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I've checked if there is a topic about this, and I'm surprised there is none when this is a very important fight for both boxers who are on a slide of their boxing career.

This is a very important fight for both fighters.
And this event is loaded with good names in the undercard.

Deontay Wilder also hinted that this could be his last fight, this is a winner move on and the loser will go fight and this what makes this fight very excited.

Wilder said he is treating the fight as all or nothing.


Deontay Wilder hints Zhilei Zhang fight could be his 'last dance' (https://www.espn.ph/boxing/story/_/id/39949401/deontay-wilder-hints-zhilei-zhang-fight-last-dance)

For both fighters yes this is very important and probably the last fight they will ever have as they are in the retirement age stage. It feels like they are going to give their all to win. Both of them lost against Parker but Wilder has the most beating of all, especially looking at his 3 fights with Fury. Almost mentally irreparable that's why he had that suicide attempt and with the help of that psychedelic plant, he seemed fine.  If he just gets out on Twitter tweeting something, he will be like Ryan.

For big guys like them, the fight wouldn't last 3 rounds someone's going to flat. I will go with Zhang on this.

Wilder is again fighting a technical boxer with power punches, so he is likely to be at a disadvantage in this fight. A big concern here is his mental health. He already gave a hint that he is on the path to retirement. Of course, he will give his best shot here, but so will Zhang, whose loss is quite a big disappointment for him. This is a very exciting fight, and both fighters have their highs and lows.
I have Zhang winning by a decision here. Wilder has had trouble dealing with technical and big fighters in the past, and this fight is no different.

Two members already siding with Zhang so I'm also tempted but betting on this will probably be a last minute decision for me. I want to see how he looks like a day or two before the fight. It's still nice to know Wilder is treating this seriously even though it's not as big as his other fights. It also shows that he's really motivated to win.

Since the Usyk vs Fury is over, and as far as HW goes, this is the next big though. Both power punchers and maybe we are going to see someone kissing the canvass in this big fight. Zhang is still the favorite in this fight and I think fight fans are leaning in him because Wilder doesn't look good in this last fight. Although Zhang lost in this last fight, he did shows resiliency. But he faces a technical boxer and although he did connect early, he wasn't able to sustain it.

There are some videos of Wilder in training or taking a run so obviously put more gas in his body in this fight.

But let's see, winner could have a good chance to be the mandatory for any of the belts that Usyk hold for now.

I’ve checked the odds and Zhilei Zhang seems to be the slight favorite. The Chinese fighter is a lot like Wilder in that he relies almost entirely on his knockout power to win fights. There is not many other dimensions to their strategy. It will be about who will be able to better resist their opponent's power.

Wilder is 38 years old, but Zhang is even older at 41. Zhang’s age and worse conditioning will be the factors which I believe will give Wilder an upset victory, as long is he isn’t too gun shy like he was against Parker.

Exactly, this could be a war as both have limited skills. Both are old but Zhang is older. Wilder has a weaker chin but he also carries the heavier punch so both can end up getting hurt here. Maybe Zhang will try to box safely but I doubt he is quicker than Wilder although he can set up his counters to stop the American.

This is still an exciting match up but I will be more focused on the title fights in the same card. Hopefully, Bivol delivers a knockout, it's been a long time since the last one. Also the long awaited overdue title shot of Filip Hrgovic. He wasted years and is the most avoided fighter at heavyweight. I believe he could've demolished AJ and Wilder when those 2 were still undefeated champions.

Anthony Joshua has resurrected his career after two heartbreaking losses to Usyk, but Wilder is still struggling to get to the top. It's only been six years, and these two are what the boxing world wants to meet in the ring. They are heading in two different directions. Joshua is headed to the top again, while Wilder is struggling to develop his career.

If Wilder loses again here, I think his career is over. Zhang is still dangerous, can take big punches, and has good technical skills, something that haunts Wilder whenever he is faced with a guy with power and good movement in the ring.
I hope Wilder can get past Zhang because after this we might see a Joshua - Wilder that we failed to see.

I'm not sure if you can call a win against Francis Ngannou resurrects Joshua's career. Yeah, Francis went toe to toe and almost upset Tyson Fury. It's that AJ exposed a former MMA fighter is no match against a top caliber boxer.


Zhang is also good for a couple of rounds just like in his fight against Joseph Parker. The latter was able to survived early and then outboxed a obvious tired and exhausted Zhang till 12 rounds. So there is the blue print how to beat Zhang. It's just a matter on how Wilder will have to execute in this fight. He will rely on is power, but he needs to be able to withstood the early barrage from Zhang and he will be good.

Wilder's big concern is Zhang jabs, it's very punishing this is what Joyce suffered in their two fights I believe Zhang can deliver these jabs, Wilder's defense is not that good but he is a one-shot fighter he can take anyone if he connects, so it's going to be Zhang jabs and Wilder's right hand.

I agree that Zhang had issues with stamina if Wilder can bring the fight to the championship rounds he can deliver that powershot.

Zhang's strategy to win is to do a Parker-like performance swarm him and pour a lot of punches  because Wilder has a very weak defense, as we've all seen in his match against Parker.

