Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has received another another reason to completely discredit Joseph Parker’s win over him last December as Wilder’s coach, Malik Scott, recently gave his take on the fight and alluded to Wilder’s use of ayahuasca having led to his loss to Parker.
During a recent interview Malik Scott held, the American coach spoke on Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KO’s) and his last match, as well as his future plans within the sport of boxing.
“I think Deontay [Wilder] has a killer instinct in him that you can’t suppress, but I think he enjoyed Ayahuasca,” Scott reportedly told Instant Casino. “I think that it possibly did not match the attitude needed in the ring, because like he said; it made him a bit content and made him have an understanding of the smaller and softer things in life. And if you’re in that type of space then violence is not a top priority.
“But when you’re in a boxing ring violence has got to be [the] top priority. Violence wasn’t a top priority that night and I think that’s why we came up short. Deontay is a killer, he’s violent, he wants to put holes through you when he punches you, that Deontay didn’t show up that night, he couldn’t pull the trigger.“
Interestingly enough, ayahuasca is considered illegal to use in the United States unless for religious purposes, yet the apparent illegal status of the ayahuasca drugs seems to have gone unnoticed to both Scott and Wilder, who appears to have used ayahuasca quite recently before his December 23rd fight against New Zealand native Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KO’s) judging by Scott’s statements.
Following Wilder’s match on the ‘Day of Reckoning‘ card, Wilder had referred to ayahuasca as helping make him a better person, but it the substance, which is said to bring profound spiritual enlightenment, is not considered a recreational drug and therefore not equipped to be used for regular consumption. However, despite Wilder having been quite open about his experiences with the drug, he had left no indication his use of ayahuasca being debilitating prior to fighting Joseph Parker.
For ayahuasca to now be considered a factor in Wilder’s loss to Parker appears disingenuous after earlier claims from Wilder’s camp suggested a multitude of other factors that led to his defeat on December 23rd, with inactivity, personal issues and the traveling times to Saudi Arabia all having been used by Deontay Wilder to clarify why he lost―rather than just admitting that Parker was simply the better fighter on the night.
In retrospect, Scott’s ‘revelation’ may only just be another attempt to discredit Joseph Parker’s win over Wilder, instead of Wilder’s alleged use of ayahuasca actually having remotely led to his defeat. Fortunately for Deontay Wilder, he will gain the opportunity to prove himself once more with Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KO’s) having all but been confirmed by Malik Scott to become Wilder’s likely next opponent.
“Zhang is dangerous, but I’m very comfortable and happy with the fight because big Zhang is someone who makes you stay alert and makes you stay elusive,” Scott said. “He’s a big man and he can punch but we know what we have to do to operate on him and do surgery on him and that’s what we are going to do.
“It’s going to be a surgical performance. What I really like about the fight is how dangerous Zhang is, a very dangerous opponent and that’s going to make Deontay even better.“
It should be noted that the Wilder-Zhang fight has yet to be formally confirmed by the associated partners, with Queensberry Promotions, who represents Zhang, having yet to announce the match-up publicly. The bout between the two heavyweights would see two opponents that Joseph Parker only recently defeated step into the ring with each other, making for an interesting bout as two fighters known for their punching power step into the ring to get their careers back on track.
