Deontay Wilder has suffered back to back defeat against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang respectively.
The former WBC heavyweight champion has lost four of his last five fights and it looks like he may call time on his career.
Zhilei Zhang FINISHED Deontay Wilder in SPECTACULAR FASHION!! 💥 🇨🇳 😤 pic.twitter.com/UoHSnNUXiO
— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) June 2, 2024
In recent times, many have criticised his trainer Malik Scott for his role in the hard-hitting American’s form. Even ‘The Bronze Bomber’s’ father, Gary,hit out at the trainer and claimed he’s ‘too friendly’ with his son.
Speaking to USA today sports he said:
“You don’t need a buddy to train you. “It’s not too late for [Deontay]. I believe he got several good years left. Deontay’s always been a slugger.
“Now Malik’s trying to train him to be a boxer, and if you look at it, you’ll see that Deontay is not comfortable where he at. As long as he tries to be a boxer, he’s not going to win. That’s the bottom line.’’
Scott has now fired back at the critics and explained exactly what the issue is with his fighter.
Speaking on The Second Wind podcast he said: “Imagine seeing a killer their whole career, then all of a sudden you’re not seeing that killer anymore and it comes across like, if you take the facts away from it, wow he ain’t a killer no more because of Malik Scott.”
“I can’t take Deontay’s killer instinct away. Only Father Time can do that. Because can’t nobody give you a killer instinct. This thing is in you or it’s not.
Just to see if I’m right about that, look at every killer up to the second half of their career. You think Kevin McBride would have a chance at beating an early Mike Tyson? Absolutely not. When fighters get on the second half of their career, they’re not 22 or 23 no more.”
“I’ve been in boxing since I was twelve years old. If someone think I’m stupid enough to try and change Deontay Wilder into a Muhammad Ali type of fighter…
“My job is to train the fighter, and make him believe in himself and make him get through days he thinks he can’t. I’m not a miracle worker. We just had an awful night [vs Zhang], and not even just the knockout. Even before the knockout, we had one mini good moment.”
Should Deontay Wilder hang up the gloves? Let us know in the comments.
