Scott, who is in charge of preparing the former champion for the all-important mandatory bout, has described rumor making the rounds on the mental stability of Wilder as empty talk that has no valid basis.
Fears for Deontay Wilder’s mental health following his knockout loss to Tyson Fury were greatly exaggerated, according to new trainer Malik Scott.
It would be recalled that the 35-year-old Wilder 42-1-1 (41) suffered a shock seventh-round loss to Fury 30-0-1 (21) in Las Vegas in February last year. He was dumped on the canvas twice and lost his WBC heavyweight title in the process.
In the aftermath, Wilder blamed everything from the weight of his ring walk costume to a spiked water bottle to Fury wearing loaded gloves for the unexpected loss. Questions were asked about his mental health.
“If Deontay Wilder has been depressed, then I pray to God that I reach that level of depression,” Scott said recently on an episode of the PBC podcast.
“Because when I tell you I’m extremely proud of him, not as a fighter that I’ve trained but as someone as I consider as my brother – not the things going on in the ring that I’m proud of him about, but just all the smart investments that he has done. All the acres that he is living on. All the people that he helps and everything that he does besides what’s going on in the ring.”
Scott pointed out that it is natural to be down after a loss, but that doesn’t automatically equal depression.
“Ever since that loss, yeah, of course, he never lost before,” said Scott. “That wasn’t a happy feeling. Plus, he was feeling that there were a lot of things that were done that weren’t working in his favor for that fight…the depression was never a thing.
“If he was so depressed…I’m tell you this. We’ll say we got out of the ring at 11:45 [PM] after the loss to Fury. By 3 AM or 4 AM – it was somewhere around then – we were already in motion in putting the play together to what’s going on now.
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“He immediately was already planning, like, ‘Bro I want you, you’re my head guy now.’ We knew this from day one after that, that investments had to be made and that certain things had to be put in place. It worked perfectly.”
Wilder’s co-trainer Mark Breland was sacked after the Fury loss, with the American unhappy about the decision to throw in the towel. Scott has taken over the reins as head trainer, while long-time co-trainer Jay Deas remains part of the team.
“He never was depressed,” Scott continued. “Never. He was focused on the play that we’re focusing on now… When he rolls out of bed he’s training. When he rolls out of bed, he goes to his recovery tank. When he rolls out of bed, his nutritionist is out there.
