Deontay Wilder vs. Zhilei Zhang | PPV - June 1, 2024

[NazNaci1]

Went pretty much how it was supposed.

Wildy (excuse the pun) overrated Wilder flattened. No boxing skills, soft match making, bar Fury, Parker and Zhaing and 10 title defences over complete tomato cans (with a creaking Ortiz pumelling him both times).

So much hype and bluster and finally, that can end.

Same with Hrg. Overrated. I honestly believe this era of Hw's is one of the very worst (Uysk, apart) in decades. They are all gigantic but, f*ck me, only one or two know actually how to box /fight.

[margaret thatcher]

but wilder beat the great luis ortiz, a man loved by nearly every wilder fan for some funny reason. that's pretty f@cking incredible

[margaret thatcher]

speaking of wilder fans , where da f@ck is oogs

[Syntax Error]

Wilder was always a one trick pony and that pony has left the stable.

He can't pull the trigger anymore and without his demonic Right hand, he might as well get a job as a bar tender.

I can't believe they were trying to put on a fight between him and Joshua next.

The time for those two to have fought was between 2017 - 2019, but they were too busy avoiding each other.

Hopefully Wilder is done now, otherwise he is going to end up as a punch bag.

[NazNaci1]

AJ would have KO'd him back then and at anytime. Wilder was never near that level.

His padded, inflated record gave some people a false sense but just look at his list of opponents. Genuinely struggled to understand how people rated / could have rated him so highly.

As Maggie T, said, his best wins were Stiverne, Breazeale and Ortiz. That is shocking. 10 defences against tomato cans is not worth one of anyone elses.

[Thomastearns]

I surprised certain 'experts' see Wilder having the slightest chance. People still seem to be believing the hype about Wilder rather than what Parker showed us.

He is going to get either clean KOd, or take a bad beating off Zhang.
Zhang is an unmovable object. Wilder doesn't have the skills as Parker has to outbox Zhang, and flailing away or telegraphing everything will enable Zhang to time him sooner or later.

Spot on!

As soon as Wilder opened up, he got clipped.

As you say, "experts".

[Ruthless-RKO]

Wilder-Zhang CompuBox Stats

[tigermoth87]

wilder had a good run, made loads of money and was a big player in the diivision for years.

but so much quantity over quality in that win column. 43 wins and stiverne and brezeale still among tthe top 3 guys he beat. think about that

His top five wins is pretty bad

1 - Old, fat, slow Ortiz
2 - Old, fat, slow Ortiz
3 - Old, fat, slow and shit Stiverne
4 and 5 is interchangeable--any of Glass Jaw Helenius, Crap Brezeale, Plodder Duhappes, "The Man Named After a Nipple" Chris Arreola.

[tiny_acres]

wilder had a good run, made loads of money and was a big player in the diivision for years.

but so much quantity over quality in that win column. 43 wins and stiverne and brezeale still among tthe top 3 guys he beat. think about that

His top five wins is pretty bad

1 - Old, fat, slow Ortiz
2 - Old, fat, slow Ortiz
3 - Old, fat, slow and shit Stiverne
4 and 5 is interchangeable--any of Glass Jaw Helenius, Crap Brezeale, Plodder Duhappes, "The Man Named After a Nipple" Chris Arreola.

Very few boxers have done more with the skillset that Wilder had.
He accomplished way more than logic would dictate. I wish him well and hope we
have seen the last of him in the ring as a fighter.

[margaret thatcher]

wilder was managed rreally well

made loads of money, longtime champ, people calling him a future hall of famer, while barely beating anyone of note. del chisora wouldve beat most of the title challengers that he did

[tonyevs]

... I honestly believe this era of Hw's is one of the very worst (Uysk, apart) in decades. They are all gigantic but, f*ck me, only one or two know actually how to box /fight.

I agree.

