Richard Pelham/Getty Photographs
Zhilei Zhang handed Deontay Wilder one other loss on Saturday in Saudi Arabia with the 41-year-old beating The Bronze Bomber by fifth-round knockout at Kingdom Area in Riyadh.
DAZN Boxing @DAZNBoxing
DEONTAY WILDER GETS KNOCKED OUT 🤯#QueensberryVsMatchroom | Dwell NOW | Dwell on DAZN: Click on hyperlink in bio to purchase.
#5vs5 | #RiyadhSeason | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/T8jpAbmrnw
DAZN Boxing @DAZNBoxing
DEONTAY WILDER GETS KNOCKED OUT 🤯#QueensberryVsMatchroom | Dwell NOW | Dwell on DAZN: Click on hyperlink in bio to purchase.
#5vs5 | #RiyadhSeason | @Turki_alalshikh pic.twitter.com/T8jpAbmrnw
The battle of the ability puncher didn’t favor WIlder from the outset. Each fighters began the bout tentatively, however Zhang’s offense was more practical within the early going.
Wilder has been criticized just lately for being unwilling to let his palms go and it plagued him once more within the first 4 rounds of the struggle:
Douglass Fischer @dougiefischer
No jabs, simply lead-arm pawing, from each heavyweights. Wilder wants some variation on his proper if he is not going to make use of his left. How about an uppercut?
The victory for Zhang put the exclamation mark on a 5-0 evening for Queensbury boxing on a singular pay-per-view card that pitted 5 Matchroom fighters in opposition to 5 fighters from Frank Warren’s Queensbury promotions.
Matchroom Boxing @MatchroomBoxing
10-0 and a good distance house… 🎶
The loss is Wilder’s second in a row and he is now dropped 4 of his final 5. The lone win in that stretch was a first-round knockout win over Robert Helenius in October 2022.
Given Wilder’s age (38) and the mounting losses, it would not be stunning if that is the final we see of him. He admitted earlier than the struggle {that a} loss would carry the retirement dialogue into focus.
“If I do not get the win, ah, we do not know the place we’ll go from right here. Retirement might be a really huge and critical dialog,” he advised Tris Dixon of Boxing Scene. “It is a crucial struggle for me and when it comes to my future.”
If that is it for the American knockout artist he’ll stroll away as one of many heavyweights that outlined a era. His run because the WBC heavyweight championship lasted from 2015-2020 and included 9 defenses that had been completed by knockout or TKO.
As for Zhang, this win might open some extra alternatives for himself. He has losses in opposition to FIlip Hrgovic and Joseph Parker on his ledger, however a win in opposition to Wilder nonetheless carries some weight.
The heavyweight division is booming proper now. Fury and Usyk placed on a present in Saudi Arabia and the rematch must be one of the crucial anticipated fights of the 12 months. In the meantime, Joshua has seemed sturdy in his four-fight win streak since shedding back-to-back fights to Usyk.
Throw in Daniel Dubois who picked up a win over Filip Hrgovic on the undercard of this bout and you’ve got a number of contenders making an attempt to vie for the 4 belts that had been simply unified.
Zhang did his finest to get into the dialog with a win over a famend champion like WIlder.
