Deontay Wilder faces off against Zhilei Zhang this weekend in what is being branded a ‘must win’ fight for both men.
Wilder and Zhang will be looking to get themselves back into the heavyweight mix having both suffered defeat in their last fight.
Joseph Parker, a former heavyweight champion, was the man to defy the odds against both men.
Parker scored a near shut out points victory over ‘The Bronze Bomber’, who looked a shadow of the dynamic puncher fans are accustomed to seeing.
In the Zhang fight, the New Zealander didn’t have it all his own way. The giant Chinese heavyweight knocked Parker down twice but then ran out of steam in the later rounds, allowing the 32-year-old to nick a win on the scorecards.
At 38 and 41 years-old both Wilder and Zhang are in the twilight of their careers and the hard hitting American has admitted that he will consider retirement if he doesn’t get his hand raised at the weekend.
Speaking to Boxing News on the eve of the fight, Parker gave his unique perspective on who he thinks will move on to bigger fights.
“They both have the ability to knock each other out. With this fight Wilder looks different, but Zhang has trimmed down so his conditioning is going to be better, but I have to lean towards Wilder in this fight.
I feel like Zhang has good movement but he doesn’t have the best head movement and if Wilder can light him up and catch him with the right hand… that’s what I think is going to happen.”
Wilder-Zhang takes place on June 1 in Saudi Arabia and headlines a card that will see Eddie Hearn match fight fighters from his roster against five from Frank Warren’s.
