Sometimes there are fights where I am so sure of the outcome that I can immediately predict a knockout happening.
One of those fights was Deontay Wilder (43-4, 42 Kos) vs Zhilei Zhang held just last week. We predicted a knockout win for “The Big Bang” and true enough, the Chinese heavyweight made short work for “The Bronze Bomber” in just 5 rounds of action.
STYLES. In boxing, the aphorism “styles make fights” almost always rings true, and in this particular case, Wilder’s brawling tendencies were no match for Zhang’s pin-point precision punching.
It also didn’t help Wilder’s cause that he was outweighed by Zhang (27-2, 22KOs) by more than 60 pounds and so we had an incongruous case of the brawler being smaller than the boxer.
THE FIGHT. The first round was uneventful with a lot of jabbing and pawing as both men tried to find the proper range for their punches.
It was Zhang who exploded first in the second round, as he managed to back up Wilder and land a couple of punches as the Wilder laid on the ropes.
Zhang continued to find a home for his left hand as he exerted pressure on Wilder in the third. At the start of the fourth, Compubox stats were flashed on the screen, which showed Wilder’s paltry output of only 9 punches in the first three rounds. Wilder showed some signs of life in the fourth, but this was still Zhang’s round.
Thing appeared to look up for Wilder in the first minute of the fifth as he landed a couple of strong right hands.
Unfortunately, Zhang answered with a couple of laser-like left straights, which softened up Wilder for the coup de grace.
The unlikely end came with about a minute and a half left when both men unloaded at the same time but Zhang’s lead right hook landed first while Wilder’s right hand merely grazed Zhang on the side of his head.
The impact spun Wilder around, and as he appeared to gesture to the referee, he left himself open for a powerful right hook which knocked him down.
Wilder was hurt and scrambled to get up at the count of eight but as he stumbled groggily when the referee motioned for him to come forward, the ref called for the denouement of the fight.
PROGNOSIS. Wilder’s championship window could be coming to an end. Sure, he will always be a draw because, for what it is worth, he will always have the distinction of having arguably the strongest right hand in heavyweight history juxtaposed with mediocre boxing skills. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got matched up with Anthony Joshua at this point for purely entertainment value.
Zhang, on the other hand, is turning out to be one serious contender in the heavyweight division. In fact, I think he could be a credible challenger to the reigning undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk right now.
LAST ROUND. It’s on a dear friend, Janet Gorne who recently celebrated a milestone. Happy 60th Jan and Cheers!