Malik Scott knows how important knocking Anthony Joshua out would be to Deontay Wilder
Ahead of Deontay Wilder’s next fight, Fair Betting Sites caught up with the Bronze Bomber's trainer Malik Scott, who believes Anthony Joshua is the perfect fight for his heavyweight student after "he makes easy work of Robert Helenius" when they clash in a WBC Eliminator on October 15 in Brooklyn.
Here's what the former boxer had to say:
Anthony Joshua is perfect fight for Wilder after he faces Robert Helenius
"Anthony Joshua is a fight that Deontay will get up for, he's up for Robert Helenius, he gets up for fights, but I just know how important knocking AJ out would be to Deontay.
"So many people have wanted to see this fight over the years. I think it would be a treat for the pugilist themselves. I think it would be a treat to boxing. I think it'd be a treat to barbershops. I think it would be a treat to recreation centers, to little kids coming up in this game and coming up in life and anything they want to do. And from so many different perspectives. So if I had it my way, we would be fighting Anthony Joshua next. I'm not really interested in Deontay fighting other good fighters out there; I like the Usyks, I like the AJs, I like the Furys. They are the types of opponents that I'm after when it comes to Deontay's opponent selection."
Deontay Wilder will make AJ pay for wasting his time and letting him down
"It's extremely personal to Deontay because the fight was in the process of being made. Deontay and AJ shared emails and it didn't happen and so much time was wasted. Deontay felt AJ let the fight down. Eddie Hearn and those guys let the fight down. So it was extremely personal, time was wasted, Deontay didn't get the big fight. And now fighting AJ will put him in a position to make them pay for that, to make them pay for wasting his time and make them pay for playing with emails, making them pay for things like that. So in my opinion, it's very personal, you know, because I know the inside story, I'm with my fighter everyday in training camp and I know the things that he expressed. Nothing will make him more happy on the night than knocking Anthony Joshua out."
AJ reached ‘breaking point’ in defeat to Usyk and everyone has ‘embarrassing’ moments
"I think Joshua was mad at himself, for one he lost. For two, he lost to the same guy again. For three, all the critique. It's just so much you deal with – people on that high level right there. I don't care how cool they play it. I don't care how f***** the poker face is. Trust me, that's a facade. These people are human. These people, when they go to sleep, they think about these things. These people are on their phone reading the comments. These people's families tell them about the comments. When they go to the gym, they still have to break their bodies down to build their bodies up. At this time, they still deal with every bulletin and critique that's coming at them. The breaking point is going to come. We all have these breaking points.
"Anthony Joshua's breaking point just was live on TV for all of us to see it. I'm a man of life, I'm not really a man in the moment. So when I seen that, I'm like, oh, what is he doing? Oh, he's emotionally all over the place. And then as time goes on, I said, oh, what happened to him happens to all of us. Fighters are the bravest people in the world because we go through trial and error and all types of embarrassing moments. But the difference between fighters and regular civilians is we're brave enough for people to see our mistakes, we're brave enough to put our life of mistakes and embarrassing moments on the line. So yeah, critique us. But you can't critique us so much because individuals like myself, I know you go through embarrassing, shameful moments as well. I just can't see them, but I know they exist."
Wilder will make easy work of Robert Helenius if he applies himself correctly
"Controlled Violence is what Deontay even wants. It's easier said than done. Implement surgical, implement humility, implement discipline. I keep saying sticking to a game plan. If Deontay Wilder does all of those things even a high level fighter like Helenius in my opinion, especially your first fight back coming off two defeats, he can make this an extremely easy night for himself, it's an extremely easy night."
Anderson Silva is a pawn in the Jake Paul story…but Paul is no longer an influencer fighter…he’s better than some boxers
"I think Jake Paul is good for modern day boxing, I think he wouldn't even be allowed in boxing if boxing was how it was in the old days.
"He wouldn't even be allowed in because people really judge fighters as fighters, real fighters. You had to have a pedigree. You had to be fighting for a cause, things like that. But I think for modern day times, I think he's very good for it because of the revenue that he brings, the light that he brings to the market, the branding that he brings to it. So it has to be a good thing. I'm not going against logic and common sense. More eyes are on boxing because not just of Jake Paul, but because of influencers, because of social media, because these guys are boxing.
"The matches are real safe that he's taken. He's not taking real, real chances in my opinion. Even Silva, Silva's a tad bit old. Even if you look at him doing boxing exhibitions, he doesn't move as he did. Especially if it's just boxing and not using his legs. Silva's being brought in, he's got a great name. He's a great fighter. But I believe Jake Paul has also become a good fighter as well. Is he a world beater? Absolutely not. But is he an influencer fighter? Not to me no more. I'm not going to keep saying it because he's actually looking better than some boxers.
"Silva’s technically sound. Like I said, he's older, though. He's not as quick as he used to be. His reflexes are not as good as they used to be. But he has the pedigree, he has a good foundation. He knows the difference between stepping to his left and stepping to his right, having a good defence, keeping his hand outs to make guys earn it, to get to his chin. He knows how to do those things very well. But I just think he was chosen for a reason. He's a pawn, a part of the Jake Paul story, you can say."
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