Deontay Wilder trainer Malik Scott ripped into the heavyweight division following Francis Ngannou’s performance against Tyson Fury.
Ngannou gave Fury all the trouble he could handle in Saudi Arabia. Since then, every UFC puncher has been linked to a boxing bout.
Fury opened the door for many to follow Ngannou. Scott admits there isn’t a good talent pool to fend off the most prominent MMA stars.
Deontay Wilder’s trainer talks about the heavyweight division
“It’s not like we have a landscape of full killers [at heavyweight],” Scott told Fight Hub TV. “There are guys he can beat that have been boxing way longer than him.
“We’re going to see him get right back in the gym and not treat this like a celebration where he constantly reads his news clips and continually listens to fickle fans.
“Just get back to his craft and learn more and continue to spar guys to get better. Yeah, he’s a problem for anybody. The only guys I’m saying can beat him are extremely hard punchers.
“If you get in there and you ain’t got anything for him to respect you. He wasn’t really respecting Fury’s punching power.
“Fury hit him with some good shots, and he didn’t budge. Fury hit him with a good elbow, and he didn’t budge. If you didn’t see that in slow motion, you’d think it didn’t even happen because he just wasn’t budging.”
Ngannou
On what Ngannou has to offer, Scott added: “The punch intake is good, which has a lot to do with his determination and size and grit. But I believe that takes a toll when you’re in there with dynamite type of punchers like Deontay Wilder. Anthony Joshua is extremely heavy-handed.
“I would automatically compare Francis with Daniel Dubois. If you compare styles and compare how Dubois fought Usyk. If you take Francis being patient with Usyk like that, he’ll get plucked up a little bit.
“But he’ll make Usyk feel his presence. He would. That’s just the type of man that he is.
“He doesn’t take no for an answer, and he’s a hell of an individual. A lot was shown of him, but what I was really big on was his character.
“I’m very big on his character and patience. It just shows who he is as a person,” concluded the heavyweight-turned-coach.
Ngannou is already being linked to a fight with Wilder in the future.
