Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang go head to head as the main event of the 5 v 5, Queensberry v Matchroom card on June 1 and is being billed as a must win fight for both men.
Not too long ago, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ and ‘Big Bang’ were seen as serious top two contenders in the heavyweight division – that was until both suffered defeat to Joseph Parker.
Wilder was dealt a big upset loss with a near shut out decision on the ‘Day Of Reckoning’ card at the end of last year. Zhang then faced the former champion in March and looked to be on his way to victory, knocking his opponent down twice but ran out of steam resulting in majority decision defeat.
Parker is uniquely placed to give insight into the upcoming clash and told iFL TV that he’s leaning towards Wilder to put himself back into the heavyweight mix.
“You know what, I’m edging towards Deontay Wilder.
I know Zhang is very powerful himself and he’s dangerous for the first half of the fight. Both guys have a lot to prove and they’re going to come to try and make a statement.
Whoever wins will move on to bigger fights and whoever loses will move closer to retirement and probably fighting lower profile fights. It’s a must win fight for both men.”
As for Parker himself, he’s proved that he’ll step in against anyone, but avenging his defeat against Anthony Joshua is top of his list.
“I would love the rematch with Joshua, but I’ll fight anyone. I’m just waiting for whatever is next and whatever they say I’ll do.”
Wilder vs Zhang takes place on June 1 in Saudi Arabia and headlines the card after Artur Beterbiev suffered an injury causing his undisputed light-heavyweight clash against Dimitry Bivol to be postponed.
