Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder meet in the ring next month – a heavyweight match-up with genuine stakes and bone-crushing power.
Zhang, 41, and former world champion Wilder, 38, were both recently just one fight away from challenging for a heavyweight title. Neither made it past a resurgent Joseph Parker though, who beat the American and Chinese heavyweights back-to-back.
It leaves the two hard-hitters facing off at the top of the Matchroom vs Queensberry 5 vs 5 card in Riyadh, with the result making or breaking their heavyweight hopes.
Whilst announcing his own fight against Joe Joyce, British fan-favourite Derek Chisora made his prediction, picking ‘Big Bang’ to hand ‘The Bronze Bomber’ his fourth loss, third by stoppage.
“Oh, Wilder’s gonna get laid out, bro. Wilder gets laid out, he’s retiring there and then. What’s there for him to come back?”
‘Del-Boy’ went on to agree that a fight between himself and the American would still be entertaining, but that ‘somebody has to always ruin his plans’ – in this case, namely Zhilei Zhang.
With 63 knockouts between them – plus an air of vulnerability most recently exposed by Parker – there’s little doubt that the fight on June 1 will deliver for fans. As Chisora points out, retirement beckoning the loser adds another layer of intrigue.
Zhang will enter the ring as the man who put up more of a fight against Parker having knocked him down twice but falling away in the second half of the fight to lose on the cards. Wilder, on the other hand, was served an almost complete shutout by the New Zealander, and left fans and pundits with questions surrounding his desire. Despite that, Parker leans towards Wilder for the win.
