Deontay Wilder is back within the gym training for what’s rumored to be a fight against former WBO interim heavyweight champion Zhilei Zhang on June 1st in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Wilder Needs a Change of Strategy
If this fight happens, Wilder vs. Zhang can be fighting on the undercard of the sunshine heavyweight undisputed match between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Deontay has to let his hands go on this fight and never fight timidly like he did in his loss to Joseph Parker.
It’s not going to work for Deontay if he moves for 3 minutes of each round, pondering he’ll eventually get the knockout or be given a choice. Against Parker, Wilder looked washed, a classic example of a fighter that may not pull the trigger on his punches.
A Path to Joshua
Wilder cannot afford to lose this fight if he wants to maintain alive his hopes for a lucrative clash against Anthony Joshua and a fourth match-up against Tyson Fury.
If Wilder wins, he’ll be within the running for a fight against Joshua, and that may be a big payday for him, especially if it takes place in Saudi Arabia. Wilder has a reported net price estimated at $50 million. That number could grow if he he can get a fight against Joshua.
Shared Setbacks & Age
The previous WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) and Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) share two things in common with them coming off losses to Joseph Parker, and each guys up there in age.
They each made Parker look higher than he actually is by not throwing punches and fighting like they were afraid to gas out. The 38-year-old Wilder fought like he was afraid of Parker and wasted time moving all the fight.
It’s not surprising that ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder turned in a poor performance against Parker because he’d been fighting just yearly since 2020, and that’s just not nearly enough for him to remain sharp, on top of the game.
Wilder has made a variety of money from his three fights against Tyson Fury, and he’s treated his profession like a part-time job as an alternative of doing it full-time like he’d been earlier.
