Zhilei Zhang scored the biggest win of his career Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and might have effectively ended former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s run in the process.
China’s Zhang, 41, connected with a perfectly timed counter right hook that spun Wilder in a daze. With Wilder defenseless, Zhang (27-2-1, 21 KOs) sprinted in and smashed him with another right hand that planted the American hard on the canvas.
Wilder, 38, somehow was on his feet before the count of 10, but his legs were unsteady and the referee wisely waved off the fight at 1:51 of Round 5.
I give him a lot of respect. He’s a heavy puncher. … I successfully took his right hand away.”
Wilder has lost four of his past five fights, including a decision defeat to Joseph Parker in December along with a pair of losses to Tyson Fury in their heavyweight championship trilogy.
Wilder said before the fight that if he lost, “this could be the final goodbye, the farewell of Deontay Wilder.”
Zhang, too, was reeling from a decision defeat to Parker, the former heavyweight titleholder. Zhang floored Parker twice in March but still lost on the cards.
Now, he is back on what he called the “road to the champion.” That’s currently Oleksandr Usyk, who defeated Fury last month in Riyadh for the undisputed championship.
