Zhilei Zhang has knocked out Deontay Wilder in a heavyweight clash in Saudi Arabia today.
Southpaw Zhang, from China, stopped American Wilder in the fifth round after catching him with a lead right hook which spun Wilder around and scrambled his senses. Zhang followed up with another right hand to send Wilder crashing to the canvas.
Wilder beat the count but the referee rightly stopped the fight. Wilder said he would seriously consider retirement if he lost this fight and it now must be a probability.
He appeared gun shy throughout – like during his defeat recently to New Zealander Joseph Parker – and only began to throw punches with commitment in the fifth round.
In the end it was probably his downfall as he left himself open for Zhang’s power shots. Parker beat Zhang, also by decision, in his last fight in Riyadh.
It was a cagey fight until Zhang’s decisive moment, but he had by far the better of the fight. He began to put the pressure on in the second round which he won decisively.
Afterwards, Zhang said of his defeat to the Kiwi: “I lost to Parker. It was a fair loss. He was a better man that night. But I do think I learned a lot from that fight, because after I knocked out Joe Joyce [twice in 2023], I was overconfident and I underestimated Parker. So I learned that I had to stay focused. As long as the bell doesn’t ring, stay focused.”
Earlier, Daniel Dubois stopped Fiilp Hrgovic in their heavyweight fight - a far more entertaining affair to become the interim IBF champion.
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