I agree with that strategy, if Zhang wanted to win this fight,  then don't just rely on his power, use his jab more, as it is very effective and it's not just the usual jab by Zhang possesses one of the heaviest jab in HW. Gas tank will play a big factor here, we will see who will ran out of gas and then the other take that opportunity to score or win via a knockout.


It's a stack up cards so there's a lot of us boxing fans to look at not just this fight. Obviously the main even is Dmitri Bivol vs Malik Zinad. Although what we wanted is him against Beterbiev. But we will have to wait, Bivol just need to win this and then him and Beterbiev be rescheduled for this year hopefully.

It is a stack-up card and look it's only a week before the big fight could have been a lot more interesting if Beterbiev did not suffered an injury still a blockbuster event with the presence of Dubois and Hrgovic there's still no final announcement if these two are fighting for the IBF title as there will be announcement in the coming days

The main event alone is a do or die Wilder hints on a retirement but could change his mind if he can knock out Zhang not an easy task but if he can connect those rights he had a chance.


https://talkimg.com/images/2024/05/25/LSONj.png (https://talkimg.com/image/LSONj)

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Daniel Dubois vs Filip Hrgovic must be one of the most exciting part of the fight card. You just can't pick your dog and then expect the win. Better to leave this out of your parlay. I could lean on Filip but Dubois could potentially pull it off. More exciting than the main event.

The fight will not go to distance which I think the gas isn't going to be an issue to Zhang. This is the kind of fight that ends with just one-two combination.

Just cast my votes to see who the community is favouring and this is what I found out

Wilder by KO   - 0 (0%)
Wilder by Decision   - 0 (0%)
Zhang by KO   - 5 (83.3%)
Zhang by Decision   - 1 (16.7%)
Total Voters: 6

Really?! It was four years ago when many thought Wilder is Boxing's invincible fighter until he met Fury and the rest is history, at 38 years old having achieved many things except the undisputed champion he is in the twilight of his career and Zhang could be the one to send him to retirement, I hope he can give one good fight and he can go out with grace, 97.67% knock out rate by a heavyweight is hard to achieve.
Come June 1 Wilder's fate will be decided.

I haven't check as well, but the latest news is that this is going to be for the interim belt and Usyk has the major belt right now since obviously he had all the belts in the HW. But the IBF said that they are going to strip him of his belt, so we really don't know how things are going to be for this fight if it is interim or the regular belt. And we don't like Usyk to be strip as he will have a rematch with Fury and so we wanted to see all the belts on the line in the second fight to be fair.


Exactly, a must win for him otherwise, his career might be over and can't regain his status as champion. And if Zhang wins then his cinderella story will continue and could be up for a title fight next.

LOL, Parker beat them all, it was an upset on Wilder but Parker proven himself that he is on another level.

Deontay Wilder 38 years old, while Zhilei Zhang is over at 41 years old.
This should be a great fight for both, I'm sure we will see another exciting fight as Wilder will try to come back, but unfortunately he doesn't have the ability to last in the fight, so he needs to be more aggressive, hit a good shot and  knockout Zhilei Zhang in the early rounds.

I'm seeing that if this fight will go distance, it's for Zhang, if it ends in 6 rounds or less, it's for Wilder.

It's because Parker has some movement and being technical in my opinion, and he was able to stay there enough and although he was hit, it didn't damage him and so he just boxes his way out for a win.


Zhang's gas tank could be in question in, and if it goes to distance, maybe he will be out of gas and gets tired and maybe that's what Wilder could exploit specially in the championship rounds. Wilder should look at the tapes on how Parker beat Zhang and maybe he tries to go and outbox him and just cover up to avoid Zhang's power and jab too and then try to bring his power as well in the table and make Zhang uncomfortable early.

Wilder has a higher chance to KO Zhang if he starts the fight very aggressively and not be too afraid to take on Zhang, his strategy to digress from his normal aggressive fighting style in the made him loose his last fight to Parker, it will be a mistake to do that again. Zhang has a good KO record too, his strategy in this fight will be to strategically plan to place the right punches whenever Wilder gives him the opportunity Wilder has to make sure his punches do enough damage to Zhang. Maybe one fighter will KO the other, but It will not be in the first three rounds.

I want Wilder to win, I want his career to continue a bit more because if loses this fight, it could be the end for him.

Do people still watch boxing? Joking obviously but with MMA fighting being so popular boxing has become obsolete. This particular fight Wilder is wanting to go out with a bang but might be biting off more than he can chew. Should be an entertaining fight, but Wilder likely loses and hangs his gloves up.

MMA might be more popular in the United States and a few European countries but around the world boxing still has a significant presence. Tyson Fury fought in front of 94,000 in attendance at Wembley Stadium a couple years ago, Naoya Inoue sold out the Tokyo Dome earlier this month. We’ve had some big fights involving Canelo, Inoue, Fury, Usyk and Lomachenko in the span of a month, which had a lot of buzz on social media so it’s kind of crazy to think people aren’t watching boxing anymore.

You forget to include Ryan Garcia as well. And then we have the powerful middleman from Saudi, HE Turki Alalshikh. So I think boxing is still good even if there is MMA in the background. And the thing is that MMA didn't get as much money as this boxers is getting in terms of championship fight. And you also have to look at how many MMA fighters wanted to test boxers, so that they will give that huge paycheck. Regarding this fight, it's already fight week already, so for sure many fights are also eager to see Wilder again in the ring against a dangerous Zhang.

