By Brad Slotnick: Keith Thurman likes what he sees from Deontay Wilder with the changes that he’s made with his new coach Malik Scott. The former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder will need to add more to his game to avenge his loss next month against Tyson Fury on July 24th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
What Wilder showed in his two previous fights with Fury is a style that isn’t conducive to beating the big 6’9″ Brit.
Thurman says he’d like to see ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) add more to his game by developing his left hand, which might as well be a vestigial feature like the arms of a T-Rex dinosaur.
For whatever reason, Wilder hasn’t put in enough time to develop his left hand. If Wilder and coach Scott’s recent video workout clips are any indications, it doesn’t appear that he’s done much to improve his weak left hand.
What we’ve seen from Wilder in those video clips is him mostly throwing right hands, which look fine, but he’s going to need to use his left to beat a heavyweight like Fury.
Thurman likes what he’s seen from Deontay
“I saw some clips, and I seen some changes, and I’m loving it,” said Keith Thurman to Fighthype. “I believe that’s the stage Deontay is demanding more out of himself.
“Yes, you drop bombs, yes, you put people to sleep, and, yes, your right hand is the green ripper.
“But where’s the left hand, where’s the jab, where’s the left hook, where’s the body shots, where’s the head movement?
“Now that he’s adding more to his game, he’s not changing who he is. It’s an addition to who he is.
“I think Deontay is doing that now. Win, lose or draw, I know we’re going to see a better performance [from Wilder], and I’m truly looking forward to seeing that performance.
“Go to the guy that has your best interest at heart, and ultimately, go to who you’re going to listen to,” said Thurman when asked if Malik Scott is a good coach for Deontay.
“As long as Deontay has that, he should feel confident,” Thurman said about Wilder feeling comfortable working with Coach Malik.
Thurman didn’t say anything about Wilder’s inside game or his ability to fight while backing up. These are things that are just as important as Wilder’s left hand, and we’re not seeing him work on these things with his trainer Scott.
It’s tough finding a good trainer, but Wilder may be wasting his time with Scott if he doesn’t focus on the missing things from his game.
The only thing that Scott seems to be working on with Wilder to improve him is his mobility. That’s not going to be enough for Wilder to beat Fury, who will likely cut off the ring on him and force him to fight at close range on July 24th.
