Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang Confident Ahead of Riyadh Heavyweight Slugfest
Deontay Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) will face Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) in a bout that pits two big punchers against each other on Saturday.
The two headline a card that pits five Matchroom Boxing fighters against five from Queensberry Promotions. Fight fans can catch the action live as a PPV on DAZN. Those in the United Kingdom can also purchase it from TNT Sports, discovery+, Sky, EE TV and Prime Video.
Queensberry vs. Matchroom 5v5 will take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is part of Riyadh Season, a state-funded entertainment and sports festival. The Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority is responsible for its organization.
Wilder and Zhang spoke at a final press conference Thursday in Riyadh to promote the June 1 bout. Below is some of what they had to say.
Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang Fight in Clash of Big Punchers
Wilder
“I’ve been very confident in what I’ve been stating,” said Wilder. “I’m very happy to be here, Riyadh. This is a beautiful card. I’m very excited to be working alongside Eddie [Hearn]. Like he said, we haven’t had the best of relationships in the past, but, the thing about time, time brings about changes and I love being a part of changes. At this moment in time we’re like a warrior drum. We’re one beat, one sound. On this left side [the Matchroom Boxing team] you can feel the energy. We not playing no games. We come to win and we come to knock ’em out. This five on five we going on a five man sweep and I’m looking forward to Saturday night.”
“I feel great about being the captain [of the Matchroom Boxing team]. Eddie could’ve chosen one of these great guys to my left to become captain, but he chose me. It’s a great responsibility. It’s a responsibility I’ve accepted with open arms. I’m looking forward to proving that I still got what it takes. I still got the juice and I’m going to deliver come Saturday night…”
Zhang
“He [Wilder] is a veteran and he’s the ‘Bronze Bomber’ for a reason,” said Zhang through an interpreter. “But I think the ‘Bomber’ is out of ammo now because he’s fighting ‘Big Bang’ right now.”
Read More: The 5 Biggest Deontay Wilder Knockouts
“Like I said the other day, I think he [Eddie Hearn] made a mistake [in choosing Wilder as captain]. I think he chose him as a captain to kiss his ass in order to get a promotional contract.”
Fight Prediction
Both fighters are coming off of losses to Joseph Parker. In his loss, Wilder was to let his hands go and got outboxed as a result. On the other hand, Zhang showed he had the power to knock down Parker (twice in their fight) but did very little else otherwise. If Wilder can get this fight to the later rounds, he may be able to take advantage of Zhang’s struggles towards the end of his fights. Big Fight Weekend is predicting a late knockout for the “Bronze Bomber.”
Final Press Conference
For more from the press conference, click here or the play button below. Video courtesy of Matchroom Boxing.
Currently writing out of Toronto, Canada, Saadeq first became a boxing fan while living in Doha, Qatar. Looking to become more involved in the sport, he began writing about boxing and has had work published in outlets such as Seconds Out and Boxing Social. He looks forward to continue covering boxing on Big Fight Weekend.
