Two behemoths of the boxing heavyweight division will collide on June 1st. Coming off losses to a common opponent, the former champions will be looking to make one last run at the title in their relatively advanced age.
Will Deontay Wilder rebound from his loss to Joseph Parker, or will it be Zhilei Zhang who rebounds from the loss? The victor of the highly anticipated matchup at the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia will be seeking to avenge the loss to Parker.
Deontay Wilder vs Zhilei Zhang allegedly being finalised for Riyadh
A heavyweight bout between Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang is allegedly finalized for June 1 as per ESPN Boxing Insider, Mike Coppinger. The main event of the PPV is an undisputed light heavyweight title fight between the WBA champion Dmitry Bivol and the unified champion Artur Beterbiev.
Wilder will be coming off a loss to Joseph Parker in the co-main event of Day of Reckoning. Moreover, he has lost three of his past four fights, two against Tyson Fury. Similarly, Zhang will be coming off a loss to Parker in the co-main event of Knockout Chaos.
Parker pressured Wilder, who was unable to land his renowned power punch, and won via unanimous decision. Zhang was able to drop Parker multiple times, but Parker did enough to win by majority decision, much to the chagrin of Zhang.
Both Zhang and Wilder are up there in age, and the fight is pivotal as it is the last chance for either to attain glory in heavyweight boxing. Nonetheless, with the power that both possess, it is almost certain that the fight will end in a brutal knockout.
Boxing enthusiasts claim Zhilei Zhang to ‘retire’ Deontay Wilder
Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder entered the professional boxing circuit as credentialled amateur boxers. Zhang was the super heavyweight silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics whilst Wilder was the heavyweight Bronze medalist at the same event.
Zhang will send him into retirement #BigBang
— Liam Freeman (@LiquidatorPod) March 22, 2024
Zhang is 40 to Wilder’s 38, but boxing enthusiasts think that the fight will mark the end of Wilder’s career as an elite heavyweight boxer. Moreover, many boxing fans believe that a certain loss to the ‘Big Bang’ will send the ‘Bronze Bomber’ to retirement.
Dont know what anyone expects from Wilder. He's done, yall seen him being gunshy vs Parker. The Wilder we knew is gone. Zhang gon take it
— AWUREDO (@AOUREDOO) March 22, 2024
“Zhang will send him into retirement #BigBang,” commented one fan. “Zhang will eat him up. I think Wilder is overrated,” another fan seconded the comment. “If wilder lose this one he needs to retire,” commented yet another fan.
Terrible match up for wilder, zhang is the biggest puncher out there and has an iron chin, won't be hard for deontay to land on him tho but zhang is really tough and could put Wilders lights out
— RiniX_64 (@RiniX_64) March 22, 2024
Boxing enthusiasts consider the fight a must-win for Wilder. On the other hand, they don’t think it is the same way for Zhang. Nonetheless, fight fans can anticipate an action-packed fight when the two lock horns inside the ring.
Big Zang going to bang that porcelain chin of wilders into retirement
— Richard B (@Blamester82) March 22, 2024
Who do you think will win the potential matchup between Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang? Leave your prediction below!
