Fresh off the back of a third loss of his career, Deontay Wilder’s trainer has been suggesting possible opponents for if and when he returns to the ring.
After two years out with just one round of action in that time, Wilder was unsurprisingly ring rusty when he faced Joseph Parker on the Day of Reckoning card in Saudi Arabia.
Fighting hesitantly and mostly going backward, he was unable to impose himself on his fellow former world champion and ended up losing an almost complete shutout on the scorecards after 12 rounds. His post-fight interview suggested Wilder, now 38, might even retire, although he later confirmed this wouldn’t be the case.
Speaking to FightHype, his trainer Malik Scott was asked to assess potential future opponents.
“Who we got, we got Andy Ruiz Jr who’s still looking for some action, Usyk and Fury, Daniel Dubois is there right now in a very good position. There are a few guys out there right now.”
He then moved on to the subject of Wilder’s mindset and getting that right.
“But what’s most important to me is Deontay being right, spiritually, mentally and physically all in one, that’s more my concern, cause I know that when Deontay is all the way right, none of those guys can beat him.
“Right now after taking that loss and that type of performance, I’m not that keen on calling out guys. I’m focussing on the bigger picture with him getting spiritually, mentally and physically right.”
Wilder himself has said he ‘can’t understand’ the Parker loss but either way he has dropped significantly in many people’s heavyweight rankings.