Former trainer Teddy Atlas says Deontay Wilder’s technique betrayed him last Saturday night, leaving him open to a big shot from Zhilei Zhang that led to him being knocked out in the fifth round in their heavyweight crossroads fight in Riyadh.
Atlas notes that Zhang (27-2-1, 22 KOs) kept former WBC champion Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs) from getting set by backing him up and nailing him with a right hook counter in the fifth, which stunned him. Zhang, 41, followed up with a right hand that put Wilder flat on his back.
The way Wilder was fighting, he would get knocked out sooner or later because he wasn’t throwing punches and getting trapped against the ropes repeatedly by the 282-lb ‘Big Bang’ Zhang.
The 38-year-old Deontay showed zero confidence during the fight. When he did throw a right hand that was countered by Zhang in the fifth, it was a tentative punch thrown slowly instead of fired off with speed.
If Wilder had thrown his right with conviction, the chances are that Zhang would have been too slow to land his counter. Wilder’s fear got the better of him, and he paid the price.
The Fatal Right Hook Counter
“When you fight a banger like Wilder, there’s two ways to fight him. Keep him off balance so he can’t be set to use his power by moving, or keep him off balance and not let him get set. Zhang did that. He was smart,” said former trainer Teddy Atlas to Boxing Social, talking about Deontay Wilder’s fifth-round knockout loss to Zhilei Zhang.
Zhang wasn’t doing anything special inside the ring last night. It was more Wilder being too scared to stand his ground and throw his right-hand bombs with conviction. The right hands Wilder did throw weren’t thrown with full force. He was tentative because he worried about being countered.
“He backed him up and kept him [Wilder] from getting set,” Atlas said about Zhang. “Wilder’s technique betrayed him tonight. He reached in with a right hand, and he missed and left himself in space, and he got caught with a southpaw right hook with a nice counter-punch,” said Atlas about the shot that the 41-year-old Zhang hurt Wilder with. ”
Wilder threw a weak jab that came up short, and then he tried to land a slow right hand, and that’s when Zhang countered him. Again, if Wilder had thrown his right hand quickly and connected with his jab, Zhang would have likely been too slow to land his counter.
“I give Zhang credit for using that right hook. Fighters aren’t used to seeing the right hook where it comes from the side. It’s very hard to pick up that punch, and Zhang used that. Wilder reached in with a right hand and left himself wide open to a counter,” said Atlas.
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