Boxing is still popular and I hold it based on gate receipt and PPV no top MMA fighters can claim that they earned more than the top boxers, Ngannou earned more in his one fight

Francis Ngannou earned $20 million from his fight against Anthony Joshua.
For his fight with Tyson Fury, he earned $10 million, that's $30 million for two boxing matches.
He made $3.5 million from 14 UFC fights in 7 years.

Here is the breakdown of Ngannou's earnings both on MMA and boxing

https://www.givemesport.com/francis-ngannou-net-worth-boxing-ufc-earnings-purses

Back on Wilder, I don't think it is a money matter he has too much of it, every boxer wants a graceful exit if he wants this to be his last fight or if he still wants to get even on Fury or to share a ring with Joshua to fill up people's curiosity on who between them is the best, they've deprived the boxing fans so I'm sure Wilder and Joshua will still want to get it done.

That cannot be denied, Ngannou is very popular in UFC and promoters have seen that they can make a hype if he'll pair him with Fury in the ring and they succeeded it. And that result on his fight with Fury which was a controvertial one had help him increase his value, until he loss to Anthony Joshua.

I think the hype for him is already over but if he'll retire already, he can live a good life as long as he know how to invest his earning.

The biggest money are on the heaviest division, no wonder fighters like Wilder is still fighting despite already losing in most of his big fights after the loss to Fury.

I think boxing and MMA are now nearly at par with each other. It's just that boxing existed longer and is more established. MMA grow quickly, particularly the UFC and a lot of people think it is better than boxing because they can see the best fighting against the best. But in the long run, we may see more MMA organizations growing big and getting their own top fighters too. It's like prime Fedor Emelianenko not fighting the UFC heavyweight champion because they belong from different organizations. Unlike in boxing wherein promoters and networks can still work with each other regularly.

Boxing promoters and networks are also giving huge guaranteed purse compared to the biggest MMA stars. Canelo is regularly taking $50 million per fight while Pereira and the other MMA stars are getting like $3 million per fight because Dan White and the UFC are taking the bulk of the profit.

The problem with MMA is they are promotional based compared to boxing where there are governing bodies and they can unify all the titles, we are not going to see that in MMA where a champion coming from UFC will agree to fight fighters that are on One championship or any MMA organizations, fights on MMA are in the house and the rules of the promotions are the one that will have an effect, this is why Ngannou did not sign a contract again on UFC because he wants a fighter to have control on sponsorship.

In boxing Pacquiao made a lot of money from sponsorships outside of his promoters he had a lot of sponsors on his boxing trunks and the sponsors' deals were paid handsomely to him directly.

I hope Wilder backs up those words because if he doesn't display what he's preaching then even if he wins, it wouldn't matter because people would find that performance lackluster and the win undeserving. Didn't know that Chinese boxers are fighting in the ring, I thought it's dominated by Mexicans and Americans, this is my first time seeing a Chinese boxer fighting so I'm a bit surprised. Other than that though, my money's on Wilder on this one.

It is known that Wilder loves to trash talk, and maybe it's one way to motivate himself here because this is very important for him. He need this big win in order to be in the contention maybe against Joshua or Usyk in the future. He used to be a champion here until he face Fury and we all know that he didn't win that fight.

As for the Chinese fighter, he is good, big and has power and even his jab is enough to bring down a HW. I think you might have mistaken as there are only few Mexicans in this division and it was purely dominated by Americans or UK boxers. And so Zhang is an exception as this is the could be the first time we witnessed a Chinese going up in the HW weight class.

If I remember correctly, China only produced 2 world champions in professional boxing over the years. But China is active in amateur boxing, maybe professional boxing is not just that big in their country. But it is surprising knowing the giant country with over a billion in population is always at the top together with the US in terms of sports generally which can be seen during Summer Olympics and other sporting events. Boxing at the moment is still dominated by Americans, Japanese, Mexicans and the British.

Zhang vs Wilder is an intriguing fight. Both are capable of knocking out each other. It is hard to imagine this fight to end in decision. I think Zhang knocks Wilder out in the middle rounds.

Intriguing indeed as both have knockout power but the fighter who have attractive odds here is Wilder so i'll be backing him to win this one bro. Wilder needed this win so he have something to offer if he wants to fight Anthony Joshua before he finally hang up his gloves for good.

Yes, he is a underdog in this fight and the odds for him are very attractive. And perhaps odds makers see the Zhang's power is going to be to hard for Wilder to contain and he could really be out of his prime.

But another intriguing match up is AJ vs Wilder, just imagine in this have fought each other before during the height of their popularity. They could have make a lot of money back then. They kept waiting though and we might not see that fight happening.

Wilder is indeed the underdog here but only slightly. Wilder lost in his previous fight. Wilder lost 2 of his last 3 fights. While Zhang is 2-2 of his last 4 fights but his losses were really close.

I am not really confident of an AJ-Wilder these days. Maybe possible if Wilder wins here but I don't think he beats AJ. Even when they're both champs and undefeated, the only chance Wilder beat AJ is to land his wild haymakers which is too open for counters. AJ is not that fast but he is better than Wilder defensively and has better skills.

