According to Jay Deas, head trainer and co-manager of WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs), his boxer is very motivated to become the first fighter in his weight class to reach a 50-0 record.
Heavyweight legend Rocky Marciano reached a tally of 49-0 before retirement.
Five division world champion Floyd Mayweather, although not a heavyweight, crossed Marciano's record back in August, when he reached 50-0 by stopping UFC superstar Conor McGregor at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Deas believes Wilder can achieve that goal and he's got more than enough time to accomplish that feat.
“Deontay’s motivation is to be the first heavyweight to 50-0 because then he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. You never really know what will happen in someone’s career but providing everything went well and he’s injury-free, I think Deontay can do that and I think he has about six-to-eight years left in him to do just that," Deas told Boxing News.
Wilder was in action earlier this month, when he blasted out mandatory challenger Bermane Stiverne in the first round of their rematch at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Wilder landed some of his well known punches, that almost come shooting out in a windmill manner and from awkward angles.
“He has always swung punches like that,” said Deas. “But of course, we’ve refined his technique over the years and worked on his jab, straight hands and other textbook punches. He always had that kind of awkwardness about him, though; in the way he did some things.
“At first, I tried to get that out of him and smooth it all out but he’s surprisingly very accurate when he does that. It’s quite effective. So I thought, ‘why not include that?’ I’d like him to focus on the textbook stuff but if his awkward punches work too, I’ll let him do that. There’s no real planning behind that because nobody else does what he can do with those punches.”
2023-10-20 00:28:15
