In his last outing in June of last year, Wilder was the victim of a one sided fifth round knockout at the hands of top contender Zhilei Zhang. It was after that fight that many, including this observer, questioned whether that fight would be the end of Wilder’s career. The reason for that is not only due to the losses he has suffered and the toll the trilogy with Tyson Fury took on him, but also the stretches of inactivity in recent years, which also had to have impacted him in those defeats. Now one year removed from the loss to Zhang, Wilder prepares to re-enter competition as he will face veteran Tyrell Herndon on Friday, June 27th at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, KS in a fight that can be seen on digital subscription general entertainment network BLK Prime and as a pay-per-view offering across cable/satellite providers and PPV.com.
If one were objective as this observer fortunately is, they would be honest as I will be with the reader in saying that this has all the appearance of a “Comeback Fight" designed to serve as a confidence builder for Wilder and more specifically as a way to both work off ring rust and to evaluate where Wilder is at this stage in his career. While this is not a fight that will put Wilder back in the discussion of top Heavyweight contenders, these types of fights are vital not only as a means of staying active, but also as a way to get a fighter like a former world champion as Wilder is, in the best possible form before trying to get back to the top.
Frankly, it is a method of gaining and maintaining a fighter’s activity and sharpness that is rarely seen in present times particularly as notable fighters with name recognition, like Wilder, opt to compete sporadically, in part because of the lucrative paydays attached to it, which removes the necessity to remain consistently active at least from a financial standpoint. The obvious flaw, however, despite the fact that those fighters at or near the top of the sport are in a position to make significant money by waiting for the most lucrative opportunities, is that over time inactivity will have a negative impact on those fighters inside the ring. In Wilder’s case, his inactivity has been due both a bitter split with his former manager Al Haymon and the Premier Boxing Champions group of promoters as well as needing to recover from losses, including the knockouts at the hands of Fury and Zhang. At his best, however, Wilder is a devastating puncher that is capable of ending a fight at any time with either hand as illustrated by his forty-two knockouts in forty-three career wins and near 90% career knockout percentage.
How likely are we to see glimpses of that version of Wilder? In Tyrell Herndon, the former world champion will face a veteran of twenty-nine professional fights with a respectable 24-5, with 14 Knockouts record coming into this fight. Although most of Herndon’s victories have come against relatively unknown opposition, he will enter this fight riding a three fight win streak. A red flag as to Herndon’s potential chances, however, and a likely reason he was selected as the opponent for Wilder on this occasion is he has been stopped in four of his five losses, most notably at the hands of unbeaten rising Heavyweight contender and former Olympic Silver medalist Richard Torrez, who stopped him in the second round in October 2023.
What Herndon can point to as something in his favor going into this fight is he has been considerably more active than Wilder, albeit against a lower level of competition since his loss to Torrez. Whether that will be enough to compete effectively with a fighter with the type of power that Wilder has remains to be seen. Herndon is not known for his punching power and some might suggest that his best chance for success here in this fight will be to try and implement a boxer’s approach similar to the one that former WBO Heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker was able to implement when he faced and defeated Wilder in December 2023 in scoring a wide twelve round unanimous decision victory.
As Wilder now tries to bounce back from his third knockout loss, there may be some who believe that he might be damaged after what was a brutal knockout at the hands of Zhilei Zhang. Although that possibility should not be dismissed, it would be ill advised for Herndon to go in with the mentality of trying to get Wilder out of there as Wilder has done to many of his opponents throughout his career.
While this indeed has all the appearance of a “Comeback Fight" and keeping in mind that there are indeed levels to combat sports and seemingly every metric tips in Wilder’s favor, we won't know what Wilder has until he and Herndon are in the ring and whether this is the start of a rebuilding process of one of the most devastating fighters in the history of the Heavyweight division.
“And That's The Boxing Truth."
Wilder vs. Herndon takes place on Friday, June 27th at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, KS. The fight can be seen globally on digital subscription entertainment streaming network and platform BLK Prime beginning at 9PM ET/6PM PT. The card will also be available on a pay-per-view basis across cable/satellite providers throughout the United States and Canada as well as PPV.com and it's streaming apps on mobile, tablet and connected streaming devices, platforms, and Smart TVs for $24.99. (As of this writing, it appears the event will be available to subscribers of BLK Prime at no additional cost, but is unconfirmed at the time of publishing of this column.)
To subscribe to BLK Prime and for information about where you can download the BLK Prime app on mobile, tablet, and connected streaming devices, and Smart TVs please visit: www.BLKPrime.com
(*Card and Start Time Subject to Change.*)
(*North American Start Times displayed only, visit BLKPrime.com the local start times internationally.*)
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