Wilder's career is already done, he is on the retirement age and there's nothing to prove anymore as he was once a champion once but it's not his time now. Just like Fury, he was once undefeated but recently loss in a championship fight, so the title could change hands very fast but on the boxers that losses, it's really Wilder that struggles to come back on the top.

It was AJ who first taste a loss but he came back and now has a chance to have a championship fight. But we know he loss to Oleksandr Usyk so most likely we will see the same result and he might just retire in boxing after the fight.

They are very different though, I mean when Wilder loses to Fury he wasn't the same anymore. As compare to Fury, this is his first lost so we don't know how he will react and he will have a rematch with Usyk.

Here is a interview with him, saying that he contemplates retiring, but seeing his lost to Parker as a blessing in disguise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyWFa6v0GNM

He say that he didn't have the killer instinct against Parker, but now he could be the "Wild" Wilder.

He already had an announcement that this could be his last fight and with only one win in four fights he may be heading for retirement but I know that deep in the heart of Wilder he still wants to continue and recapture his old glory nobody wants to exit with a lot of losses, they always dream of a great fight before they exit because this is what fans most remember I already said that I want him to win this match then go for Joshua even without a title fight it's going to be a very interesting fight.

We all thought it was the end of the road for Joshua Joshua did it twice after his losses against Ruiz and Usyk and now he is back on track, I'm sure Joshua is also hoping for Wilder to win so they can deal a fight because it's still a moneymaker, maybe they can do a loser will retire deal kind of a fight, that will be a very interesting fight.

And this is really the end of the road for Wilder if he lose this fight. But we knows, maybe he can pull that trigger? I watch some training videos of him and he looks like he is back mentally for this fight and wanted to get back at his career.

Regarding Joshua, yes, we also thought that he was on the brink of retirement after back to back L from Usyk. But he was able to overcome it and had a big win against Francis Ngannou pushing his career again to a new heights. And hopefully before Wilder thinks of retirement, we might want to see them fight, and I think it still has hype in it specially if it will happen in Saudi Arabia.

I actually find those words irrelevant and it would remain a mockery reminder if he does not win the match.
You can imagine if the bla bla bla he was unable to fulfill all that!  I guess it would feel messy or maybe he would have a change of mind to extend his contract for a rematch to just make sure he covers those shit holes. Lol.

I am though on Wilders side too. He had performed so great in the ring and I am going to miss him. Compassionately I wish him winning so he could make count of his last victory as he steps down from the boxing ring.

But prime for prime though, I think it will be a good fight and if I'm not mistaken, fans are calling for it to happen. And if that happen though, I'm seeing that many Wilder will edge AJ that time because he can land that one hay maker and then it's over as AJ will lay on the ground.

For the odds, yes, they got it right here, Wilder lost 2 out of 3, while Zhang was 2-2 but his loses are very close fight and if only he had more stamina, he could have won that fight. So just couple of days from now, we will see if Wilder can be like in his second wind or it's time for him to retire if he losses this one.

Here is the face of Wilder and Zhang,

https://img.youtube.com/vi/YQcrzx33f-M/0.jpg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQcrzx33f-M)

As you can see both are ready to battle this weekend at Riyadh and it seems that Wilder is focus because he knows that this is a one and done fight for him. If he losses then it over, if he wins then he can target bigger money fights with any of the big 3, Fury, Usyk and Anthony Joshua.

There's a lot of videos as well, the whole 5 vs 5 card.

The official weights for these fighters are Zhilei Zhang 282.8 lbs and Deontay Wilder 214.6 lbs. A massive difference of 68 lbs. Zhang’s only hope of winning is by knockout. He is 41 and not in great shape. Wilder isn’t known for his high ring IQ, but he will have to use what skill he has to avoid the power of Zhang and he also can’t allow Zhang to hold and push him around to make him tired.

Both fighters' only hope is through knockout, I have not watched Wilder winning by decision  :D It either he knocks out his opponent or he gets a knockout or loses by decision, Wilder is not good at accumulating points and going the distance he always goes for the power of his right hand, even when faced with dire situations he will look for an opening to get his right hand over his opponent's face.

Wilder when he was champion was so good with his right hand that he and his trainers forgot or neglected to hound his skill and ring generalship and now he had a hard time developing it because subconsciously and consciously he just can't ignore his old style that brought him a lot of great victories.

With the weight differences, Wilder can go for knockout because Zhang cannot move a lot and once he remains stationary then he can unload his right, its style versus style here and I think Wilder's style will prevail.

The event is underway right now, Bivol stopped Zinad with a barrage of punches in under 1 minute in round 6 he has been pressuring Zinad since round one and he saw the opening in round 6, Bivol left hooks did a lot of damage on Zinad, I hope we can see the Beterbiev - Bivol this year.
The next fight is Dubois against Hrgovic which is another interesting fight to come

Good fight for Bivol, at least he got some action here as Zinad is not backing up, they even have to be separated and literally head to head at one round. Bivol also tasted some good shots from Zinad, but he just eat it. So good challenger here, but we can see the different as far as boxing skills though.

More interested on the Zhang vs Wilder fight, I put some money on Wilder ML so let's see.  :)

Zhang just knocked out Wilder in the 5th round probably the worst loss of Deontay Wilder and possibly an end to his career Zhang caught him with a vicious right when he was off balance it was a perfectly time right hook it caught Wilder when he was not aware of it.

