Deontay Wilder’s father, Gary Wilder, wants him to replace trainer Malik Scott with someone else following his fifth-round knockout loss to Zhilei Zhang last Saturday night.
Scott was the friend of former WBC heavyweight Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs) before taking over as his head coach in 2021.
Record Under Scott’s Guidance
Since then, Wilder has gone 1-3, and his fighting style has been transformed from a slugger to a boxer, which hasn’t worked. Gary feels that was a mistake, as he thinks Deontay was better when he was a slugger. He is certainly ill-equipped attempting to box his opponents, and his fighting style is eerily similar to Malik Scott’s now. It hasn’t worked.
His career has sunk. Fans on social media have been calling for Deontay to fire Scott, but he’s stuck with him despite his lack of success. Wilder’s only win since Scott took the helm as his coach was against his old sparring partner, Robert Helenius.
“You need somebody you’re going to respect,’’ Deontay’s dad, Gary Wilder, told USA TODAY Sports about his wanting Deontay to replace trainer Malik Scott. “You don’t need a buddy to train you.”
Many people believe Wilder needs a proven trainer, not a career journeyman training him. Wilder’s previous coach, Mark Breland, is a 1984 Olympic gold medalist with outstanding skills.
Wilder’s Stubborn Loyalty
Replacing Breland with Malik Scott would seem bizarre, and Wilder has chosen to stick with him despite suffering loss after loss. You would think that Deontay would know by now that things weren’t working out for him and that he needed to freshen things up with a new voice in his corner, but he seems intent on sticking with Scott until the bitter end.
“It’s not too late for [Deontay]. I believe he got several good years left,” Gary Wilder continued. “Deontay’s always been a slugger.”
It’s questionable whether a new trainer can improve Wilder enough for him to find the success that he had earlier. In Deontay’s losses to Zhang and Joseph Parker, he looked like he was afraid to throw punches.
A different trainer might be unable to help the 38-year-old Wilder if he’s afraid to throw. Also, Deontay’s lack of punch resistance won’t improve with a new coach.
“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,” said Gary.
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