrel with guns blazing, firing as hard as he can for as long as he can.
Wilder will face former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker on Saturday in one of the featured bouts on the loaded "Day of Reckoning" card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. If Wilder wins, he'll face former unified champion Anthony Joshua in March. Joshua will face Otto Wallin on Saturday in Riyadh. The show Saturday will be available on pay-per-view at PPV.com, ESPN+ and DAZN.
Promoters are calling Wilder-Parker and Joshua-Wallin the show's "co-main events." Let's be honest here, though. If you're truly a fan of boxing, and of exciting sports, Wilder is the reason you're tuning in to this one.
Period, end of story.
"When people come to see heavyweight boxing, they come to see excitement," Wilder said last month at a news conference in London. "But most of all, they come to see knockouts. There's one thing for sure and when I come, that's what I come to deliver. Come December the 23rd, I'm coming to do that same thing. I'm on the same mission, to regain my title back and unify the division. That's my main goal.
"I've got everything I want and need in life. But to come back and finish what I started, it's going to mean everything to me to put that little icing on the cake with everything else I've accomplished."
He's 43-2-1 with 42 KOs, 0-2-1 against Fury and 43-0 with 42 KOs against everyone else. That's a remarkable record for a guy who not only started boxing later in life but who isn't now, never has been nor ever will be confused with a defensive specialist.
It's a war of attrition when you step between the ropes to fight Wilder.
He's been accessible to the media and is a fun, engaging interview. He so badly wants to fight the best that he has begged other top heavyweights to step in with him. When he's gotten those big bouts, he's shown up in a big way and put on a show.
That makes it all the more remarkable that Wilder isn't in that special category at this point as one of the faces of boxing.
Hopefully, though, there's time to rectify that. He should destroy Parker, and he's not only a -650 favorite to win at DraftKings, but he's -400 to win by knockout.
Parker may have the better pure boxing skills, but that's never really mattered in a Wilder fight.
This is the guy people come to see. This is the guy who should be making those nine-figure checks like Mayweather did not so long ago. This is the guy who should be the biggest draw in the sport.
Given the schedules that are set, if Wilder gets past Parker and Joshua beats Wallin, Wilder and Joshua will meet in March in Saudi Arabia in a classic match. With Fury and unified champion Oleksandr Usyk set to fight for the undisputed title on Feb. 17, the path is clear for Wilder.
It may take a while for him to get there, but he's coming.
And while he arrives, it's going to be with a bang.
He's absolutely one of those guys you'd be a fool to miss.