So yesterday I had a brief exchange with a poster about there generally being a lack of genuine insight into the strategies of fighters leading into big bouts because of camps not wanting to give away their game plans.
Well here we’ve got Deontay Wilder’s lead trainer Malik Scott giving a lengthy interview about his work with Wilder which goes into his philosophy of what Wilder needs to do in order to be successful in this fight — which provides some context as to how we might see Wilder approach this fight differently. Check out some of what Scott had to say below with the full video segment in the link above.
Scott on Wilder’s state of mind heading into third fight with Fury
“Deontay is one of those fighters, like I said before, he’s not punching at the target, he’s punching through it. He’s trying to send you to the next dimension, and this is why a puncher like this, and talks like this, and has intent like this — he don’t mind saying he’s ready to go out on his shield, because he know what he’s trying to do to you. That’s his way of telling you ‘so you better be trying to do that to me’.
“He don’t have no mercy in his heart when it comes to boxing. Outside the ring he’ll love and kiss you, be your buddy and everything, but in that ring he just know how to go into that zone. He trying to punch through you and send you somewhere you never been before, like another dimension.
“I even tell the guys that’s sparring him, ‘don’t go in there playing, because he’s not playing.’ Even with 18, 20oz gloves on, I’ve seen him do horrific things to human beings. And I will never say their names but horrific things to human beings…you guys know I’ve been in training camps all my life and stuff like that, right, I’ve never seen no one with 18, 20oz gloves on do men what Deontay do to them. Barely you see this stuff with 8 and 10oz gloves on. What he do with 18, 20oz gloves on, to people that can fight — he’s a very serious puncher, he’s a very serious individual. He’s in a very serious, violent mood right now and the chips are all gonna fall in his place on Saturday.”
On what he felt like Wilder needed to emphasize in training camp, and the video clips of Wilder training to duck under Fury’s hooks
“Big men don’t go to the body. Can somebody tell me why big guys don’t go to the body? They feel like it opens them up. But why do it open them up? Because you’re not putting no decoys behind it. You not dressing the body shot up before you throw it if you’re a tall guy…Tommy Hearns was a very tall guy, he threw incredible body shots against shorter opponents. How was he able to do that? Because he was able to decorate the body shot first.
“If I’m looking at your head, I’m really thinking about your belly button. If I throw a one-two-three at your head, I’m really using the left hook to the head not as an intentful shot — that right there is the momentum to get me the liver shot. I’m dressing you up to go downstairs. I’m dressing you up downstairs to go upstairs, especially if I’m tall because if you tall you kind of expose yourself. Everything has to be done with intent.
“Fury was born with a big body for Deontay to be able to hit. God gave Fury all that body for Deontay to be able to work with. We have to hit him to the body. We have to beat him up…and he’s got bigger too?! We’ll take advantage of that.”
On how he’ll handle Wilder should he find himself in a position where he needs to throw in the towel, especially considering what happened in the last fight
“I would never stop a fight of Deontay Wilder. I know what he’s trying to do to people and I know the responsibility that he gave me and the talks that we’ve had. Over years too, this wasn’t new about him not wanting a trainer that would throw the towel in.”
On if they’re comfortable with the appointed referee for this fight considering the have no intention of ever stopping the fight themselves
“That’s all state business, man. My business is to have Deontay always mentally ready, physically ready, and making sure that he knows that humility and being responsible is apart of having incredible skill set and keeping your foundation good and not overcommitting and stuff like that.”