This a sorry loss for Wilder, Zhang just ate up his right hand and after round three Zhang was pressuring Wilder to open up, Wilder's wild punch which Zhang alluded to and his right hook hand did it for Zhang, Zhang quickly thinking of following it up just when Wilder was off balance and defenseless on that right hook.

We will never see a Wilder - Joshua match anymore because of this loss, Joshua is moving on while Wilder is going on retirement, it was not a good farewell fight for Wilder but he did have a great boxing career.


Photo from facebook.com/espnringside

Damn, i never thought that Zhang will knockout Wilder.

Agree, this is the last of Wilder and hanging up his gloves is the thing for him as no more money fights and he is getting older too.

As for Zhang, we might see him fight Joshua in the near future.

Lost my bet as i believed that Wilder will win but unfortunately he doesn't the tools anymore to defeat somebody in the heavyweight division.

Congrats to all who back Zhang.

I didn't think Zhang would win by KO at all. I was thinking Wilder would go out with a bang and fight hard and get a ko for himself and hang up thr gloves.

My prediction was wrong.

Wilder was already mentally checked out before the fight began and was ready for retirement. He was only trying to survive in the fight, while Zhang was walking him down and looking to land just one clean punch that could hurt Wilder. The slow pace of the fight benefited Zhang, who tends to fade the longer the fight goes due to his lack of stamina. Zhang doesn’t have much skill but he might be the hardest hitting active fighter. That is enough for him to beat highly rated fighters and I would not count him out against any of the top heavyweights.

This is already the end of Wilder's career. I just watch the highlights of the fight but I'm surprised with the big weight difference.

As to this video  BRUTAL KO | Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder Highlights (Queensberry vs. Matchroom - Riyadh Season) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6KyBusa5Wo -) from DAZN boxing.

Wilder's weight was 214.6 while Zhang's weight was 282.8, that's 68.2 lbs difference in favor of Zhang. And as we all know that Wilder relied heavily on his power, how can it be possible for him to KO a boxer that is way heavier than him.

Again, social media made Wilder a huge favorite in this fight (due to all his knockout highlights), while here we got Zhang as a winner by KO from votes. And exactly that is what has happened last night. Zhang finished Wilder in first half of the fight, and beating started from second round, when Zhang caught Wilder in the corner. Long story short - never trust what people say in the internet :D In all my related videos from youtube and articles in media mentioned 100 reasons how knockout artist is going to beat old Chinese boxer.

But our sportsbook know which one is the real favorite.

As what our  book (https://www.cbssports.com/boxing/news/deontay-wilder-vs-zhilei-zhang-fight-predictions-start-time-odds-preview-undercard-expert-picks/) tells, here are the betting odds.

Zhilei Zhang -150
Deontay Wilder +125

Wilder maybe the popular boxer but his career is slowly going down the drain, and this sure be his last fight since again, he was knock out and could not absorb the power of Zhang.

Wilder was a great fighter, but apparently his best years are behind him and it's better to leave now so that later in his old age he doesn't suffer from the injuries he can get now.

I really thought it was strange that Wilder agreed to this fight, considering that Wilder's weight is 97.3 kg and Zhang's is 128.3 kg and this 31 kg difference is fantastic. It's a difference in several categories and it's not clear why Wilder has not gained muscle mass, at least to weigh 110-115 kg because the difference of 30 kg at it is just huge and it's clear that the punch of Zhang with his weight is crushing.

I'm sure with that betting odds, there are bettors who took Wilder to win. They didn't learn from his last fight loss. Though Zhang also lost to the same boxer who beat Wilder, Zhang was obviously the stronger fighter, being much heavier than Wilder. And yes, it's time for Wilder to retire since he isn't winning fights anymore. It's safer for him, and I'm sure he has already earned a lot of money in his boxing career.

So now, what's next for Zhang? Wasn't there a rumor that he might retire after this fight?

Have you all seen the big leg difference Wilder's leg is like a pole the weight difference is just too much Zhang imposes his weight on Deontay, this is one of Wilder's lightest weights he averages 220 and his heaviest is at 230, his team may be thinking that Deontay needs to be light so he can move fast and avoid Zhang right straight Deontay did hit Zhang with that right hand but he easily recovered and that made Zhang confidence to grew.

Deontay did not give an interview and left the arena in a somber mood maybe contemplating retirement so we will see that in the coming days but I don't see him continuing anymore the power and the motivation is just not there anymore, he already made a lot of money, he can now enjoy retirement.

Somber Deontay Wilder after KO loss to Zhang leaves arena with team in hand (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqP4Skj8kVo)

His team is wrong to think he can move faster because Wilder is not really fast. During his fight with Fury, he was still slow, and in fact, Fury had better head movement than him, which is why he couldn't hit Fury with his solid knockout punch. When a boxer can absorb his power punches, Wilder will likely lose. That's what happened here. The old Wilder, who was undefeated and had a 100% KO rate, is gone. Maybe he is already facing mental problems, as he still can't move on from his past losses against Fury. That was really the beginning of the downhill of his career.


That is not new to him, actually, because he is too arrogant and thinks he can easily beat his opponent. When his expectations aren't met, he acts like a sore loser.

