A loss meant retirement for Deontay Wilder, and Zhilei Zhang was ready to send ‘The Bronze Bomber’ home for good. Both boxers coming off losses against Joseph Parker had their legacies in the sport on the line. While Parker slightly favored Wilder because of his energy in the lead-up to the fight, Zhang had public favor on his side.

After a five-round battle, the Chinaman emerged victorious via a knockout, getting a step closer to a fight against Anthony Joshua. The duo had met before during the 2012 Olympics in London, where ‘AJ’ won on points. However, Zhang’s win over Wilder seems to have allowed him to exact vengeance. 

Zhilei Zhang is back in the heavyweight contention!

Zhang first encountered defeat against Filip Hrgovic in 2022, who also collected his first career defeat at the hands of Daniel Dubois at the same event tonight. Even though he went on to beat Joe Joye twice in 2023, his encounter with Joseph Parker ended with disappointment. Zhang’s latest wins put him back in contention for being among the elites. 

However, before that can happen, his sheer dominance over the hardest puncher in boxing seems to have garnered him a lot of admiration from the boxing world. So, once the fight ended with a knockout, personalities like Claressa Shields hopped on social media to express their thoughts on Zhang’s amazing win. 

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Claressa Shields amazed by Deontay Wilder spinning in the ring!

The clash had a lot of attention, to begin with—Zhang’s win was just the cherry on top. Reacting to the fight, Shields brought up how Wilder spun around after Zhang landed the initial punch that was followed by the knockout shot, questioning how the referee could have let it happen. 

Meanwhile, Ring Magazine speculated Wilder should hang up his gloves because he clearly doesn’t have the power he once wielded. In fact, Wilder himself had asserted he would retire if he lost the fight.

Boxing promoter Lou DiBella thought the fight was an absolute snooze fest. Perhaps a lack of action from Wilder could have been the culprit behind DiBella’s outlook. 

Boxer Viddal Riley also chimed in, explaining Wilder’s loss in such a fashion was sad! Actually, Wilder seemed like he was done with the sport after his loss against Parker, and returning might just have been a mistake. 

Sports commentator and content creator Wade Plemons celebrated Zhang’s not-so-surprising win. Zhang was even leading the chart in the odds for the fight, so it’s safe to say that most people saw this outcome coming. 

With Zhilei Zhang winning the fight, the Matchroom-Queensberry 5 vs. 5 event came to an end. The Chinaman now has several options in front of him, including his former opponent Anthony Joshua or even Daniel Dubois—only time will tell what he does next. Who would you want to see him against?