Deontay Wilder collides with Derek Chisora in six weeks’ time in a must-win affair. Now, recently dismissed trainer, Malik Scott, has offered his thoughts on how ‘The Bronze Bomber’ will fare against the heavyweight veteran.
Wilder appointed former opponent Scott as his lead trainer in preparation for his trilogy showdown with Tyson Fury in 2021 and, despite defeat in that contest, Wilder opted to keep Scott as his cornerman.
However, defeats to both Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang would make it three losses out of four fights under Scott’s tutelage and the Alabama-born operated decided to part ways with Scott ahead of his comeback.
Instead, coach Don House took charge for Wilder’s victory against Tyrrell Herndon last year and House will remain as the head cornerman for the clash with Chisora, where another win may tee up a shot at Oleksandr Usyk and the unified heavyweight throne.
Speaking with LalosBoxing, Scott looked ahead to the scrap, explaining why he believes Chisora will bring the best out of his former fighter.
“I think that Deontay is in a position where certain opponents can bring the best out of him, the second-half [of his career] best out of him.
“ I think that Chisora is one of those, why is he one of those? Because he is relentless, he is going to come forward and he basically gives you a question to answer. I’m coming to you, can you deal with this? If you can deal with this then it’s going to be a good fight. If you can’t deal with this, God be with you.
“I am praying that, if he does still have the equaliser, like I believe that he does, he can get Chisora out of there. If he can’t, Chisora can make it a long night for him, like he can with anybody else.”
Scott then went on to analyse why Wilder cannot afford to look beyond Chisora and allow his potential meeting with Usyk to enter his mind.
“Deontay has a serious fight against Derek Chisora. Chisora is having a great moment in his career and Chisora actually believes that he can knock Deontay out, he is not thinking about the decision.
“The same questions that you guys are asking me about how Deontay has been looking, this is the same stuff that Chisora is seeing. So, he is thinking he has got the right Deontay, at the right time.
“Now it is up to Deontay to throw a monkey wrench into all of those plans at the O2 Arena.”
Wilder-Chisora will take place on Saturday, April 4, at the O2 Arena in London, with the full card available to stream live via DAZN PPV.