Deontay Wilder\u2019s trainer reveals why \u201ckiller\u201d instinct will return vs. Zhilei Zhang Associated PressDeontay Wilder and his team are confident that his inner dog will resurface in his next bout against Zhilei Zhang. The former WBC heavyweight champion lost his last boxing match in a unanimous decision to Joseph Parker on December 23, 2023. It was Wilder\u2019s third loss in his last four fights and dropped him to 43-3-1 for his career. Wilder\u2019s skills were questioned after his trilogy against Tyson Fury and that was only exacerbated after the Parker loss. Nevertheless, the 38-year-old is ready to make a statement against Zhang on June 1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The knockout specialist\u2019s team is ready too. In an exclusive interview with Instant Casinos, Wilder\u2019s trainer Malik Scott revealed that Wilder\u2019s usage of the psychedelic drug ayahuasca may have quelled his killer instinct in his last contest. \u201cDeontay is a killer, he\u2019s violent, he wants to put holes through you when he punches you, that Deontay didn\u2019t show up that night, he couldn\u2019t pull the trigger. But that\u2019s not the fighter you\u2019re going to see in his next fight,\u201d Scott said. Wilder did taper off against Parker and ate several big right hands in the eighth round. Boxing Scene shared that he averaged 17 punches thrown per round, which were 19 less than his average heading into the bout. Without any substances to deter his mind frame, Wilder\u2019s verve could return. He\u2019s also looking to reach the top of the division again and Scott believes that all heavyweights should be on notice due to the work he\u2019s put in behind the scenes. \u201cWhoever we fight next has a big problem because Deontay is in a very vengeful space right now,\u201d Scott proclaimed. \u201cDeontay is already in shape, already sparring, already doing strength and conditioning. His chef is now on call 24\/7. The right things are being done to get the best out of Deontay.\u201d The 6-foot-7, 214-pound fighter will need to be in great shape against Zhang who outweighs him by 42 pounds. Wilder\u2019s stance has also looked vulnerable in several of his last fights, so strength and conditioning on his lower body will be a major difference maker that could fuel his win. Scott affirms that the former Olympic bronze medalist will be ready for his best showing in June. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a surgical performance. What I really like about the fight is how dangerous Zhang is, a very dangerous opponent and that\u2019s going to make Deontay even better.\u201d Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are on a collision course to decide Fury\u2019s lineal title. Should Wilder down Zhang, he could be in line to face Joshua afterward in a long overdue fight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Deontay Wilder\u2019s trainer reveals why \u201ckiller\u201d instinct will return vs. Zhilei Zhang Associated PressDeontay Wilder and his team are confident that his inner dog will resurface in his next bout against Zhilei Zhang. The former WBC heavyweight champion lost his last boxing match in a unanimous decision to Joseph Parker on December 23, 2023. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}