Before his last outing against China’s Zhilei Zhang, Deontay Wilder admitted that defeat could mean curtains for his career.

The fight was set up after a points loss to Joseph Parker in which the American looked uncharacteristically unwilling to pull the trigger on his infamous right hand. He promised fans he had rediscovered the killer instinct in the lead-up to the Zhang bout, but ended up knocked out in five rounds.

It means four losses in the last five for the former WBC Champion, who lost his belt to Tyson Fury over the course of a thrilling trilogy which saw one draw and two stoppage losses.

As well as the back-to-back losses in Saudi Arabia, it’s the form in which Wilder has been fighting that has led many in the sport to suggest he retire, including former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

Whilst he hasn’t made an official statement on the matter, his longterm manager Shelly Finkel recently updated World Boxing News on the situation.

“At this point, Deontay Wilder has not retired.”

Finkel also declined the opportunity for his man to fight for the WBC Bridgerweight World title, offered by champion Lawrence Okolie.

There are still plenty of names in the heavyweight that would be willing to welcome Wilder back to the ring, however how intriguing those match-ups would be for fans remains to be seen.

He may be given another chance on a Riyadh Season card for big money, and Turki Alalshikh has said he is open to pitting him against Brits Derek Chisora or Joe Joyce, but another underwhelming performance would likely spell the end of ‘The Bronze Bomber’ at the top level of the sport.