Wilder Vs. Zhang: Eddie Hearn’s Confidence in the “Bronze Bomber’s” Return to Glory

Promoter Eddie Hearn is banking on Matchroom team captain Deontay Wilder’s knockout victory over Zhilei Zhang at heavyweight to help give Matchroom Boxing victory in the 5V5 tournament against Queensberry this Saturday night in Riyadh, -Saudi Arabia.

Hearn’s Belief in Wilder’s Resurgence

Hearn chose former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) because he could not regain the form he enjoyed during his five-year run as world champion from 2015 to 2020. The Matchroom promoter is trying to rescue Wilder, who some feel is over the mountain and beyond repair.

Unfortunately, Wilder’s career has declined since 2020. He has lost three of his last four fights and is looking very poor.

He can still box if he stays clean, as we saw in his first round win over Robert Helenius in October 2022. However, he looked sane in his last fight, a 12-round decision loss to Joseph Parker last December.

Zhang’s Original Threat and Hearn’s Prediction

Southpaw Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) will be a threat to Wilder early on, looking to connect with one of his left hands to take advantage of his weak chin. Tyson Fury knocked Wilder out twice with slaps, showing that the Alabama native’s mandible is no longer up to par.

“Someone is taken out of that fight. It doesn’t go far. I’m surprised by Zhang,” said Carl Frampton in Boxing News, picking Zhilei Zhang to beat Deontay Wilder on Saturday.

“‘Big Bang’ Zhang is doing business. He has to do business, both of them. They are at a crossroads. That’s the beauty of this fight,” said promoter Frank Warren. “Both know they have to win. Both have to bring their best. “

A loss to any of these fighters could be their fate. Zhang, 40, and Wilder, 38, are too old to bounce back from back-to-back losses. Wilder’s situation is very bad because it will be the fourth time he has lost in his last five fights.

That’s a lot of losses in a short period of time for him to come back, and what’s worse is that a non-boxer like Fury knocked him down twice. Granted, Fury used rabbit punches to get a knockout in their second fight, but he connected with a slap shot in their trilogy match and stopped him.

“They have to bring their A game, nothing less, because whoever loses, they’re disappointed,” said Warren.

“The bottom line is that maybe we come from behind to win the tournament because that’s what my captain chooses,” said promoter Eddie Hearn about Deontay Wilder as the captain of his Matchroom Boxing team. “That’s my double bubble.”

Hearn should be at least a little skeptical about whether Wilder can do the job because if he believed 100%, he would be talking about wanting to sign him to his Matchroom stable and compare him to Anthony Joshua. He doesn’t say anything about signing Wilder or comparing him to AJ. That suggests he has doubts about whether he will defeat Zhang.

“If he can get him out, we get four points and that can win everything. It’s a big fight, and it could go either way. “I support Deontay Wilder to win that fight by knockout,” said Hearn.

“Both boys have the ability to outdo each other. Zhang is dangerous in the first half of the fight,” said Joseph Parker about the Wilder vs. “I feel that since that fight, Zhang has now been working on his conditioning, and Wilder, it will be important for him to use his footwork and put Zhang wherever he wants to shoot.”

Wilder has talked about wanting to fight Zhang hard, but once he gets in the ring with him and feels his power, he will fight nervously like he did in his loss to Parker, and hope he catches him with a gun. a certain point.

“I will have to go with Wilder. I feel like Wilder after that loss, both guys have stepped up their training, focus and motivation. “I feel like Zhang, as his career diminishes as the fight goes on, he will always be under scrutiny,” said Parker.