BoxRec

Deontay Wilder vs Zhilei Zhang leads Matchroom vs Queensberry 5 Vs 5 on June 1st

Daniel Dubois vs Filip Hrgovic, Raymond Ford vs Nick Ball, Hamzah Sheeraz vs Austin Williams, Craig Richards vs Willy Hutchinson round out the undercard

After officially announcing Dmitry Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev for the undipsuted light heavyweight title on June 1st and Riyadh, allegedly and Eddie Hearn took the stage with 10 masked pugilists to steadily reveal the lineup for their long-brewing 5 Vs 5 showdown.



First came Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KO), who battles Matchroom’s Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KO) in the first of two heavyweight showdowns. There’s a real chance this could turn into a title bout before fight night; Hrgovic is the IBF mandatory challenger and Dubois is no. 4, so if the winner of Usyk vs Fury vacates to honor the rematch clause, there’s no reason not to sanction it.

Down at 126, Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KO) makes the first defense of his newly acquired WBA title against Queensberry’s Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KO), whom Eddie Hearn inadvertently named early while hyping up Dubois vs Hrgovic. Ford, fresh off of shocking Otabek Kholmatov in the final seconds, was previously expected to vacate the belt and move to 130, but will instead give Ball another shot at the big time after falling agonizingly short against Rey Vargas.

At 160, Hamzah Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KO) carries the Queensberry flag against Austin “Ammo” Williams (16-0, 11 KO). Both enjoy top-five spots in multiple sanctioning bodies’ rankings and should make for a quality scrap.

15 pounds north, Matchroom calls upon Craig Richards (18-3-1, 11 KO) to fight Willy Hutchinson (17-1, 13 KO), breaking Scott’s three-for-three prediction streak. Richards is 2-2 in his last four, but gave solid accounts of himself against both Bivol and Joshua Buatsi, while the 25-year-old Hutchinson is 4-0 with four finishes since falling to Lennox Clarke in 2021.

As for the wildcard heavyweight pick, Zhang Zhilei (26-2-1, 21 KO) reps Queensberry against Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KO). Even with their recent defeats, I don’t need to sell you on this one; it might as well be a sanctioned pistol duel.

Rather than just do best of five, each fight gives the winning promoter two points for a finish or one point for a decision, with the captains (Sheeraz and Wilder) receiving double points.

Is wilder signing with matchroom? This was supposed to be a matchroom vs queensberry card

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑22 Mar 2024, 15:22 Is wilder signing with matchroom? This was supposed to be a matchroom vs queensberry card

And the (winnable) rematch with Parker, and his WBO interum status back? What's happening with that?

KiwiRider wrote: ↑22 Mar 2024, 15:27

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑22 Mar 2024, 15:22 Is wilder signing with matchroom? This was supposed to be a matchroom vs queensberry card

And the (winnable) rematch with Parker, and his WBO interum status back? What's happening with that?

I too am questioning this news. Fighting Wilder does nothing for Zhang.. Parker is contracted to the rematch already which puts Zhang back in line for a shot at the WBO title. He has a decent chance at beating Parker

Zhang by stoppage is my first thought.

Gotta be close to a true 50-50. Hard to imagine either can take the others power. Also hard to imagine either have the defence to avoid the others bombs.

Think zhangs chin is probably a better chance of taking a couple and holding up. But wilder will have the confidence to be able to throw and not gas in a round…

I have my doubts on this happening… I mean if the Saudis throw stupid cash sure… but Zhang can rematch for an interim belt instead… and wilder clearly should be aiming for nganu a much easier fight that would probably draw more viewers.

Wilder could be shot.
It's hard to imagine Deontay going full on with big punchers I would have thought.

Zhang can be lazy, he get's too comfortable and he get's use to it.
He can punch but needs to maintain a steadier pace.

I like the match up

Now that Wilder's 0 gone, he is in good fights. I think Zhang stops Wilder.

This is a great fight

This one is very interesting.

I figure Zhang will have the edge for the first half of bout. He's got better combinations. Better technique. Better skill.

Wilder's advantages I'd say are power, and probably stamina.

So I suspect it'll be Zhang beating up Wilder, and if Wilder is able to take it for the first half, and make it to the 2nd half then Wilder is going to win.

The longer it goes, the better chance Wilder has. Zhang takes rounds off and is most dangerous in the first half of the fight. He's also hittable, as is Wilder. I'd also expect Zhang to be ahead on the cards when this fight ends. Wilder has shown great heart in getting up off the canvas a few times while Zhang fought through supposed kidney failure so it might take a few knock-downs to get either out of there.

I hope Wilder will go back to his roots and come out firing from the first bell.
I think he can stop Zhang, but it won't be with just one right hand, a lot like Ortiz.
This is way more interesting than a rematch with Parker. Maybe the winner can rematch him?

f@ck rematches, there are so many fresh fights out there

Wilder had all kinds of problems with ortiz left and furys right. I think zhang ends his career

But zhang is old and tires easily. Maybe wilder gets him first

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑24 Mar 2024, 03:41 f@ck rematches, there are so many fresh fights out there

An with how long these Heavies take to fight, a rematch clause can tie them up for a bloody year!
Wilder Zhang is way more interesting than either fighting Parker.

I must admit, I didn't like it when Saudi Arabia started to monopolise all the big fights and fighters, with the exception of Alvarez, but on reflection I am so glad it has happened, because suddenly these top guys want to fight each other.

Nothing like a humongous cheque to concentrate the mind and up the activity rate of these top guys.

Syntax Error wrote: ↑24 Mar 2024, 16:43 I must admit, I didn't like it when Saudi Arabia started to monopolise all the big fights and fighters, with the exception of Alvarez, but on reflection I am so glad it has happened, because suddenly these top guys want to fight each other.

Nothing like a humongous cheque to concentrate the mind and up the activity rate of these top guys.

I fear it will be the early dazn crash though.

Dazn came in splashing cash, then everyone was rich and expected millions… then when real offers came though they seemed like lowballs….

If the Saudis loses Intrest who’s going to keep fighting for 1/4 the price when they are already rich…

Also Saudis can’t carry mid tier and small hall.

Its been a fun year, and is going to be a fun year ahead… but you can’t drink all the wine and skip the headache…

Good matchup. Victims of the resurrected Parker.

Either can score a KO and probably Zhang will do it. Wilder is much shabbier.

Could be a bad one for Wilder. Big hitting lefty will stop him in 3

Which Wilder will show up ... for 12 rounds ?

Zhang early, or Wilder late. If Zhang doesn't get to him early, then Wilder seems to have better stamina, and can fight at a higher pace.

Could be over very quickly.

If this is really happening ..

Then I see no other outcome than Wilder being humiliated pretty badly on his way to an early KO.

Good match if it happens.