Deontay Wilder’s trainer, Malik Scott, believes Anthony Joshua is ‘right in line’ to get knocked out by his man.
Wilder and Joshua have been heavily linked to a fight for years and it’s believed a deal came close for the two to face each other when they controlled all the belts in division. Times have moved on with neither man now in possession of a title, but that doesn’t seem to have taken much intrigue away from the fight.
The old adage of ‘styles make fights’ rings true here, with plenty of fans still believing a Wilder-AJ matchup is the most exciting in the sport.
The two-time champion returned to the ring last month for the first time since back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk. ‘AJ’ fought to a unanimous decision victory over American Jermaine Franklin, in a solid but not spectacular performance.
Speaking to iFL TV about Joshua’s return, Scott says his old aggressive style ‘isn’t there right now’.
“I looked at the fight again, and I think it was a fair [performance]. Do I think he’s right in line to be knocked out by Wilder? Absolutely. But I also saw so many good things that AJ did.
I like the AJ that fought Povetkin, that fought Dillian Whyte for the first time, the AJ that fought Pulev, that AJ doesn’t seem like it’s there right now, but we’ll see. I don’t want to keep critiquing him, sometimes my honesty threatens other peoples reality.”
Scott may not have to wait long to see if his prediction comes true, with Saudi Arabia trying to work out an ambitious a four-man heavyweight tournament which would see ‘The Bronze Bomber’ face ‘AJ’ on the same night as Fury vs Usyk.