Malik Scott, trainer of Deontay Wilder, has voiced his opinion that ‘The Bronze Bomber’ would defeat unified champion, Oleksandr Usyk, in a few rounds.
Having been a former opponent of Wilder and then one of his cornermen, Scott became the Alabama heavyweight’s lead trainer for the trilogy fight with Tyson Fury.
The 37-year-old showed a marked improvement from the second fight with Fury, despite defeat, meaning Scott kept his place on a permanent basis.
Following a year out of the ring, Wilder and Scott re-announced themselves onto the scene with a brutal first round knockout over Robert Helenius and are eyeing up a title shot.
For now, the belts remained tied up, with the rumoured undisputed title fight between Fury and Usyk looking set for March. Wilder has been called to fight Andy Ruiz Jr for a position as the WBC’s mandatory challenger, meaning he could find himself fighting the winner of Fury-Usyk in the near future.
In an interview with Kate Abdo, Scott revealed that he believes Wilder would go through Usyk in a few rounds, despite admiring the undeniable technical ability of the Ukrainian. Why? Because he can be hit.
“It would take Deontay a few rounds to get to him, but once he does it’s all she wrote, because he gets hit. He gets hit. Usyk comes out of fights with black eyes and scarring up, you are getting hit. You are getting hit and you are fighting Wilder?”
Usyk did express an interest in facing Wilder before, and fans will hope that the intrigue on the part of the Ukrainian remains. In terms of style match ups the division can offer, it’s the two biggest clashes of styles which can often mean the best fights.