Deontay Wilder once again showed a forgettable image in the Zhilei Zhang match on the morning of June 2 when he was punched to the ground by a Chinese boxer.
The main match of the Matchroom vs. Queensberry: 5 vs.5, the competition between two heavyweight candidates – “Chinese Giant” Zhilei Zhang and “Bombinator” Deontay Wilder was not as dramatic as expected.
Before this match, both were defeated by British boxer Joseph Parker, but the lessons they learned were shown in very different images.
Understanding the danger of Wilder’s right hand, Zhilei Zhang minimized the range of his opponent’s blows to take advantage of his 30kg physical advantage over Wilder. Zhang’s punches caused Wilder to lose his posture, opening the door for a thunderous knockout in the 5th round.
VIDEO Zhilei Zhang defeats Deontay Wilder:
With this result, Zhilei Zhang once again raised hopes of competing for the heavyweight title with Daniel Dubois – who had just defeated Filip Hrgovic in the previous match. Zhang’s caution helped the Chinese boxer achieve his 27th victory and also his 22nd knockout in his career.
“When I lost to Parker, it was a fair loss, but I learned a lot. When I beat Joe Joyce, I was overconfident and underestimated Parker, but now it’s time for me to get back on track. champion. I dodged Wilder’s right hand and neutralized it in this fight. I blocked a few punches but he really punched hard, I have a lot of respect for him.”
As for Deontay Wilder, this defeat can be said to have officially ended the era of America’s “Bombbuster” in returning to the pinnacle of the heavyweight division. In the last 5 matches from 2020 until now, Wilder has lost 4 matches (3 knockouts/technical knockout). In particular, two consecutive losses by both points and knockout to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang showed that it was difficult for him to compete with the new wave when he turned 38 years old.
