Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang fight this weekend, and I thought it would be interesting to examine their fight, discuss how they both fought Joseph Parker last time out and discuss what they need to do to win this fight.
For Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker was just a better boxer than Wilder, with Parker moving constantly and doing an excellent job of avoiding Wilders right straight, which has won him many fights. Wilder looked like a shell of his former self in the fight, and not even his power looked threatening. Parker used well-timed flurries to get into Wilder’s guard, land punches, and then reset. What Wilder does best is set up his right hand, which has been able to get the job for most of his career, even against better boxers. Even in the Fury fights, there were times he landed the right, which, against everyone else, had ended the fight.
Zhilei Zhang started the fight against Parker well, getting a knockdown in Round 3, but then he cost for the next few rounds, which allowed Parker to take rounds off Zhang as Zhang was only looking for the fight-ending shots. Zhang was even able to get another knockdown in Round 8 but again pulled away, which allowed Parker back into the round, and he was able to control the rest of the fight and win a majority decision against Zhang. What Zhang needs to do after causing a knockdown or hurting his opponent is to keep the pressure up and not allow the other fighter to get back into the round.
To me, this feels like Zhang’s fight to lose. Wilder does not look like he used to, and his power did not cause any issues for Parker in his last fight. I can’t imagine Wilder causing much issue for Zhang. Hopefully, Zhang fights as he can by setting up punches and not waiting after causing damage.
My prediction is Zhang gets it done in Round 6.
