Deontay Wilder’s coach has opened up about his thoughts on two of his fighter’s top peers–Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
This year has been tough for Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua. Both heavyweights suffered a devastating loss to their opponents that also saw them losing all their titles.
Weighing in on Joshua’s situation, Malik Scott, Wilder’s head trainer, stressed that the looming rematch against Usyk is AJ’s chance to show that he’s “blessed” with both physical and mental abilities to overcome such challenge.
However, Scott also admitted that at this point, he is certain Usyk is still the better fighter.
“He can’t be that big and have the ability to impose himself and not impose himself on one of the smallest fighters he’s ever fought. This is the perfect time for him to use his good positioning, his size, his strength that he’s blessed with physically and mentally,” Scott said of Joshua via Boxing Scene. “I think Joshua might be dealing with someone who has his number. I don’t think this is Andy Ruiz where you can just fight off the back foot and win.”
“I think Usyk may have AJ’s number and if I was a betting man I would bet that the rematch would be more interesting but I still would go for Usyk for the victory,” he continued.
Usyk’s upset win over Joshua made him the new IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion. The two are expected to face each other in a rematch in the first quarter of this year.
Wilder, on the other hand, had lost his WBC heavyweight title to his eternal rival Tyson Fury.
