The more the drum is banged for a fight between heavyweight giants Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang – a gigantic puncher and a man-mountain – the better. This fight, which has captured the imagination of plenty of fans, could even be argued as one of the top two or three most exciting heavyweight match ups that could be made right now.
With Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk busy, set, we are led to believe, to collide in either December or January (the date of the unification showdown dependant on Fury coming through his October 28 fight with Francis Ngannou unscathed), and with Anthony Joshua apparently undecided about what he will do next (talk of a fight between AJ and Wilder has now all-but stopped), a Wilder Vs. Zhang fight makes sense.
And what a slice of genuine heavyweight excitement, of buzz, of anticipation, fans would get with this one. Promoter Frank Warren, who works with Zhang, says he thinks this fight would a “great fight,” one he says he “wouldn’t have a problem making.” Malik Scott, speaking on behalf of Wilder, said this week that he “wouldn’t mind seeing Deontay KO Zhang.”
But would Wilder KO the big southpaw from China? Don’t YOU want to find out? Come on, Warren and co – make this fight!
“That’s a great fight, I wouldn’t have a problem making that fight. Let’s see what happens,” Warren said to Boxing Social. “Well see, we’ll see. Zhilei’s with us (Queensbury) and he’s made a massive impact and at the moment is mandatory for the WBO version of the title so he’ll be wanting to get his mandatory and get his shot at the title. In the meantime, he will fight, and whether that’s Deontay or not we’ll see.”
Zhang would be taking a big risk by fighting Wilder, agreed. But if the 40 year old who doesn’t have time on his side does opt to wait around for his shot at the WBO belt, how long will he have to wait until the smoke clears with regards to the Fury-Usyk rivalry, with there being a rematch clause in place in the first fight? And Zhang, 26-1-1(21) isn’t interested in easy or meaningless stay-busy fights. Add it all up, and a fight with Wilder, though risky, would be a great move for Zhang. The fans in China would love it, and what a show it would be, with Zhang’s fights regularly pulling in tens of millions of TV viewers, if not a couple or three hundred thousand.
As for Wilder, 43-2-1(42), he has no next fight set, with fights with Joshua and Andy Ruiz failing to materialise. Why not Zhang next for the former WBC heavyweight champ? It does seem as though both sides want this fight, or are at least interested in it. And we fans would for sure take this one. How could a bombs away shoot-out between Wilder and Zhang be anything but thrilling!
