Former WBO transitional heavyweight champion Zhang Zhilei "The Big Bang" will make his debut in Saudi Arabia on June 1 (June 2, Beijing time) against the famous "Bronze Bomber" Deontay Wilder, part of a "5-on-5" event run by two famous promoters, Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren. Zhang Zhilei is now part of Warren, and his former boss was Hearn.
Hearn recently teamed up with Wilder, and he got carried away by the fact that he canonized Wild as the "captain" of the 5-on-5 tournament and threatened to knock out Zhang Zhilei. Despite Hearn's ambition, it is believed that Wilder will not be easy to win, because his competitive and mental state has been greatly reduced compared to before, and when he faced Joseph Parker last December, Wilder barely landed any decent punches in the whole court, how did he submit Zhang Zhilei? and Wilder himself was well aware of his situation, saying that if he lost the match, his boxing career would be over.
This week, when Zhang Zhilei was interviewed by the column, he made a domineering statement and bluntly said that he would become the last "dance partner" of Wild.
"I'll be his last dance partner, and I don't know if Wild will see the end of the dance, but I'll make sure he likes it," Zhang said. Wilder and I are both heavy gunners, and when the Chinese forces are against the Alabama forces, we will fight each other fiercely, please don't blink, one punch will end everything. ”
Like Wilder, Zhang Zhilei also lost to Parker, but compared to Wilder, Zhang Zhilei knocked out his opponent twice in the game, and finally lost by a narrow score. Zhang Zhilei knew the power of Wild's heavy punches, but he bluntly said that he was ready accordingly.
"I don't think I lost the last game [Parker], but after three months, I came back and came back here (Saudi Arabia)," Zhang said. Wilder is here to knock me out, I'm going to do the same to him, and we're going to meet in the ring. Now, I'm representing Queensberry Promotions (Warren), and Race Room Promotions (Hearn) is history, and I'm here to beat them. ”
For the battle of Zhang Zhilei VS Wilder, some people are optimistic about Wilder, some people are optimistic about Zhang Zhilei, but more people feel that this is a 50-50 battle. Also this week, former WBA super middleweight champion George Groves predicted Zhang Zhilei and Wilder fights.
Wilder is now 38 years old and Zhang Zhilei is 40 years old, and a loss would mean the end of his career, so it's no wonder that the tournament was named "Last Chance" by the organizers.
Compared with Zhang Zhilei, Wild is more prominent in terms of experience and popularity, he previously held the WBC boxing title for 5 years, during which he successfully defended his title 10 times in a row, but unfortunately in Groves' view, this is already a thing of the past, he said that the Wild era is long over, because Wild has lost his determination to persevere and never-say-die attitude.
Groves said: "I chose Zhang Zhilei to beat Wilder. Actually, Zhang Zhilei had a good confrontation with Parker, but he lost momentum in the crucial period, maybe he was waiting for his moment and trying to hit his opponent's jaw later, but I think Zhang Zhilei won. ”
Regarding Wilder, Groves pointed out that with the completion of the three duels with Tyson Fury, in addition to the physical and psychological impact on Wilder, it is that he has made a lot of money, and with this money, Wilder's attitude has changed dramatically, and this change cannot help him win the battle with Zhang Zhilei.
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"The problem with Wild is that once you get a lot of money, you see the milder side of life, and anyway, when you make a lot of money, the fight goes away from you," Groves said. In the gym, Wilder always looks good, but he will let you down, so when it comes to fight night, Wilder sometimes doesn't perform and looks like a newbie. ”