Until Turki his Excellency came along the division was allowed to stagnate and exist wholly based on hype, promises and basically bullsh1t.
We were told Wilder was the greatest puncher in the heavyweight divisions history based on wins over very poor opposition .. the promise was Wilder would also KO the top guys as easy. But as soon as he stepped it up he lost each and every time.

Then we had Fury. We were told he moved like a middleweight and had the skills of Ali. He`d built his reputation by getting a narrow decision off an ancient Wlad in probably the worse world heavyweight title fights of the last 50 years, and by having life & death beating Wilder.

Both guys had absolutely terrible world title reigns totally lacking in quality wins.

Usyk whilst being much smaller has managed to bash up the top guys - without actually being a big puncher.

Turki his Excellency is doing a great job clearing out those pretenders at the top. Already some have been dismissed and the division is moving again.

[Thomastearns]

... I honestly believe this era of Hw's is one of the very worst (Uysk, apart) in decades. They are all gigantic but, f*ck me, only one or two know actually how to box /fight.

I agree.

Until Turki his Excellency came along the division was allowed to stagnate and exist wholly based on hype, promises and basically bullsh1t.
We were told Wilder was the greatest puncher in the heavyweight divisions history based on wins over very poor opposition .. the promise was Wilder would also KO the top guys as easy. But as soon as he stepped it up he lost each and every time.

Then we had Fury. We were told he moved like a middleweight and had the skills of Ali. He`d built his reputation by getting a narrow decision off an ancient Wlad in probably the worse world heavyweight title fights of the last 50 years, and by having life & death beating Wilder.

Both guys had absolutely terrible world title reigns totally lacking in quality wins.

Usyk whilst being much smaller has managed to bash up the top guys - without actually being a big puncher.

Turki his Excellency is doing a great job clearing out those pretenders at the top. Already some have been dismissed and the division is moving again.

Yes, after almost 10 years of post 2015 Klitschko v Fury confusion/hype we've arrived back at the accepted starting point of the sport - namely that the more skilled boxer usually wins.

Joshua v Ngannou, Usyk v Fury and now Zhang v Wilder have all made that patently clear.

Who knows how long this frustrating confusion would have continued without the timely intervention of one man?

Turki Alalshikh once said he planned to fix 'broken' boxing - and now he has.

[Tony1244]

Time to call it a day Deontay. He had a good career considering his lack of fluidity.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

For a guy who started at 20, wilder had a hell of a run

Bronze medal winner
Hw title holder
Great right hand
Big heart

[tonyevs]

There is no disputing Wilder has done brilliantly with the limited skills he had. He has made millions for himself and his family which is nice to know.

However, his bubble got burst and it's very clear he was a manufactured fighter. In today's Instagram/TickTok/YouTube hype over substance, and boxings notorious problem of the best avoiding the best, it's no surprise he was able to get away for so long .. he had the perfect dance partner in Tyson Fury who was only a bit better, but they convinced 'the experts' they were great based on their competitive and entertaining fights. We were just expected to ignore the crude/terrible skills they showed - and assume the problem was our lying eyes.

Best of luck to Wilder and I wish him a happy & healthy retirement.

[joshj909]

The biggest key to Wilder's "success" was Sulaiman

[gilgamesh]

The biggest key to Wilder's "success" was Sulaiman

I'd say whoever his manager was is the key to his success. They kept finding him the weakest possible competition to defend his title against, and paying Sulaiman whatever he needed to be paid to be cool with it.

[Ruthless-RKO]

The biggest key to Wilder's "success" was Sulaiman

I'd say whoever his manager was is the key to his success. They kept finding him the weakest possible competition to defend his title against, and paying Sulaiman whatever he needed to be paid to be cool with it.

Shelly Finkell

[dempseyfire]

wilder was managed rreally well

made loads of money, longtime champ, people calling him a future hall of famer, while barely beating anyone of note. del chisora wouldve beat most of the title challengers that he did

The way PBC got him a paper belt and showcased his "title defenses" on network TV in the late teens was very smart. True boxing heads knew he had few skills and wasn't fighting top 10 fighters but most others just joined the hype train.

