Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder are in similar positions.
Each heavyweight is coming off a loss to Joseph Parker. Zhang dropped Parker twice but was outboxed the rest of the way towards a majority decision loss in March. Meanwhile, Wilder was soundly defeated by Parker via unanimous decision back in December as "The Bronze Bomber" looked like a shell of his old self.
Now, Zhang clashes with Wilder at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and live on DAZN, as each heavyweight looks to push himself back to the forefront of the division in spectacular style.
With the stakes being ultra high, DAZN lists the keys to victory for Zhang (26-2-1, 21 knockouts) and Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) ahead of their mega bout.
Deontay Wilder’s keys to victory
Move and work angles
Over the course of his career, the six-foot-seven Wilder has shown a penchant for working angles and unloading power punches from unique vantage points with destructive results. He also moves awkwardly — in a good way — to throw his opponents off and buy the seconds needed to unleash his dynamite right hand. Moving often and exploiting those angles will be key for Wilder to return to the win column.
Let go of hands more
Wilder’s punch output against Joseph Parker was way down in December. “The Bronze Bomber” has got to let go of his hands a lot more against Zhang and increase his punch volume to have more convincing results.
Load up on that massive right hand
Parker was able to repeatedly load up and find a home with his right hand against Zhang in March. That bodes well for Wilder’s chances to devastate Zhang who lacks smooth lateral movement and can be a stationary target at times.
If Parker was able to stun Zhang with his right hand, Wilder should be able to detonate a lights-out knockout with his explosive power and return his name amongst the top of the heavyweight division.
Zhilei Zhang’s keys to victory
Crowd Wilder’s space, lean on him
Stepping into the pocket with Wilder and negating that reach could spell fireworks for “Big Bang.” He’s got to throw Wilder out of rhythm, force himself into the phone booth and blast “The Bronze Bomber” in those close quarters.
Along those lines, leaning on Wilder and putting that considerable weight mass on the former WBC heavyweight world champion could lead to sapping the latter’s energy. The more often Zhang does those things, the better chances he’ll give himself to win.
Don’t neglect the body
Making consistent deposits to the body can go long ways to Wilder lowering his hands just enough for Zhang to land something more damaging upstairs. At times, Tyson Fury found success to Wilder’s body and a heavyweight like Zhang, who has pointed boxing skills, can produce points there too.
Look for that compact straight left hand
Revisit Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz from March 2018 and you’ll see that the Cuban heavyweight, who’s a southpaw like Zhang, had success piercing through Wilder’s sometimes lackadaisical guard with that straight left hand. In fact, he used the very weapon to have Wilder reeling in a seventh round from hell, before ultimately being knocked out by the Tuscaloosa, Alabama native in the 10.
Though Wilder has tightened his guard since, Zhang has deceptively quick enough hands to surprise him with the left. A sneaky straight left hand put Parker on his backside during the third round of their tilt two months back and Zhang is capable of doing similar damage against Wilder, too.