Promoter Eddie Hearn says he placed ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Deontay Wilder within the captain seat give him a psychological edge to offer him responsibility as a frontrunner for the Matchroom team for Saturday’s ‘5 vs. 5’ event in Saudi Arabia.
The hope is that the pressure that Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) has on him will amp him as much as defeat Zhilei Zhang by knockout and produce in invaluable points to offer Matchroom the victory of their competition with Queensberry on the Kingdom Arena.
Hearn wants Wilder to perform at his best for this fight since it’s a crucial competition. He’s also enthusiastic about potentially scheduling a fight between him and Anthony Joshua if he knocks out Zhang.
It’s not only as much as Wilder’s performance. Joshua desires to fight for the IBF world title, and that belt is obtainable before the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk rematch; AJ will likely fight the Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois winner of their clash this Saturday.
A Wilder Resurgence and Joshua Mega-Fight
“It’s a bit bit psychological for his profit, but he’s the primary man. He’s a serious dude, and I feel he’s a fantastic skipper,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Boxing News on why he selected Deontay Wilder as his team captain for the Matchroom squad for the ‘5 vs. 5’ card.
If Wilder responds by being made the team captain, he could turn in a vintage performance by knocking out Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs). Deontay has an opponent who might be hittable.
So there shouldn’t be any issues for him find the mark, as there have been against the highly defensive Joseph Parker and Tyson Fury, who used quite a lot of head movement and feints to make Wilder miss.
“We all know if Wilder looks spectacular, the world goes to be calling for that fight. It’s a fight that definitely appeals to Anthony Joshua. It’ll be right down to His Excellency. I do know if Wilder looks sensational, the considered Wilder-Joshua at Wembley is pretty big,” said Hearn.
If Wilder looks great on Saturday, the boxing public would like to see Joshua fight him fairly than the Hrgovic-Dubois winner. Those two aren’t well-known, and there’s not going to be quite a lot of interest from U.S fans in seeing Joshua fight the winner.
“The main target is to win a world heavyweight championship, but Saturday will tell us all the things we’d like to know,” said Hearn.