But as per betting odds, Wilder is the underdog, although I believed what the media was to portray of Wilder is that he is a live underdog, meaning he could be a good bet for gamblers and he might pull an upset. But he was really light in this fight, not sure what he did it or maybe that was part of his strategy.

But Zhang was able to take advantage of being the heavier guy, putting his weight on Wilder and then that power. And if I'm not mistaken, it was the right had that caught Wilder spinning and you can see that he is already out as his legs is not there anymore.

The loss is so ugly, not something Wilder wants to remember for the rest of his life but he can overcome this as he has one of the most illustrious careers, it's time for him to retire even if he wants to,  two successive ugly loses is enough to call it over.
Wilder did not give an interview because he is still not getting over the loss but I'm sure he and his family will decide what his next step in boxing is, Joshua did come back from two successive losses but it's not from knockout and total domination that Wilder suffered so he cannot do an Anthony Joshua scenario.

Zhang is heavier than Wilder on weights and still older than him. Wilder at 38 years old, retiring from boxing because of last night's defeat to Zhang, while Zhang is 41 years old, and he's firing on, not to quit very soon in his boxing career.

Wilder had it wrong, to be depending on his punch knockout without changing the pattern of how to defend himself rather than falling vulnerable to his fellow fighter who can master his fighting tactics not to allow him to give power punch. Nevertheless, much respect for Wilder for having won 43 times, 5 losses, and 1 draw in his boxing career

He's been doing this all his fights he just relies upon his powerbomb which is why he is called the Bronze Bomber checked on the link I provided and you will see that all the fights shown on that video are left jabs followed by a right, he throws a lot of wild shots. he has no head movement and no lateral movement in the ring.

He had success doing this early on in his career so he did not or failed to develop skills to back up his power and when faced with boxers who can duck, and who can counter that's when he realized that he needed additional skill but that was a way too late to develop, so those boxers who beat him, Fury, Parker and now Zhang have the same style they can jab have head movements and can counter, he has no counter to these boxers so he suffered devastating losses.

Deontay Wilder Top 10 Knockouts That Shocked The World (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c735pzPY3EI)

It's his last fight so he will be remembered this way. Not the same person anymore after several losses in his career. The timing of Zhang's right is just perfect, when Wilder turned his back, a Kungfu master just flew right to his face before he could even do the 180.

Zhang is fast for a big guy. I think he could really go fight anyone in the HW, he 40+ though. 2 more years, he will already be washed and someone will beat the hell of him.

And that's good that we won't see this fight as this would've been an embarrassment for Wilder. He used to be good, up until Fury broke his spirit and then he became a guy that can't even get to fight once every 12 months. If you need more than a year to get a fight you're going to go out of shape and time is unforgiving for people in sports.
He's ending a good career with a losing streak and I won't miss him. Wilder always seemed cocky and egoistic and most people didn't like him. His style was also poor, depending on heavy hits in hope for a knockout and he showed this again in this last fight. You could see the skill difference between him and Zhang.

I can call Wilder good but not great. He is a fighter that was taken carefully by his management. And they were very successful in doing it. Wilder earned millions of dollars and held the WBC for many years fighting nobodies while marketing that he hits so hard.

I remember when he became the WBC champion, people are talking if he is willing to fight the lineal, WBA, IBF and WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko for the undisputed championship. Wilder's manager openly said that he is not ready for Klitschko. Luckily, the Ukrainian legend was a humble one and so the media was spreading and marketing Wilder like he is the one.

Let's not forget Wilder needed 30+ wins before fighting for the belt. While AJ only fought 15 times and then went right away for the belt. AJ unified the belts while Wilder never unified even once in his long career.

Being in that PBC silo for so long played against him. Wilder thought he could always win by easy knockout against opponents that were selected for him to look good against. He never really bothered trying to improve his technique and when he finally faced somebody that could stand up to him, and punish him in return, it broke him psychologically. At the end of his career he was never able to recover the confidence and ego that made him “The Bronze Bomber”. It’s a depressing way to end things, but now he must move on to the next chapter in his life and enjoy his wealth and spend time with his family.

I know that Wilder was an underdog, I have paid attention that Zhang was almost 70 pound heavier, I have seen odds. But many stupidly compare how hyped Wilder knockout people and Zhang, who is not so popular on YouTube for example. I am just amazed how easy it is to trick people, or how badly or wrong they read information about fighters. Some of my friends bet on Wilder, because they saw his knockout highlights and thought that he would KO Zhang :D

Most of them are wrong, and for us who were able to analyze this head to head match up, we see the huge advantage of Zhang in terms of weight. Team Wilder probably have their own plan on why they keep that weight for Wilder, but the boxer is not really the same guy anymore, he keeps losing and now it might be the end of his career. That odds for Zhang being the slight favorite would already tell something is wrong with the odds, it's a trap and of course those who just made their decision based on the highlights they saw would be easily fool, as the real value is on Zhang.

Wilder did not look good at all and I do agree that he should "retire", I do not agree that he should stop doing money fights, money is something we all need no matter who you are and if he wants to do exhibition matches then he should. I mean even Mike Tyson is having one at age 57, so it is not like Wilder should stop that much, just that he should not fight anyone serious ever again if you ask me.

