Deontay Wilder’s coach Malik Scott previews the Zhilei Zhang clash
Former heavyweight contender and current trainer of Deontay Wilder, Malik Scott, has look ahead to his fighter’s upcoming showdown with Chinese heavyweight boogeyman, Zhilei Zhang, as both men look to bounce back from recent defeats to Joseph Parker.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ seemed set for a monumental battle with Anthony Joshua just months ago, with Parker representing the only stumbling block in the making of what would undeniably been one of the biggest heavyweight bouts of the century.
However, Parker outclassed the former WBC champion from the opening bell onwards, scuppering those plans and leaving the American in no-man’s-land in terms of the heavyweight title picture.
Meanwhile, ‘Big Bang’ Zhang was perceived as one of the most in-form fighters at the weight, but again the boxing skills of Parker outworked the power of his opponent, edging a majority-decision win and claiming Zhang’s WBO interim title.
Speaking to Boxing Social, 43-year-old Scott admitted that he was excited by the prospect of seeing Zhang-Wilder and offered his thoughts on the cracking contest.
“I am excited, I am more excited about fight night and him doing everything that I know he can do against a very dangerous opponent like Zhang.
“Zhang is a very dangerous opponent but he also has a very dangerous trainer, Shaun George, who is somebody who I came up with in boxing. He is one of my big bro’s, we came up fighting in the junior Olympics together, NMU, literally living together, it is crazy how life goes.
“20 years later he is training Zhang and I am training Wilder and now we are going head-to-head – trainer versus trainer and fighter against fighter.
“All that Deontay has to do is have his thinking cap on but be violent at the same time. He could do something to Zhang that I have never seen done and that is to knock him out cold.”
Zhang-Wilder will take place on the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard on June 1st in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.