By Tim Royner: Former two-division world champion Michael Moorer is interested in taking over as the new trainer for former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder going into his third clash with Tyson Fury.
Moorer has grave doubts about Wilder’s ability to beat Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) in their third fight without dramatic changes to his game.
Moorer would like to teach Wilder how to box and keep his opponents at the end of his jab. In their rematch last February, Fury was able to walk Wilder down and pummel him at close to mid-range.
Wilder was helpless to do anything because he was just throwing right hands, and missing badly with them.
Wilder looked one-dimensional against Fury
He wasn’t using his jab or his left hand for anything. It was all right-hand shots from the 6’7″ Wilder, and that made it simple for Fury to take that away from him.
Even if Wilder did agree to take Moorer on as his trainer, he wouldn’t have a lot of time to change his game before he faces Fury in October.
Moorer (52-4-1, 40 KOs) was an outstanding fighter at light heavyweight with a perfect 21-0 record with 21 knockouts before he moved up two divisions to fight at heavyweight in 1990. If Moorer had stayed at 175, he likely would have stayed a world champion for many years because he was a devastating fighter in that weight class.
Fury frustrated Wilder
“Yeah, I see him as the #1 heavyweight in the world,” said Moorer to IFL TV when asked if he views Tyson Fury at the best heavyweight. “He’s smart, and he’s an awkward fighter. Being that he’s an awkward fighter and very young. He confused Deontay, and that was what he wanted to do, and Sugar Hill [Steward] planned.
They wanted to frustrate him [Wilder], make him miss, and he was going to be off-balance. So they fought a smart fight. Listen, take the defeat. Don’t make an excuse,” said Moorer on Wilder’s explanation about his legs being weakened from his heavy ring-walk costume that he wore. “In boxing, you’re going to have a winner, and you’re going to have a loser. Someone is going to get hurt, and someone is not going to get hurt.
“That’s the real facts of boxing. Once the fight is over, and you say, ‘I’m not making no excuse BUT,’ that’s an excuse. You know damn well if you put all that s*** on to walk into the ring, That’s dumb. Straight up, that’s done. Who would wear all that heavy [gear] for black history month? What did that represent? That’s just an excuse.
“I respect Deontay, and I like Deontay. But the fact of the matter is, you spent all that money on the costume, and you blame it on your legs? No, my man. You’ve got to learn how to box, and you’ve got to learn how to fight. And you’ve got to learn how to keep people at a distance,” said Moorer.
It did look weak on Wilder’s part for him to come up with an excuse after the fight in blaming his loss on his ring-walk uniform, but he had to say something.
Wilder can’t take a punch – Moorer
“You’ve got the reach, you’ve got long arms, and you’ve got devastating power. You’ve got to keep people at the end of your punches. Just throw it. If you throw it, it’s going to hit, or you can blind somebody and throw another punch. But not throwing any punches and just depending on one punch, the right hand?
“You’ll never survive in boxing because you’re exposed now. He can’t take a punch now. He’ll hit you and break your jaw, but he can’t take a punch. Absolutely, I would love to come in,” said Moorer when asked if he would be interested in training Wilder. “I’m a very technical guy. I guess I became a better boxer after. Most people do, you know?
“He’s bitter right now because he lost,” said Moorer about Wilder’s comment on him not viewing Fury as a champion. “He lost to a guy [Fury] that knows how to play the press and knows how to play the fans. He has charisma. The guy beat you. It’s over and done.
“There’s another chance for you to avenge yourself. That’s it. If you’re going to take about it. If you’re going to talk good about it or talk s*** about it, the fact of the matter is it’s going to happen again. So why speak about it? Don’t waste your time on the past,” said Moorer about Wilder’s excuses for his loss.
Wilder’s chin is no worse than Fury or Anthony Joshua’s. None of these heavyweights can take a big shot without getting hurt. They don’t possess the chin of heavyweights from the past like Evander Holyfield. If they did, they would be almost invincible.
If Fury knockouts Wilder in their third fight, then you can say he doesn’t have a chin. It’ll be interesting to see if Fury can handle Wilder’s power this time.
Moorer: Fury beats Deontay in trilogy
“I think so,” said Moorer when asked if he thinks Fury will win the third clash with Wilder. “His confidence is there now. Say, for instance, that I train Deontay. I would get a whole of him, and I would take him to school. I would go where he is or bring him where I am, and it would be secretive.
“All I want to do is work on your fundamentals. Learn how to box. I would keep people at the end of my punches. Just like this. If anybody gets in, there’s going to get beat up before they get in, but I would teach him.
“I would tell him to go back to basics, go back to footwork, keep your hands up, and keep people at the end of your punches,” said Moorer in giving his advice for Wilder. “Don’t let anybody get in. You’re too big, too strong, and hit too hard to allow people to walk through your punches,” said Moorer.
What’s important now is what Wilder does to prepare for the trilogy match with Fury. If Wilder can beat Fury in their third fight, boxing fans will forget his ring-walk excuse, and rally behind him again.
If Wilder is able to hit Fury on the button with big right hands for six or seven rounds without missing, we could see him end Fury’s short title reign.
Wilder would be unstoppable if Breland trained him to box
“Not walking through. Once he hits somebody, they’re down,” Moorer said of Wilder. “Playing around. You got to work the jab and set-up the right hand. You got uppercuts, left hands, body shots, and you’ve got so many other punches to work with. I’m sure you’re going to do it. Look at Mark Breland. Back in the day, Mark Breland, at 147 pounds, was tall, skinny, lanky with long arms.
“He used to box the s*** out of people because he kept them at the end of his punches. And if he were to train him like that, Deontay would be unstoppable.
“Once you try to get passed that jab, left hook and body shot, every punch would be brutal. He would need to build up the power on all his punches, sitting down and working his hips a little bit more to work the power,” said Moorer.
Wilder has had an entire career with Breland as his trainer, and he STILL can’t box. At this point, you have to figure that this is as good as it gets with Wilder with Breland.