One thing I did not completely understand was the fact hat he was saying something to the ref when he got that first punch, and because of that he wasn't ready for the punch that knocked him down, I do not know what was it, I mean Zhang didn't do anything against the rules, it was a normal punch, so why did Wilder didn't defended but said something? No idea what went there.

True, I wouldn't call it a set up fight for him by PBC, but at some point he has to go and face the other champion in the division and it just so happen that Fury is really making a great comeback that time and he took Wilder soul as he was never the same again.

And this fight proved that case, he could have train here, but if his mind is no longer in boxing and wanted to retire then this is the perfect opportunity for him.

No need to take any more damage or punish himself in the next fight. It's clear that he lost everything.

For all the years I've watched Deontay Wilder fight in any boxing match, his fight against Zhilei Zhang in Saudi Arabia over the weekend is undoubtedly his weakest defeat I've seen. At 38 years, I don't the Deontay Wilder should retire from boxing because there are older boxers who made history in a more advanced age than the current age of the American. Floyd Mayweather was having fights till he clocked 50 and just like you said, 57 year old Tyson Fury is not tired of the ring.
Whatever he was saying to the ref after the first heavy knock from Zhilei Zhang was unnecessary because he didn't enter the boxing ring for jokes. The match was won squarely by Zhilei Zhang and never cir once did he go against the rules. Deontay Wilder should go back and have a strong training again so he can be fit for any other fight he's gonna fight in the future

The odds on Wilder's victory were understandable, because Deontay is younger and before the fight with Fury was one of the best heavyweights in the world and his series of 42 wins without defeat and only 2 matches were without knockouts was phenomenal, but apparently two defeats from Fury broke Deontay mentally, because after that came defeats from Parker and now from Zhang Zhilai.
If Wilder finds a good psychologist, he has a chance to fight at a high level for a couple more years, because as a boxer he is already a phenomenon. Wilder came to boxing when he was 20 years old and then throughout his career he left no chance to his opponents. Unfortunately his team can't give him back his confidence and 4 defeats in the last 5 matches show that Wilder has serious psychological problems. 

He was just knocking out tomato cans, and that was the sense of false hope that PBC gave him during that time. Stepping up in competition is very different, three knockout lost in the last five fight? It's means that he doesn't have it anymore.

And with that, gonna be difficult for him to make a comeback and most likely he won't in the next couple of years and then he will just retire for good. Zhang could be in the discussion again, but let's see if him and Parker will have a rematch to avenge his lost.

After that fight, I looked at the stats of each boxer including the weight, reach, etc. and I saw that the Chinese boxer has a more than 70 KGS weight advantage, and I don't know if it's just me thinking like this, but I always believe that having that much of a weight advantage will have an advantage to the boxer in terms of his power punches.

I remember Garcia when he's I think 3KGS heavier than the required weight, and I believe it affected his power in his punches. Same with this one with Zhang and Wilder. Heavier fighter = heavier punches. That's what I believe, and for me, that's a factor why Wilder got knocked out in the 5th round but nevertheless, a loss is a loss and this is a bad way to end his career. I don't think that he will end his career with a loss though, and he might request for another fight in the future. This is his 2nd consecutive loss, and I don't think that he will end his career like that so expect another fight from him.

The question is what's next for both fighters. Anyway, his performance in his final 5 fights surely has an effect on his mental health so like what others said here, he must seek help from an expert.

I don't think that the psychologist can help him get over his mental problems and be back at his former self. As what we have seen, when he fought Fury he was really exposed as just one dimensional fighter who just rely on his power. Although in the first fight, he was able to score a knock down, but in the rematch it was different and that really take a lot, as hee had become someone else.

So we don't know what's his future, maybe he is now considering retirement. Now he is old, he can't just rely solely on his power, he needs to learn to be a boxer. But it's too late for him now.

He needs a psychologist to help him accept his defeat and retire happily because he cannot go back to boxing and still expect to win. The way I see it, he has a big problem within himself. Every time he loses, it seems like he doesn't acknowledge the winner and still thinks he is the better fighter. Wilder is delusional; he thinks he is still living in his boxing superstar days and hasn't suffered a defeat yet. We have a lot of heavyweight fighters ready to make names for themselves. Let's give them a chance, and old boxers like Wilder should retire already.

Yes that's true he seems to be a sore loser even in his match against Joseph Parker which Parker dominated he has an excuse:


Deontay Wilder in new excuse over shock loss to Joseph Parker (https://www.dazn.com/en-US/news/boxing/deontay-wilder-in-new-excuse-over-shock-loss-to/17md781vveg3o1n569h9meux52)

And I'm sure he has one coming in the next few days against Zhang, he has too much pride compared to some of the great boxers like Tyson, Lewis, and Evander Holyfield who can admit defeat.

The road to the title shot is unclear for Wilder so many young and skilled boxers are coming up in the heavyweight, and even if he fights Joshua next I don't think he stands a chance, Joshua has learned a lot after his first defeat against Ruiz that he armed himself with better skills something that Wilder is to late to learn

At least he came up with something new this time :D Heavy suit, boring flight. Is this guy an athlete or confused boxing with circus? He can only blame his manager for booking tickets and arriving so late. He could have arrived weeks before the fight to pass acclimatization, jet lag, visit some places of entertainment, have a rest. I like how it sounds "boring flight". Like flights were once different. Sit, eat, rest, repeat.

