By Monica Hughes

  

Last week, WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38KOs) said during a press conference “Me vs Tyson in 86, I’d kick the hell outta that guy”. 

Many took to social media and article comment boxes with plenty of detraction for the Bronze Bomber, one being former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

Lewis made a point that it was a bit reckless for the younger champions of today to compare or speculate who is greater or who would win in such fantasy matchups.

Lou Dibella, who promoters the current WBC champions upcoming defense against Luis Ortiz on March 3rd at the Barclays Center and televised on Showtime Championship Boxing, responded to Lewis’ critique of Wilder on a recent episode of ATG Radio. 

“I love Lennox.  I like the Lennoxisms.  I follow him on Twitter.  I think he has a lot of interesting perceptions of things," DiBella said.

“He’s allowed to make a comment.  He didn’t make a disrespectful comment or down the guy.  He just said watch out, you weren’t there at that time. 

“It’s Deontay’s prerogative to be outspoken and to be brash and to be confident.  It’s Lennox’s prerogative to respond to him and have a dialogue. 

“There’s no hatred there.  It is what it is.    I think it’s interesting.  As someone that’s close to Deontay, he’s supposed to believe in himself.   By the way if he didn’t believe in himself, he’d be in real trouble."

Wilder has received plenty of criticism since his professional stint began after he won a Bronze medal in the 2008 Olympic Games.  Much of the criticism enhanced after he ended a nine year drought of an American to hold a world heavyweight championship in 2015. 

DiBella, who feels he works with the best heavyweight in the world today and is fed up with many people discrediting the skill and accomplishments of Wilder, hopes the Tuscaloosa  native gets an opportunity to quiet the critics on March 3rd in Brooklyn. 

“I think he’s taken a lot of criticisms that haven’t been valid.  He was on an airplane to go to Russia to fight Povetkin on his own turf and Povetkin was dirty.  It wasn’t that he didn’t want to fight Povetkin.  It wasn’t that he wasn’t prepared for it," DiBella said. 

“He was prepared to fight Ortiz in his last fight.  He only did the mandatory with Stiverne because Ortiz had a problem with his test. 

“Could he have done anything better against Stiverne? Could he have been more impressive against the mandatory put in front of him?  No!

“People still can’t give props.  Here’s the other irony.  I wouldn’t be as great a champion I don’t think as Deontay Wilder in the sense that right now I probably wouldn’t have fought Ortiz.  I would have said - 'ok I don’t have to, he inconvenienced me the last time.  Why should I?  I have a big, huge fight ahead of me. All I have to do is keep winning.  So why should I fight the toughest fight out there?' 

“He’s doing that because he’s a champion.  March 3rd people are getting a chance to see a real heavyweight fight that on paper is supposed to be super competitive where Wilder is fighting the toughest guy possible for him to fight right now.  But still you can’t win.

“If he whacks out Ortiz and looks spectacular doing it, I don’t want to hear from anybody who was screaming and yelling about this fight for so long that Ortiz was so avoided.   I don’t want to read, Oh Wilder beat him, he was shot!”

Monica Hughes is contributor for BoxingScene.com and co-host/producer for ATG Radio. She can be reached on Twitter @ATGMonica.