by By Jack Tiernan: Deontay Wilder’s trainer Malik Scott wants the ‘Bronze Bomber’ to face Anthony Joshua in 2023 after his fight in March against a yet to be determined opponent.
Malik reckons a fight between the two former heavyweight champions, Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) and Wilder (43-2, 42 KOs), is destined to last just three rounds, with his fighter Deontay emerging victorious.
While Joshua has lost his last two fights to a smaller heavyweight, Oleksandr Usyk, Scott doesn’t know where AJ is mentally after those two losses.
He thinks Joshua may have to mentally rebuild himself before facing Wilder, but as he is a ‘high-profile’ fighter, tune-ups don’t make sense for him at the level he is at now.
Scott is excited about Wilder’s potential now that he’s learned his new fighting system, and he wants him to only face the big names in the division because he feels he can beat them all.
If Wilder can’t get Joshua next, Malik wants him to face IBF/WBA/WBO champion Usyk or WBC champion Tyson Fury for a fourth fight between them.
Wilder is expected to fight four times a year
“I think Deontay should fight three or four times a year, but that’s in the made-up world right now, especially if we work like we did last October. [against Robert Helenius]Malik Scott told The Good Fight when asked what Deontay Wilder’s next fight was.
“With his type of power and the way he takes my system that we are working on right now, that kind of result can happen in every fight. What do you do with a guy with that kind of monstrous power? You have to occupy it.
“But for the sake of business and for the sake of big fights, and those big fights have to be promoted within a certain time frame, fights take time. If it were up to me, I would like to see Wilder back in the ring in the first quarter of March.
“I think he should be back in training camp in January. Everything will be fine according to schedule. I think he’s a great boxer, so Deontay should be in for a world title fight.
“Negotiations are going on right now with a few guys. When negotiations are underway with Deontay, they are either title eliminators or title fights. He’s just that established type of fighter.
“I really believed that Usyk would come to the fight with Helenius because that’s what was said. But Usyk has major plans that focus solely on Tyson Fury. That’s the business aspect,” Malik said.
Deontay vs. Joshua is an ideal fight
“If it were up to me, Deontay would be Anthony Joshua. Deontay, me and our team want it, but Joshua is having a rebuilding type conversation,” Scott said.
“So it’s about whoever we can put in the ring, but also about meeting these high-level boxing criteria regarding marketing, regarding fans and things of that nature.
“Before the Helenius fight in interviews I said I wanted Usyk or AJ next, but since Usyk refused and decided he would only wait for Fury, AJ is available. In my opinion, it is available.
“But mentally is he available,” Malik said of Joshua. “Physically he can do it. What do I mean by that, is he ready to fight Deontay right now? Deontay is ready to fight anyone in the world, especially those names that I names right now. The Usyks, the Anthony Joshuas and even the fourth part of Fury.
” This interests me a lot. At this level of his career, I would,” Malik said when asked if he would give Joshua the green light to fight Wilder next if he was AJ’s coach.
“One, the fight was supposed to have happened, and two, he lost to Oleksandr Usyk twice. Third, I also believe that Anthony Joshua is a great boxer. These guys don’t age. Let’s do these big fights.
“I would hate to spend that much time, and we end up with another Riddick Bowe – Lennox Lewis type situation. These greats have not had the opportunity to fight.
“These types of fights aren’t just good for boxing. They are good for the world, for the culture and for young people who want to see this kind of fight.
“So I just think it should happen, but we can want it all we want. AJ must want the fight, his team must want it, and Eddie [Hearn] you have to want to do good business.
“He and Shelly [Finkel] need to log in for this to happen. Otherwise, Deontay is going to do bigger and better things, whatever it is. I hope he doesn’t do much to fight my fighter, Deontay Wilder.
“That’s my understanding. The lack of mental toughness might not be there because he lost to a smaller guy. To face a specimen like Deontay Wilder, you might have to prepare for face this kind of fighter. I understand.
“The benefits and the things I see Deontay doing to whatever Joshua comes up with. Mentally tough, not mentally tough; it’s a three round fight, in my opinion. He can’t get out of the way.
“Deontay is not a big guy. He’s a big, slow-hitting guy. It comes fast and you can’t get out of it. If you can’t get out of it, you’re in trouble. AJ is in trouble if he signs the contract,” Scott said.
Joshua should train with Goosen
“I think Joe Goosen is the perfect match for someone like AJ,” Malik said. “Why? It speaks here in America. You have a great coach, Barry Robinson, who is always available to do great business and is always willing to work with anyone, listen and follow his system.
“If we talk here [U.S]. They [Team Joshua] came to Los Angeles, and they didn’t even stop to see Joe Goosen. I don’t understand how. Joe Goosen is a legitimate Hall of Fame trainer who has done it all in boxing. He is a master instructor.
“You’re going to drill every day, he’s a motivator and he ties in with the instructions. He’s calm, he’s cool and he did everything that could be done. But it seems like they go everywhere, in my opinion, not a good choice for AJ.
“I think what AJ needs is Joe Goosen. Goosen has the recipe.
“In the first Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury fight, Deontay’s feet were a lot faster and his high hand was a lot higher. What did it do? This gave him a lot more time to counter Tyson Fury.
“These little little things help in high level fights. In the second fight, his high hand was low, and Tyson’s hands were high, and he was able to manhandle Deontay some more.
Now what you noticed in the third fight, Deontay made a lot of decoys in the first four rounds. It went to the body, it went to the shoulder. He looked down and pulled up. He was trying different things.
“In my opinion, he was more successful in the third fight than the second fight,” Scott said.
Malik not interested in Andy Ruiz
“I’m not crazy about the fight,” Malik said of Wilder potentially fighting Andy Ruiz Jr in a WBC-commissioned title eliminator. “The markets there, when I think about it. Andy is Mexican, he’s tough and a former heavyweight champion.
“He just beat [Luis] Ortiz. I wouldn’t say I’m not excited about the fight. I would just say I’m more excited for him to fight AJ or Usyk. What he has are those titles,” Malik said of unified champion Usyk. “Andy doesn’t have the titles.
“If Deontay cuts Ruiz, which I think he will if the fight happens, people are going to look at him, ‘Andy is tough but.’ This is how humans think.
“Me, how I think, ‘Oh man, we beat Andy Ruiz. He was tough, he was fast. But if we talk about the state of the viewers, they won’t see it like that. Andy can fight. I am just very important to Deontay fighting Usyk or Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury for the fourth time,” Malik said.
