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Report: Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang Finalizing June 1 Boxing Fight in Saudi Arabia

Adam Wells

The June 1 boxing event headlined by Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol squaring off for the undisputed light-heavyweight title has added a marquee match to the undercard.

Per ESPN's Mike Coppinger, Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang are finalizing a deal to fight on the card taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Both Wilder and Zhang will be looking to get back on track when they square off.

Zhang has lost two of his last four bouts after going unbeaten in his first 23 professional fights. Big Bang's most recent fight was a loss to Joseph Parker by majority decision on March 8 that cost him the WBO interim heavyweight title.

Wilder is on a similar slide with three losses in his last four fights, including two to Tyson Fury. His last bout was a unanimous-decision loss to Parker for the WBO Inter-Continental and vacant WBC International heavyweight titles on Dec. 23.

The Bronze Bomber was arguably the best heavyweight in the world as recently as 2019. He was 42-0-1 with 41 knockouts after a victory over Luis Ortiz to retain the WBC heavyweight championship.

Since that time, though, Wilder lost by TKO and knockout in two bouts with Fury. His lone victory was a first-round knockout of Robert Helenius in October 2022.

The winner of the Wilder-Zhang showdown can elevate themselves back into the heavyweight title picture. Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are set to meet for the undisputed crown on May 18.

Two of the most powerful punchers in the world, Wilder and Zhang figures to be a hard-hitting encounter. Zhang has never been knocked out in his professional career (29 fights).

The only time Wilder has been stopped was against Fury. The only victory of his career that wasn't via knockout or TKO was when he defeated Bermane Stiverne by unanimous decision to win the WBC title in 2015.

   

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