Zhilei Zhang handed Deontay Wilder another loss on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, defeating the 38-year-old by a fifth-round knockout at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
The bout, a clash of power punchers, did not favor Wilder from the outset. Both fighters started tentatively, but Zhang’s offense proved more effective in the early rounds. Wilder has been criticized recently for his reluctance to throw punches, a problem that continued through the first four rounds of the fight.
Zhang’s victory capped off a successful 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. With this win, Queensbury secured a clean sweep, winning all five bouts.
The loss marks Wilder’s second consecutive defeat and his fourth in his last five fights. His only win in that stretch was a first-round knockout over Robert Helenius in October 2022. Given Wilder’s age and the mounting losses, retirement discussions are becoming more serious. Before the fight, Wilder acknowledged the importance of the match for his future. “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.
Should this be the end of Wilder’s career, he will walk away as one of the defining heavyweights of his generation. His reign as the WBC heavyweight champion lasted from 2015 to 2020, including nine successful defenses, all finished by knockout or TKO.
For Zhang, this victory opens up new opportunities. Despite previous losses to Filip Hrgovic and Joseph Parker, a win against a renowned champion like Wilder still carries significant weight. The heavyweight division is currently thriving, with multiple contenders vying for the four belts recently unified by Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, whose rematch is highly anticipated.
Anthony Joshua, on a four-fight win streak since losing back-to-back matches to Usyk, is also in the mix. Daniel Dubois, who defeated Filip Hrgovic on the undercard of the Zhang-Wilder bout, adds to the list of formidable contenders. Zhang’s impressive win over Wilder positions him as a serious contender in this competitive landscape.
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