Deontay Wilder's former coach responds to Floyd Mayweather comments

Mayweather praised Breland as an “elite boxing coach” in an apparent dig towards Wilder following his dismissal last year

Sports Staff
Thursday 21 October 2021 12:32 BST
Comments
(Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Deontay Wilder’s former trainer Marc Breland has praised Floyd Mayweather for being in his corner as the fallout from his dismissal by the ‘Bronze Bomber’ continued.

Mayweather was accused of “taking shots” at Wilder this week after he paid tribute to Breland, who was fired by the heavyweight following his defeat to Tyson Fury in February 2020.

Wilder was furious at Breland for throwing in the towel in the seventh-round defeat last year, but the American was defeated for a second time by the Gypsy King following an 11th-round knockout this month.

After Wilder’s latest defeat, retired boxing great Mayweather described Breland as “an elite boxing coach, something that nowadays many unqualified people claim to be”, in what was an apparent dig at Wilder’s current trainer Malik Scott.

In response to Mayweather’s comments, Breland wrote on Instagram: “So I have never gotten to know this Man [Mayweather] on a personal level. I’ve had more than a few conversations with his uncle Roger and a couple with his father.

“So from only knowing Floyd Mayweather from his showmanship personality you only THINK you know a little about him! Getting to know him on a more personal level, I’ll say this, his Ring IQ is only a quarter of his business IQ, and that’s impressive!

“He changed the entire game and any boxer that don’t appreciate what he’s done/doing for the culture, and his dedication to the sport got a personal problem with themselves.”

In his previous comments towards Mayweather, Scott claimed that Breland and Mayweather had a rivalry and the former welterweight world champion and Olympic champion was not on good terms with the retired 44-year-old.

“I wouldn’t say he was talking s**t about me,” Scott said in response to Mayweather’s praise of Breland. “I would say he was taking his usual random shots at Deontay, which indirectly is taking shots at me too since I’m Deontay’s head trainer, so it’s whatever.

“But what’s even more funny is Mark Breland has been a known legend for decades, but all of a sudden Floyd posts him with praise coincidentally a week after we lose to Fury.

“But then to make it even funnier, Mark Breland has never really liked Floyd anyway. On numerous occasions personally and publicly he’s always called Floyd an overrated big mouth that would have not stood a chance in his era.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in