The thing is that Wilder was a great boxer, skillfully used combinations, dominated the fight and almost always his opponents were knocked out, but now we have a different Wilder in front of us. It was immediately obvious that as a fighter he seemed to be broken inside, lost look and even when Zhang hit him for the first time Wilder did not defend himself after the missed punch, but for some reason appealed to the referee, while the referee did not stop the fight and it is logical that Zhang did not stop, but knocked him out with the second punch.
According to the rules a boxer is obliged to defend himself in any situation, especially when the referee does not stop the fight and it reminds the case that happened in the fight Ortiz - Mayweather, when Ortiz stood and waited for the referee to stop the fight after the first blow of Mayweather, but instead Mayweather knocked Ortiz out.

I do not know what he was arguing about either, but Wilder broke the most important rule when you are on the ring, which is to protect yourself at all times, and at least to me this is one of the reasons why he should retire, since it did not seemed as if he was taking the fight seriously enough when he had in front of him a capable fighter, and it showed as just the smallest distraction immediately lead to a KO, which is another reason why I think he should retire, it is one thing to lose a fight on the scorecards, but it is a completely different thing to get KO on a loss, as this will have effects over his health and he must also think about the quality of life he may have once he retires.

He was protecting himself at all times, but the problem is that Zhang uses his boxing IQ and Wilder was just caught by surprised here and we was not able to react as Zhang is known for his power in his left have. But he uses his lead right and Wilder didn't anticipate it.

And what he was thinking about getting up in 9 counts and still arguing with the referee? It's because he think that he can survived from that knock down but it will clearly visible that he doesn't have the legs and for sure if the referee allow him to continue, he might be sleeping in the canvass as Zhang is going in for the kill and will not give him any chance to win in this fight. So the odd makers are correct in predicting who will win and even the over and under round is perfect at 6.5. Unfortunately, I've seen some boxing fans still thinks that Wilder has a chance to pull an upset and bet on him at 2.6x++ odds, but Wilder was really a different fighter now and no longer in the prime version of 2018-2019.

If he retires like this without a psychologist, he will most likely end up with a very serious depression that may make him turn to chronic illicit drug use or develop some other habits because of his refusal to accept his present situation that he is not as fast and strong as he used to be.
I wanted him to win too, but these things happen in boxing and every other sport, and the longer it takes him to accept this, the bigger the mental problems for him.

That's too much fall for him from the very top. He was a champion and now he is just an ordinary boxer getting defeated by a non popular boxer. It's up to him if he really wanted to heal from what he is feeling now because money is not a problem for him, so he can hire a professional to help him move on and live a wonderful life after retirement.

I guess the point is not money, but depression and I think boxers and other athletes can fall for this mental healthy issues after they retire specially if they exited like this. A good example is Ricky Hatton, when Manny Pacquiao knock him out during their fight, he didn't box after that and he admit that he went into depression and did take drugs to help him heal, but it didn't and it just gotten worst. Fortunately, he was able to snap back and recover from it. Hopefully, this will not be the case for the Bronze Browner, but he has to admit that he is no longer in his prime and should retire a happy man for all the money that he had made already from this sports.

Deontay Wilder should just retire IMO. But I can feel that he is a proud man and he might continue fighting. He already undergo several psychological tests and camps since his first loss to Fury in their second fight. And here he is, suffering his fourth defeat of his long career. Money is absolutely not a problem since his trilogy with Fury but I expect him to continue fighting.

Anyways, I am curious who's next for Zhang. Maybe AJ or Dubois? I want Zhang for AJ but maybe the Chinese is too dangerous while giving low reward.

That's what happen to most boxers who are in the brink of retirement or just over the hill and no longer in their primes. Maybe he will still have one last fight, but if he fought a rated HW, he might get knockout again. So it's better for him to just retire for good and not look for any fight in the future.


Dubois is now the interim IBF champion and it was reported that AJ could be his next fight, or maybe wait for the Usyk vs Fury and then him fighting for the regular IBF champion. So let's see how it goes for him, and with his big win against Hrgovic, it really opens a lot of door for him.

It's still unclear and there's no final confirmation it's all a buzz we never know if it will become a Zhang - Dubois but any fighter against these two will attract attention, Dubois's performance is surprising an AJ fight is good for boxing too what happened to Saudi Arabia surprise a lot of boxing aficionados in the heavyweight division, the heavyweight has been so attractive than before because many names are coming up that the boxing fans will enjoy.
I don't expect Wilder to create a buzz about the coming fight and if he announces his retirement the boxing community will welcome it, even though the kind of exit or farewell is not something that he wants, the guy cannot do a Joshua act to revive his career.

It would be a poor decision for Wilder to continue fighting while on a losing streak. He would be better off considering retirement. However, if he insists on pushing himself, then he should take a break for a while, train hard, and aim for a strong comeback win. People might lose interest in watching his fights unless he faces a popular opponent. Perhaps, in the future, we could see a fight between Anthony Joshua and Wilder. This matchup has never happened, but I believe it would be an exciting one, even though many of us might already have an idea of who would win.