Daniel Dubois shocked the world when he knocked out Anthony Joshua to retain his IBF world heavyweight title.
One man who was at ringside with a keen eye on the outcome was Deontay Wilder’s trainer, Malik Scott.
Speaking to Boxing News, Scott said Joshua’s defence was the main issue.
“I though tit was a very very entertaining fight, I had it wrong, I thought AJ would win between four and eight rounds I had picked AJ. Dubois showed up and he showed up in grand fashion and it was a modern day… it reminded me of a back in the day, I want to say war but it was slightly one-sided, it came across that is was just a matter of time before AJ got caught. Daniel did a good job and god bless him and his team, I’ve very happy for Don Charles, he’s been in this game for a long time, so it was good.
I don’t know what it is, I enjoyed AJ’s walkout and the minute he got in the ring before the first round, in the first few seconds of the first round he got hit with a jab, his jab defence was awful this fight and to me the onslaught happened from Daniel Dubois’ double jab, it’s just one of those things.”
Scott wished AJ the best going forward and believes he can still come back if he chooses to.
“I wish him the best and I’m sure AJ’s bounced back before, and we’re going to see if he can bounce back again because tonight was about him becoming a three-time heavyweight champion of the world, he failed, but it doesn’t mean the dream is over, we’ll see what he does.”
On his own man’s future after suffering back-to-back defeats, Scott is confident we see Wilder back in the ring next year.
‘Fighting is in Deontay’s heart it’s something that he wants to do, we’re in 2024 so we’ll see what 2025 looks like and we’ll go from there.”
Joshua and Wilder once controlled all the belts in boxing’s blue-ribband division, however now both appear to be in last chance saloon and Scott isn’t ruling out the two still colliding in the ring.
“Yeah, there is no telling [what could happen], you just never know, you just never never know.”
