Former heavyweight contender and current trainer of Deontay Wilder, Malik Scott, has confirmed the plans of ‘The Bronze Bomber’ as the pair look forward to a long-awaited fight with Anthony Joshua.
Wilder and ‘AJ’ were linked to a fight back in 2018 to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since the dawn of the four-belt era. However, talks failed to materialise and both men have since lost their world titles.
Now, despite Wilder fighting just one round since October 2021, it seems that the former champions will finally meet in boxing’s worst kept secret – a heavyweight showdown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in early 2024.
In an interview on The Porter Way Podcast, Scott announced that, right now, they were waiting for Joshua – although he’s open to a last minute tune-up bout this year.
“At one time, he wanted to fight three times this year. I was big on the fact that he would be able to get four times a year and the reason that I say that is because of the knockout power.
Let’s say Deontay went nine rounds last October, people wouldn’t be raving so much about his inactivity now, but the fact that he was in the ring for maybe ninety seconds with Helenius, people are getting kind of worried.”
“If you are around him, you care about him and you want the best for him, you have to want him to get another fight before going into [the] Joshua [fight]. But I personally think that, this could be my ego talking, it won’t matter.”
“The next move right now for him is January, if we can get something for him in October, that would be great.”
As the mouthwatering clash edges closer, the do-or-die feel grows stronger for both men, with title shots looming for the winner and an inevitable state of purgatory destined for the loser.