In the day after Deontay Wilder’s knockout loss to Tyson Fury in their third meeting, trainer Malik Scott sat down with iFL TV to get his perspective on everything that happened before and during the fight, before making it clear that he and Wilder still have a lot more work to do and that Wilder will be back. Check out some excerpts from the interview below with the full video interview available to watch above.
Scott on why Wilder wasn’t able to get over the hump against Fury
“In my opinion you’ve got to give Fury the credit of a good chin and being mentally strong enough to get up...both of the knockdowns (for Wilder) came at the end of the round and so when Deontay would go to finish, Fury would slide and evade how he’s good at, doing clinching, and then the round would be up.
“I think that any problem that we had as far as game plan, as far as technicalities, anything that Deontay tried that didn’t work...I believe it’s just because of Fury, he offset us at times — well more than at times — he offset us very good. And Deontay kept trying. He kept trying on and on and on, keeping his foot on the gas, and like I said, he was great but Fury was greater last night. I give him all respect for that.”
On if Wilder told him beforehand that he wasn’t allowed to throw in the towel under any circumstances
“I wouldn’t say ‘not allowed to do anything’, I would say over the years of me knowing him, one of the things that he’s always stood on from fighters to trainers, or even him watching other fighter and trainer relationships, he always said throwing the towel in with a knockout artist like myself wouldn’t be tolerated...this is something he’s always been adamant about. So it’s not a thing like we talked about it, he told me not to do it — over years I’ve constantly heard these conversations.”
On if he believed in most of Wilder’s accusations against Fury in their second fight
“I would say that everything that Deontay said he had reason to believe. If it was photos, if it was videos, if it was people sending him things...I believe that right there is his given proof, or anyone’s given proof for anything that they’re seeing...and that’s how Deontay felt.
“I will say that there was pictures that looked extremely suspect. There was history of Tyson Fury — in my opinion — if you go look at the Christian Hammer fight when the gloves were being tampered with...certain things, there was major suspect. And when you look at the track record, it is what it is. But none of that, in my opinion, take away the credit from how good Tyson Fury purely is a fighter, as a boxer, as a reflex king. He put weight on, became very physical. His choices in teachers is top shelf.”
On Fury saying that Wilder refused to shake his hand after the fight
“Obviously he still feel the exact same way he felt before the fight. He feel the exact same way about the issues from the second fight and that’s just how he feels, man. Every man is going to react off whatever way they feel deep inside. Deontay Wilder is my brother, Deontay Wilder is not my son. I can’t tell him what to do and what not to do. I can advise him, I can encourage him...but he still feel the way he felt about that and he handled it (accordingly)...”