Trainer Malik Scott wants his fighter Deontay Wilder to put Zhilei Zhang in a vulnerable state where he’s fatigued so they can take advantage of that to win on June 1st in the 5v5 event on DAZN in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A ‘Bad Night at the Office’ Against Parker
Malik is calling former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder’s loss to Joseph Parker as just a “bad night at the office” last December in a fight that the 38-year-old Deontay failed to pull the trigger.
Parker was there to be hit, but Wilder wasn’t following the blueprint created by Joe Joyce to walk him down and methodically bludgeon him to score a knockout. If Wilder had done that, he would have knocked him out because the same guy that Joyce stopped. Wilder blew his chance by circling the ring for 12 rounds, fighting like he was afraid to get hit.
He doesn’t see Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) putting in a similar gunshy performance against Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) on June 1st because it’s a different type of opponent. Malik states that Parker had a great game plan and was doing just enough to win the rounds by a small margin.
Once Parker established a lead, he became very “protective” to avoid getting hit by Deontay and cruised to a one-sided 12-round decision win. Malik doesn’t see the same thing happening for Wilder against Zhang, who isn’t as crafty as Parker, and will be there to be hit by his right hand.
Unleashing the ‘Violent’ Wilder
“He’s a very violent man. When he’s not in the ring, he’s shooting guns. This is just who he is,” said trainer Malik Scott to the media, talking about Deontay Wilder. “If he goes in there on June 1st and be the Deontay Wilder that I’m always bragging to you guys about.
“If that Deontay Wilder shows up, it’s going to be a beautiful thing coming from a violent standpoint. Very artistic and violent because Zhang is a Pop Tart when he gets fatigued. He falls apart and gets really scared. He would almost do anything not to get tired. Our job is to take him into darkness,” said Scott about wanting Deontay to tire out Zhang.”
Wilder has got to take the lead instead of fighting in a reactionary way as he did against Parker and Robert Helenious. If he lets Zhang be first, he’s not going to last long on June 1ast.
“Joseph Parker, he was down. I would say, Deontay had an off night [losing to Parker]. Zhang, when he lost to Parker, he doesn’t like to get tired,” said Malik.
The punches that Zhang dropped Parker with likely would knock out Wilder if he connects with the same shots. Wilder will need to be careful that he doesn’t get hit too often by Zhang because he’s going to get taken out if he does.
“I know tons of killers that had a bad night in the office concerning boxing because it’s controlled chaos, no matter how you want to look at it,” said Malik.
“You’re going to have to use your mind if you want to be surgical and knock somebody out cold. Joseph Parker and Andy Lee did just enough to win the rounds. Before you look up, we’re down eight rounds and now they’re being very protective,” said Malik about Wilder’s loss to Parker last December.
“Deontay had a bad night in the office, not being able to pull the trigger,” said Malik.