Round-by-Round: Deontay Wilder vs. Zhilei Zhang | PPV - 1 June 2024

[gilgamesh]

Good win for Zhang. Aside from the stoppage, he seemed to have rocked Wilder several times along the way, and just handled him easy.

Unless Ngannou still wants Wilder, I don't see any other big fights out there for him at this point.

[veriton]

I like Dave Allen’s call on who should fight who next…

Parker vs Aj 2 for the interim (or real) WBO

Zhang vs DDD for the interim (or real) ibf.

I do think that’s the best way to slice it.

That's the worst take going, no one wants to see AJ v Parker 2. AJ has Dubois or Zhang to fill Wembley. If there's any sense it would be AJ v Fury but Fury looks like he wants to avoid it with another beating off usyk

[margaret thatcher]

i agree, aj-parker 2 does nothing for me. already seen it and if anything it would be harder to watch this time. seen nothing from parker to suggest he changes the result either

[DrDuke]

The Bombed Bummer is done. He looked like a novice Cruiser against the Chinese Powah. He must retire now. He has made a career on can crushing and now he's an easy meal for top fighters.

Zhang has some interesting options now. Joshua or Kabayel are fine.

[margaret thatcher]

i might order some chinese this week in order of big bang, man has powah indeed

[tigermoth87]

I like Dave Allen’s call on who should fight who next…

Parker vs Aj 2 for the interim (or real) WBO

Zhang vs DDD for the interim (or real) ibf.

I do think that’s the best way to slice it.

Parker vs AJ is a boring fight. Zhang vs AJ would be the best choice

DDD vs Kabayel is a fight I would like to see.

[KiwiRider]

It's not much in a country this size and for what he is - a top ten heavyweight contender - silly tiktok videos of cats dancing gets hundreds of millions of views here - nobody really cares about Zhang though a fight with Joshua or Fury would sell out a stadium in Beijing.

Who was that olympian with the movie star girlfriend? He had a massive following until he was found wanting a few times

That was zou shiming, Olympic hero who turned pro late with Freddie roach and had arum salivating at conquering the Chinese market. He fought in macsu on Pacquiao undercards but just didn't punch hard enough at elite level and came undone.

The huge zhang is surely more marketable but he's an old man who has only just come good so not sure what traction he has overseas.

Thanks!
That's him. Yes he had a huge Chinese following partly from the Olympics, but also his girlfriend was some soap or movie actress I think.
I thought the pieman might recall him.

[KiwiRider]

I'd like to see Parker vs Hrg. I don't think we saw the best of him today. If they could get his cardio sorted...

[polecateddy]

Is Wilder going to be offered to Okolie now?

[coneye]

I like Dave Allen’s call on who should fight who next…

Parker vs Aj 2 for the interim (or real) WBO

Zhang vs DDD for the interim (or real) ibf.

I do think that’s the best way to slice it.

Parker vs AJ is a boring fight. Zhang vs AJ would be the best choice

DDD vs Kabayel is a fight I would like to see.

Me Too , Kayabel i think is going to suprise a few , if he gets the opportunities

[Ruthless-RKO]

Wilder-Zhang CompuBox Stats

[forcefraser]

I re-watched the DDD v Hrgovic fight this morning.

Full props to Danny boy. He said he was coming for war and that's exactly what he delivered.

He took some serious hammer and just kept going forward. He was heavy with the headbutting, but he still basically beat up the "bogeyman", broke him up and broke his heart.

Hrgovic was done, he wanted no more and it's a massive redemption for Danny.

All the stick he took for quitting against Joyce and Usyk must have lit a fire inside. He was prepared to walk through hell last night.

With this mindset he will be a handful for anyone. Really pleased for the guy.

[Ruthless-RKO]

He won’t get away with being dirty like that with the elites..

[handsofstone]

Even before the KO you knew Wilder was done, he's in a constant state of terror, tentative and pawing with the jab which he's always done tbf but still very reluctant to drop that right hand, Zhang walked him down imposed himself, jabbed the way in and got rid in the 5th, staggered Wilder with a right then flattened him with another, some refs might've let him carry on but he obviously seen something, Wilder looked petrified before getting knocked down so can only imagine the fear in his eyes when he got up

[TheLeprechaun]

He's always been bad. Just got lucky with his right hand bailing him out. A heavily overrated Fury did seem to add some legitimacy to wilder as a fighter but people are finally coming around to the fact that fury is average. Both of them have suffered bad legacy hits now. Even casuals have to reassess how good they are. I don't think wilder would ever beat parker or zhang. I don't think fury would have either. The Tom schwartzs, del boy chisoras and Dillian "moves like a baby giraffe" Whytes are a different story.

[handsofstone]

Eddie got well and truly spanked last night, couldn't have gone any worse, great concept though, I'm all for it, bring other promoters in, Arum, Oscar, PBC, even poor wee Shalom, even countries vs each other, imagine UK vs Mexico

[Deserter]

don't think wilder would ever beat parker or zhang. I don't think fury would have either.

Parker's been pretty open in the past about Fury being 'the man' based on the time they've spent in camp together.
I agree re. Wilder being a one-trick pony, but I think that while I'm no Fury fan-boy, it's harsh to bracket him in the same category. Usyk, Fury and AJ are clearly a level above the rest of the division IMO.

[Boxerbeetle]

Fury would definitely have beaten Parker.

[jameswilson]

Still my favourite Zhilei Zhang moment.

[tigermoth87]

Fury would definitely have beaten Parker.

Agreed

Saying otherwise is silly. Parker is a one dimensional plodder with a good chin. He's improved a lot in the past couple of years. But Fury would win it comfortably.

He and Usykk are head and shoulders above the rest of the division.

[Frostieballs]

I find it baffling how on a forum with so much knowledge, Wilder was given a credible chance last night. He:

- Was never that good. Fringe European level at best.

- Has physically declined.

- Perhaps most importantly, is not mentally switched onto boxing and is more interested in Ayahuasca retreats than staying active.

I felt sorry for him last night. Stuck in there, desperately trying to pull something out of the bag, possibly more for his retinue than himself.

Deep down I think he might actually be a decent guy - with the rhetoric of the past being more about his mental state than him as a person.

[margaret thatcher]

fringe euro? come on now, johan duhaupas or rob helenius were euro level type guys, wilder was better than that for all his limitations

wilder is defo a case of quantity over quality as far as his win column is concerned though. amazingly shallow for a longtime champ who reached the hypes of promotion and money that he did. he was steered very effectively

[Steveh583]

I find it baffling how on a forum with so much knowledge, Wilder was given a credible chance last night. He:

- Was never that good. Fringe European level at best.

- Has physically declined.

- Perhaps most importantly, is not mentally switched onto boxing and is more interested in Ayahuasca retreats than staying active.

I felt sorry for him last night. Stuck in there, desperately trying to pull something out of the bag, possibly more for his retinue than himself.

Deep down I think he might actually be a decent guy - with the rhetoric of the past being more about his mental state than him as a person.

he wasnt fringe european level. thats ridiculous.

[Frostieballs]

fringe euro? come on now, johan duhaupas or rob helenius were euro level type guys, wilder was better than that for all his limitations

wilder is defo a case of quantity over quality as far as his win column is concerned though. amazingly shallow for a longtime champ who reached the hypes of promotion and money that he did. he was steered very effectively

Maybe I’m too old and remember the quality of European champions from back in the day!

Those two names don’t really offer much of a defence of his record though. I don’t think Duhaupas even won the full European title did be?

[margaret thatcher]

he's somewhere between euro level and the level tyson fury fans like mickey think he was