One thing annoying about the commentary last night was they kept saying the "Wilder of old" was some volume punching monster. His punch output in most fights was always crap . . .his fights with Ortiz outside of when someone got knocked down/hurt looked just like the rounds with Zhang; incredibly boring.

[gilgamesh]

wilder was managed rreally well

made loads of money, longtime champ, people calling him a future hall of famer, while barely beating anyone of note. del chisora wouldve beat most of the title challengers that he did

The way PBC got him a paper belt and showcased his "title defenses" on network TV in the late teens was very smart. True boxing heads knew he had few skills and wasn't fighting top 10 fighters but most others just joined the hype train.

One thing annoying about the commentary last night was they kept saying the "Wilder of old" was some volume punching monster. His punch output in most fights was always crap . . .his fights with Ortiz outside of when someone got knocked down/hurt looked just like the rounds with Zhang; incredibly boring.

He was always just a right hand bomber. I remember him losing most rounds against Artur Szpilka for f*cks sake prior to knocking him out.

There are high level amateurs, and Novice professionals with more refined Boxing skills than Wilder.

That being said, he will always have to be considered one of the best pure punchers of all time. Because based purely on his incredible power in his right hand he achieved a hell of a lot, and made quite an impact on his era, all while having virtually no Boxing skill to speak of at the World class level.

[margaret thatcher]

ya totally agree on the output thing

as i just posted in the british section, wilder even when undefeated had multiple fights averaging about 20 punches a round. he was always a low output tentative pawer. people just remember the big finishes when he goes wild and then conflate that with him being a more aggresive guy

[Perseus]

Once you acknowledged that the Wilder right hand was real........some people took longer to accept it........his fights were never boring because you were constantly looking for that right hand.

Those days are over now but there was a time when the right hand made him worth watching.

imo Wilder is an over achiever.
A 215-225lb heavyweight with his boxing skills(lol) aren't supposed to get past an Ortiz, Stiverne, Washington or Duhuapas. He shouldn't have been a threat to Fury either but he was.
At heavyweight a one trick pony who is usually outweighed in the ring isn't supposed to get as far as he did.

[margaret thatcher]

stiverne, washington, and duhaupas lol

[gilgamesh]

Once you acknowledged that the Wilder right hand was real........some people took longer to accept it........his fights were never boring because you were constantly looking for that right hand.

Those days are over now but there was a time when the right hand made him worth watching.

imo Wilder is an over achiever.
A 215-225lb heavyweight with his boxing skills(lol) aren't supposed to get past an Ortiz, Stiverne, Washington or Duhuapas. He shouldn't have been a threat to Fury either but he was.
At heavyweight a one trick pony who is usually outweighed in the ring isn't supposed to get as far as he did.

The closest thing to compare him to is Ingemar Johansson and Earnie Shavers, and he went farther than both of those guys.

[Syntax Error]

wilder had a good run, made loads of money and was a big player in the diivision for years.

but so much quantity over quality in that win column. 43 wins and stiverne and brezeale still among tthe top 3 guys he beat. think about that

His top five wins is pretty bad

1 - Old, fat, slow Ortiz
2 - Old, fat, slow Ortiz
3 - Old, fat, slow and shit Stiverne
4 and 5 is interchangeable--any of Glass Jaw Helenius, Crap Brezeale, Plodder Duhappes, "The Man Named After a Nipple" Chris Arreola.

Also consider that Fury 1 was a cherry pick too.

When he signed to fight Fury, he thought Tyson wasn't ready to face him and it's true, Tyson Fury wasn't actually ready, but he still had enough to avoid defeat against Wilder and was probably unlucky not to get the win.

Wilder is surely done now.

He managed to achieve a decent amount considering his limited skillset and I don't think it's right or fair for him to see out his days as a punchbag, which is surely what awaits him should he continue to fight.