By Adam Baskin: Deontay Wilder’s trainer Malik Scott, is upset at Anthony Joshua’s reluctance to pull the trigger on the fight between them as they and promoter Eddie Hearn had previously discussed.
Malik doesn’t seem to be able to grasp that Wilder is no longer in Joshua & Hearn’s plans for December or 2024. They’ve got bigger fish to fry, and they obviously feel that Wilder is a match-up that will always be there for them once they get the other lucrative fights out of the way.
Instead of begging for a fight against Joshua, Wilder and Malik need to move on and get busy fighting other guys instead of waiting forever for the AJ match. Wilder just turned 38, and has fought just once in the last two years since 2021, and is ruining his career in a similar way as Andy Ruiz Jr.
Those two have a lot in common, as they both stopped being active fighters once they got massive paydays. Wilder is super rich now and doesn’t seem to be motivated to stay busy fighting other contenders. He just wants that big payday fight against Joshua, and his skills & popularity are eroding.
Hearn talks about wanting Joshua to fight In December, possibly against Agit Kabayel, and then face Francis Ngannou. That’s the match-up that Hearn is keen on making right now while he waits for the smoke to clear from the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk undisputed clash.
Unfortunately for Wilder, he’s going to have to wait until Joshua faces Ngannou & Fury, as he’s clearly a lower priority.
“It doesn’t matter to AJ if he fights Deontay Wilder. It matters to Deontay if he fights Anthony Joshua because Deontay is a man of legacy; he’s a man of history books chasing greatness,” said Malik Scott to Fighthype.
Of course, it doesn’t matter to Joshua if he fights Wilder because he’s waiting for that massive payday clash against Fury. The money Joshua will get fighting Fury is much more than he’ll get facing the inactive Wilder, who has been forgotten because he’s stopped fighting.
Wilder needs to have some pride and get back in the ring with one of these top contenders:
- Frank Sanchez
- Martin Bakole
- Jared Anderson
- Arslanbek Makhmudov
If Wilder isn’t confident that he can beat those guys, then it makes sense for Joshua to ignore him because he’s just looking at him as a cash-out payday. Why would Joshua want to waste time with a guy who is no longer competing and just focusing on a retirement check, which is what seems to be the case?
“AJ doesn’t campaign for the fight. Deontay has called him out humbly; he has called him out violently,” said Malik. “He has called him out after fights, and he’s called him out before fights.
Wilder has nothing going for him at this stage of his career; he’s done nothing with his career in the last five years. His popularity is basically from things he did in the distant past against fringe heavyweight contenders like Chris Arreola, Bermane Stiverne, and Gerald Washington.
Deontay’s last six fights:
Robert Helenius
Tyson Fury – loss
Tyson Fury loss
Luis Ortiz
Dominic Breazeale
Tyson Fury – draw
Wilder’s record since 2018 is 3-2-1, which is terrible and not worthy of a fighter that is pushing hard for a fight with Joshua. Instead of looking for that payday, Wilder needs to get active again, fighting three times a year instead of once every two years, because he’s wasting his career in the same way Andy Ruiz is.
“AJ has given interviews and acted like he’s scared to say the man’s name,” said Malik. “It’s like the commentators have to pull it out of him. He’d rather come out with imaginary quotes like he’s carrying this heavyweight division on his back. How? Where is this coming from?
“You got to campaign for big fights if you want them. Ali & Frazier campaigned for each other. Ray Leonard & Hagler campaigned for each other,” said Scott.
There’s a world of difference between Leonard, Hagler, Ali & Frazier to Deontay Wilder. Those guys stayed busy with their careers, and they weren’t sitting inactive for years, looking for a big payday like Wilder is doing. Ali & Frazier weren’t sitting on their backsides, begging for fights and nothing for years and years.
Wilder is just another example of this era’s fighters, who once they get a taste of money, no longer want to fight regular contenders and just look for another massive fight rather than staying busy.
It’s like an NFL team that goes to the Super Bowl, loses badly, and then wants to skip the regular season and go to another Super Bowl without earning it.
That’s not how it works in sports, and that’s why Wilder is destroying his career because he doesn’t want to stay busy and is just looking for that massive money fight. That’s why many fans have forgotten about Wilder because he’s no longer active and just looking for a big payday against Joshua.
“That’s just the name of the game. It’s part of the greatest show on earth,” said Malik. “AJ has never done that because he’s never had anyone calling him out. It’s time for you to do something new because you have something new in front of like Deontay.
“Vegas has tons of venues, and Wembley is a huge venue that Deontay & AJ can sell out. Let’s get the fight made, but to get the fight made, the two fighters have to push, push, push to make the fight. In my opinion,” said Scott.
Joshua clearly isn’t going to fight Deontay until he’s faced Fury & Ngannou, and he might even make him wait beyond that until he fights Usyk again. He knows that Wilder will be there because he’s just going to sit inactive, so he’s not a high priority.
“Think about the situation that happened years ago. AJ asked for a number, and Deontay and his team came up with the number, then the fight didn’t happen. What was that about?” said Malik.
“He said, ‘Give me $50 million, and I’ll fight you.’ The team came up with the 50, and then what? I never heard Deontay say a bold number, and then that number is brought back to him, and he said, ‘No, I’m not doing that,'” said Malik.
