Deontay Wilder says his goal after his fight this Saturday night against Zhilei Zhang is to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.
The 38-year-old Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) wants to stay around long enough to capture the undisputed championship, which is a little easier now that the four belts are held by one fighter, Oleksandr Usyk.
The Zhang Obstacle
Wilder must win this Saturday against Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) to keep on course to capture the belts, and he’s not expected to win that fight.
The oddsmakers have Zhang as the favorite, and for good reason. Wilder hasn’t looked like his old self in many years, and he’s viewed as a relic from the past who should have sat himself down after his loss to Joseph Parker last December.
Wilder turns 39 years old in October, and he’s fighting like someone that age. He can’t pull the trigger on his shots any longer, and his reflexes don’t look the same. As we witnessed in Wilder’s loss to Parker, his accuracy is gone.
Even though Parker was directly in front of Wilder at point-blank range, he was missing badly repeatedly. After a while, Wilder stopped throwing any punches and looked like he didn’t feel he could land.
Deontay vs. Zhang will be fighting this Saturday, June 1st, live on DAZN PPV in a twelve round bout at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Final Chapter?
“I don’t want to do it forever. I’m so talented in so many areas in life that I can’t put all my eggs in one basket,” said Deontay Wilder to Queensberry about his not wanting to fight for much longer.
Wilder’s last four fights:
– Joseph Parker: UD 12 loss
– Robert Helenious: KO 1
– Tyson Fury: KO 11 loss
– Tyson Fury: TKO 7 loss
“While I’m still here, we still got titles to regain. You relive that moment all over again,” Wilder continued. “I still want to be undisputed champion. That is my goal right now.”
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