Not the most technically sound boxer is one way of putting it - can’t recall seeing a worse boxer at world level [ie someone holding a significant belt for some time]. But he does have that x-factor explosiveness like you say, where he can just windmill in a bomb from nowhere. Superbly conditioned as well.
AJ would be odds on to put him away, and the Tyson Fury who fought Wlad 2 1/2 years ago would give Wilder a lesson. No one knows if that version of Fury exists anymore, though - he is back in shape and will be fighting later this year, so we will see.
That actually leads to a question that I wonder if the boxing mavens in this thread want to opine on.
In his prime, Roy Jones Jr was one of the most dominant fighters ever. But I’ve seen a lot of commentary asserting that he was not particularly a technically sound boxer, but that his supreme physical gifts made him the fighter that he was anyway. There are two ways of looking at that, though.
[ol]
[li]His deficiency in technical skill was a net negative, and had he been better technically he would have been an even better fighter. But his superb athletic ability overcame the negative aspects of his level of technical skill and made him what he was despite that relative handicap.[/li][li]His deficiency in technical skill wasn’t really a deficiency. The technical guidelines that he didn’t adhere to were things that made sense for people with lesser skills than him, but for someone as dominant as he was physically (mostly his lightning speed and reflexes) his style was the optimum style, such that had he adhered to a more conventional style he would have been a worse fighter.[/li][/ol]
As an example, there was one fight in which he stood with his back to the ropes with his hands behind his back, bobbing back and forth and daring the other guy to hit him. Suddenly he whipped one arm out from behind his back and knocked the guy out, ending the fight. I think to myself that all else being equal, a punch delivered in this manner is more effective than a standard punch, both because it’s harder to prepare for and defend against, as well as possible additional power to it. For a normal fighter, it would be suicidal to put yourself in that position to begin with. But if you were quick enough to survive that situation without being killed, as Jones was, then it was actually an advantage.
Prime Roy was a phenomenon - a study in movement, albeit not of the boxing orthodoxy. Particularly at middleweight when he as coming up - prob had less then ten fights (he beat Hopkins for a MW strap) there, so obv you can’t compare his MW cv with the all time great middleweights who campaigned there all their careers, but just on the eyeball test he was like an alien species.
[Wilder is the antithesis of all that - a study in awkwardness, looks like he learned to box last week].
The one obvious thing you can say about Roy and would he have benefited from a more fundamenal style, or at least the ability to adapt to one, is that it would have prolonged and solidified his career into his mid-30s. Some fighters are very dominant mid-30s (e.g. Lewis, GGG) but Roy was the archetypal boxer who got old overnight - starts to slow up a tiny bit, combined with a big step up / step down from HW and suddenly he’s getting rinsed by gatekeeper fighters. He looked dreadful against Antonio Tarver twice and then Glen Johnson absolutely sparked him out IIRC, shocking to see someone of Roy’s class fall like that.
It is certainly the second case. He showed plenty of technical proficiency as an amateur and early in his pro career. He was just that much faster than everyone else and didn’t have to stick to a traditional style. A boxer that much better than everyone else can hardly get any better, he controlled his fights in almost every round, knocked out opponents when he wanted to, and his only loss in his first 50 fights was a disqualification that seemed to prove that at the time only Roy Jones could beat Roy Jones.
Roy Jones was a smart tactician. It wasn’t just his lightning fast reflexes; it was his ability to make fighters think that he might just throw a left jab, only to realize he was about to land an explosive left hook followed by a straight right. To use a baseball analogy, Roy Jones was like a great pitcher. He’d make you think he’s throwing a fast ball, but boxers would get frozen with a change-up. Jones would make fighters brace for one punch and get clobbered with another.
I’m going to have to go with this. Tyson was a defensive master. His reflexes and skill at avoiding getting hit are jaw dropping. You can find plenty of videos of Tyson evading a flurry of punches. Add to that Tyson could take a punch. He was no glass cannon.
Foreman might hit like a tree trunk but if you can’t land the blows it won’t help. Tyson would evade, get inside Foreman’s reach and use his speed to tear Foreman apart. Foreman might hit harder but Tyson hit plenty hard enough. It’s kind of splitting hairs when deciding if it is worse being hit by a 10-ton or 8-ton truck.
If Foreman can keep Tyson at his longer range and moving backwards Foreman would have the advantage (Tyson would not even be able to hit him) but I don’t see it happening that way. My money is on Tyson getting inside, using his better speed and going to town. Tyson in three, maybe four in a winner take all match.