Deontay Wilder’s trainer, Malik Scott, now regrets that Joseph Parker was selected as Deontay’s opponent after his long layoff last Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Malik is taking a lot of flak from the boxing public for how ill-prepared the former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) against a very average fighter in Parker (34-3, 23 KOs).
Fans want Malik Scott to be fired
Fans think Wilder should fire Malik for the brainless game plan that he was given for that fight, involving him moving constantly around the ring, not throwing punches, and giving the fight away.
The blueprint on how to beat Parker had been created by Dillian Whyte in 2018 by pressing him nonstop, throwing power shots, and not letting up. Joe Joyce followed that blueprint perfectly last year to score an eleventh round knockout win over Parker, and Dereck Chisora used it as well and came close to beating him in their first fight.
What’s surprising is Malik saying that pressure wouldn’t have worked against Parker and that Wilder should have just jabbed him. Malik didn’t get it, and it was clear after the fight that he couldn’t understand why Wilder had done wrong.
For that reason, Wilder should fire him because he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Some trainers don’t get it, and Malik was a perfect example of that last Saturday. Poor Deontay was flying by the seat of his pants, out there on his own against a fighter that was well-prepared to beat him.
The former WBO champion Parker outboxed and outworked the gunshy Deontay, winning a wide 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 118-111, 120-108, and 118-110.
Blueprint to beat Parker was there
“We took a big risk. If we could do this all over in a perfect scenario, I truly believe we wouldn’t have wanted Joseph Parker and us coming off of a two-year basically layoff,” said trainer Malik Scott to Fighthype about Deontay Wilder facing Joseph Parker coming off a 14-month layoff after his one round blowout in his previous fight against Robert Helenius in 2022.
With Malik completely useless and inept, the crafty journeyman Parker was the work possible opponent for Deontay to fight.
Wilder’s management should have recognized that Parker was a bad style match-up for him to fight coming off a long layoff because it would have required him to be rugged enough to take a lot of big shots.
Joe Joyce was huge and had the chin to walk Parker down and eventually stop him, but Wilder wasn’t built for that type of fighting.
“Deontay has so much heart and courage, and I believe in him so much that. We dedicated ourselves in the four or five weeks that we could, but when he got in there, he couldn’t pull the trigger,” said Malik.
If Wilder only had four to five weeks to prepare for Parker, that’s another reason why he shouldn’t have fought him. For a fighter like Parker, you need a full eight to ten-week camp, and that didn’t happen.
Wilder’s trainer failed to follow formula
“That could be inactivity, that could be age, or that could be second-guessing yourself a little too much,” said Malik. “Most of all, it could be Joseph Parker is that damn good. I know no one wants to say it because he got beat by Joe Joyce and he’s had his ups and downs in his career, but Joe Parker can fight.
“That was a very serious, dangerous fight, and I was saying that before the fight. I saw what Dirrell said, and I orchestrated a game plan that was perfect for the Helenius decapitation. I knew Robert Helenius coming forward isn’t as good as when you’re going at him.”
What Andre Dirrell had said on social media is that Wilder should have been attacking Parker, and it was a mistake for him to deviate from the way he’s fought in the past to be transformed into a boxer. Zhilei Zhang said the same thing. Wilder shouldn’t have been moving around the ring.
Unrepentant trainer
“If Deontay had used his movement and clipped Parker after three or four rounds, no one is saying [anything]. Everyone is praising me. They’re saying how much of a changed fighter he is,” said Malik.
“I just feel that Deontay couldn’t pull the trigger the other night. Whether it’s from inactivity, he went blank, he got a little too content in the movement. The shots were there, and he was seeing them, but he couldn’t let them go at the time. Whatever it is, it’s easier said than done,” said Scott.
Malik isn’t taking responsibility for the hair-brain game plan that Wilder used, and that’s troubling. This was Malik’s game plan, and he should own it because he was the captain of the ship. When the ship goes down, the captain must go down with her.
“People are saying, ‘He shouldn’t have been moving.’ Should he have been walking forward right off the rip? No, he should have been using his jab more, he should have been feinting more and doubling his jab,” said Malik about Wilder.
