Scott: Wilder doesn’t have much wear and tear, he’ll come back even stronger
Scott says Wilder has the mentality, will, and training regimen to remain a force to be reckoned with.
Trainer Malik Scott takes some time to catch up with Fight Hype about Deontay Wilder and his upcoming ring return as he’s recently been announced for a fight against Robert Helenius. Obviously, one of the bigger story lines surrounding Wilder is what we might expect to see from him going forward following two brutal stoppages at the hands of Tyson Fury.
Here Scott explains why he believes Wilder hasn’t sustained sufficient punishment to be considered damaged goods, and says he thinks Wilder will come back even better and stronger than he’s ever been. Check out some excerpts of what Scott had to say about Wilder below.
Malik Scott on if we can expect Deontay Wilder to be the same fighter as he was prior to the beatings he took from Tyson Fury
“It all depends on the fights they had way before that, the damage they took way before that. So I would say before that (third Fury fight), the only damage that Deontay took in my humble opinion was the second fight with Fury. I mean, (Luis) Ortiz gave him a helluva run for his money, especially that first fight — but besides that he don’t really have no wear and tear.
“If he do have wear and tear, it comes from all around, in the gym, and stuff like that. So I don’t think it’s going to be no difference in his strength. I actually think he’s going to be stronger. I think he’s going to be more agile, coming from an agility standpoint...Deontay’s going to be just fine, because he wants it and he’s extremely mentally tough.”
On if Wilder is still showing that he’s in peak form in the gym
“Yes, yes, yes. And the good thing is Don House has put an emphasis on the conditioning, the output, the (punches per round). So Deontay is working at a very, very high level now that he never worked at before. So he’s learning, I’m teaching and learning, and we on this mission together and second reign, I’m gonna wait for it.”
On Wilder working on disguising his right hand more
“Camouflaging the right hand — but we’ll say from that standpoint is about creating a comfortable environment. It’s about making someone think everything is okay and making someone think you’re not really thinking about their head. You’re looking here, you’re looking (there), but you’re hitting up top.
“I think that Deontay has reached a point where he understands that everyone knows my strength, ‘I’m gonna keep my strength but I’m gonna camouflage it.’ How do he camouflage that? He camouflage that with craftsmanship. He camouflage that will high level, believable feints...There’s so many things he can do to camouflage his right hand...we gonna do everything we can to make sure he stick to a game plan, get an incredible electrifying knockout coming from a surgical standpoint, also coming behind a system of a disciplined game plan.”