Deontay Wilder was knocked out by Zhilei Zhang over the weekend in what could prove to be the last time we see him in the ring.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn had his first opportunity to promote former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and needless to say, things didn’t quite work out the way either of them hoped. Wilder would be knocked out by Zhilei Zhang in the fifth round of their fight in Saudi Arabia on an evening where Hearn got swept by Queensbury fighters. Check out some of what he had to say below.
Hearn on getting swept by Queensbury
“5-nil, we lost every one. It was a great night. I think the fights were so well matched we always knew you could lose them. I felt we were a little bit unlucky to lose the Ray Ford fight, I felt that was a fight that could’ve gone either way but I thought we nicked it.
“And from there it got a bit worse. You know, Ammo did great, rocked Hamzah, but Hamzah came through in a great performance. And then I really though Hrgovic would beat Dubois. But I thought Daniel was great, took a lot of punishment early, got buzzed, but kept coming and deserves a lot of credit for that win. And then there was Deontay that just wasn’t at the races.
“So it kind of went from bad to worse but we love the night, we love the concept. We’ll be running it back real soon and we go again.”
On what he thought of Wilder’s performance
“Just not the same, in all honesty. Just feel that his belief is not there anymore and you’ve got to ask yourself why. Is it just time? Is it something else that’s not right? But he’s not letting his hands go and that’s what made him one of the most feared fighters in the world. So, yeah, it’s all down to sort of personal opinion of what’s next for him, that’s up to him.
“He’s not the fighter that he was at the moment but people come back but, you know, it’s deep in the road…he thought it shouldn’t have been stopped but I don’t think there’s many that feel that way but obviously he was frustrated because I’m sure he’s given everything in camp, he’s tried to talk to himself and convince himself that he’s still that fighter and he hasn’t been able to perform. So I would think he’s incredibly frustrated but we wish him all the best.”
On what he thinks Wilder’s legacy will be if he retires right now
“Well he was world champion, he had a lot of defenses, he lit up the heavyweight division. Didn’t have many wins against elite guys but had some good wins and was exciting, and had some great fights with Tyson Fury so he’ll be remembered.”
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