Recently, former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs) advised to the media that former WBC heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) should engage in a few tune-up fights in his hometown to regain confidence before venturing into high-stakes contests.
Briggs stated, “Wilder needs to train hard. He’s always been at the top level. After losing to Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs), I’ve been wondering why he didn’t go back to Alabama and have a warm-up fight in a packed arena against a second or third-tier opponent, just to get his confidence back. I don’t understand why he didn’t do that. If Wilder is willing to listen, I’d be happy to give him some advice. Go back to your hometown, find an arena with a capacity of 2000-3000, and fight once a month with your fans supporting you. When you’re ready, then move on to those big fights again.”
The 38-year-old Wilder was last seen getting TKO’d by former WBO interim heavyweight champion Zhang Zhilei (27-2-1, 22 KOs) in the fifth round on June 2, having lost four of his last five outings.