Floyd Mayweather lauds Deontay Wilder’s sacked ex-trainer as ‘elite coach’

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Floyd Mayweather Jr has paid tribute to Deontay Wilder’s former trainer Mark Breland, who was sacked by the heavyweight following the second fight against Tyson Fury.

A former welterweight world champion and Olympic champion, Breland was made the fall guy following Fury’s seventh-round knockout win over Wilder in 2020.

The Bronze Bomber was furious at Breland for throwing in the towel to end the contest, though many leaped to the support of the 58-year-old for prioritising his fighter’s wellbeing.

Mayweather wrote on Instagram: “Please hit the follow button if you want to follow a humble student, teacher, mentor, and coach in the sport of boxing.

“He has all the credentials and qualifications to support why I recognise him as an elite boxing coach, something that nowadays many unqualified people claim to be.”

While the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard concurred with Mayweather’s praise, adding: “Mark, I wish you well my man as I’ve always been proud of you as a fighter, boxing trainer and man!”

Wilder also publicly criticised Breland’s training methods in the build-up to the third fight, praising his new trainer Malik Scott in the process.

“It’s just amazing to have Malik in the camp with me. We just bring the best out of me,” Wilder told 78SPORTSTV.

“Before, having my other trainer, all he worked on was the one-two.

“All he ever wanted was one-two, one-two, one-two. We never did anything to the body or nothing like that.

“We never emphasised on anything else. He always said, ‘That’s all you need, one-two, one-two.’

“But with Malik, he brings everything out of me. It’s not that I didn’t have the skill and ability to do certain things, I just didn’t have no-one to bring that out of me.”

Breland appeared to mock those comments following the third fight, where Wilder was knocked out in the 11th round, posting a video of himself shadow boxing, demonstrating a series of one-twos alongside smooth footwork.