Trainer Malik Scott has totally retooled the talented 6’7″ Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder’s game to turn him into a wrecking machine in preparing his third and final fight against Tyson Fury this Saturday night.
Malik has worked on Deontay to turn him into a diamond cutter ahead of his trilogy match with the unbeaten Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
During Wednesday’s press conference, you could tell that Deontay has added a lot of muscle mass to his frame. That added muscle could make it tougher for Fury to use his 270+ lb bulk to throw Wilder around like he did a year ago.
Both heavyweights have been out of the ring for 20 months since their last fight in February 2020, but you can tell from looking at Fury, he’s been living high on the hog.
Following his win last year over Deontay, ‘The Gypsy King’ Fury packed on a bunch of weight and then went through two full training camps to trim off the lard. Now that Fury has gotten most of the fat off his 6’9″ frame, you can tell from looking at him how much it’s aged him.
Fury’s weight loss took a lot out of him
He looks older now, and it’ll be interesting to see how much he’s lost from his game. Obviously, it’s never a good idea for a professional athlete to slack off in between competitions, but this is something Fury has always done throughout his career.
He’s been able to get away with it due to his youth, but he’s now 33 and looks closer to 38. It’s starting to catch up to him.
MALIK SCOTT TALKS OF RETOOLING DEONTAY
“What I did was I went to his toolbox and pulled everything out that he does well,” said Malik Scott to Sky Sports. “Deontay Wilder can do it all.
“I just pulled a lot of stuff out of him in training camp. I made sure we drilled him with intent.”
“Fury breaks you down, he befuddled you, he moves around, slows you down, grinds you down,” said David Haye to Fight Hub TV. “Wilder, on the other hand, is a one-punch specialist. Both fighters may touch the canvas, but I think this will be the best of the three.
“Wilder for sure,” said Haye when asked who benefitted more from the 20-month layoff for both fighters since they last fought in February 2020.
“He [Deontay] had the surgery, bicep, shoulder, or whatever he had. The longer you leave it, the better it heals, the more solid it is, the more training sessions and more confidence you get from it.
“It’s well documented that Fury isn’t the best liver in between fights. he goes up and down in weight,” said Haye in talking about Tyson’s habit of gaining weight between contests.
“Whereas with Wilder, I’ve never seen him looking out of shape personally,” said Haye. “He always seems to be year-round in tip-top shape.
“So, having two fights in three years, that’s a long time to stay healthy and keep working. You can never write someone off that punches as hard as Wilder does,” said Haye.