Malik Scott, trainer of Deontay Wilder, has revealed the reason why he respects Tyson Fury – despite the rivalry between his fighter and ‘The Gypsy King.’
Scott was a heavyweight contender himself until retirement in 2016. The Philadelphian finished his career with a record of 38-3-1, with his three losses coming to big names in the form of Derek Chisora, Luis Ortiz and Deontay Wilder, who he now tutors.
Ahead of Wilder’s third fight against Fury, Scott was appointed as lead trainer and, despite defeat, Wilder did show improvements under his guidance.
In an interview with iFL TV, Malik Scott told of the respect he has for Fury, who is out to prove that he is worthy of a place amongst the greats.
“I’m going to tell you what I love about Tyson Fury. He fights Wilder three times, he fights Dillian [Whyte], after Dillian he fought [Derek] Chisora, after Chisora he goes into the crowd to find Oleksandr Usyk.
Then, he told him to get up into the ring and called him out to his face and said, ‘where is Joe Joyce at?’, brings him up and calls him out to his face.
In my opinion, that is the old-school, Larry Holmes way, that is really trying to prove that you are the best, after it is already proven in a way.
There are tonnes of people who think Tyson Fury is the best heavyweight in the world, arguably he may be, but to him, he is still chasing some form of history to make to best fights made.”
The champion is indeed looking to make history, with an undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk likely. Should he win, he’ll be the first sole heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.
Interestingly, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ now has a clear path towards a fourth fight with Fury in a WBC ordered final eliminator against another former champion in Andy Ruiz Jr.
Whilst the Ruiz fight has been ordered, there are rumours that Wilder may look elsewhere for his next fight.