Zhilei Zhang handed Deontay Wilder another loss on Saturday in Saudi Arabia with the 41-year-old beating The Bronze Bomber by fifth-round knockout at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
The battle of the power puncher did not favor WIlder from the outset. Both fighters started the bout tentatively, but Zhang’s offense was more effective in the early going.
Wilder has been criticized recently for being unwilling to let his hands go and it plagued him again in the first four rounds of the fight:
No jabs, just lead-arm pawing, from both heavyweights. Wilder needs some variation on his right if he’s not going to use his left. How about an uppercut?
The victory for Zhang put the exclamation mark on a 5-0 night for Queensbury boxing on a unique pay-per-view card that pitted five Matchroom fighters against five fighters from Frank Warren’s Queensbury promotions.
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The loss is Wilder’s second in a row and he’s now dropped four of his last five. 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 wouldn’t be surprising if this is the last we see of him. He admitted before the fight that a loss would bring the retirement discussion into focus.
“If I don’t get the win, ah, we don’t know where we’ll go from here. Retirement could be a very big and serious conversation,” he told Tris Dixon of Boxing Scene. “This is a very important fight for me and in terms of my future.”
If this is it for the American knockout artist he’ll walk away as one of the heavyweights that defined a generation. His run as the WBC heavyweight championship lasted from 2015-2020 and included nine defenses that were finished by knockout or TKO.
As for Zhang, this win could open some more opportunities for himself. He has losses against FIlip Hrgovic and Joseph Parker on his ledger, but a win against Wilder still carries some weight.
The heavyweight division is booming right now. Fury and Usyk put on a show in Saudi Arabia and the rematch should be one of the most anticipated fights of the year. Meanwhile, Joshua has looked strong in his four-fight win streak since losing 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 have multiple contenders trying to vie for the four belts that were just unified.
Zhang did his best to get into the conversation with a win over a renowned champion like WIlder.
