Zhilei Zhang took out Deontay Wilder to keep his place in the boxing heavyweight landscape alive.
Zhang floored the former champion in the main event Saturday. The bout took place from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
The 41-year-old Zhang ended the contest in the fifth round. The referee stepped in despite Wilder beating the mandatory 10-count and getting to his feet.
Wilder, who suffered just his fourth career loss, was knocked down by a right hand from Zhang. With the win, Zhang improved his record to 27-2-1 with 21 wins coming by way of knockout.
“I blocked a few punches, but hell yeah, he punches hard,” Zhang said (thanks to ESPN for the quotes). “I give him a lot of respect. He’s a heavy puncher. I successfully took his right hand away.”
Zhang landed 45 percent of his strikes including 51 percent of his power shots. Wilder, meanwhile, hit on just 16 of the 95 strikes he threw in the bout.
Two losses to Fury, a defeat at the hands of Joseph Parker and now this loss have Wilder reeling. And likely headed for retirement, the veteran said even before the defeat.
Zhang, a silver medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, remains in pursuit of the title. The belt is currently held by Oleksandr Usyk, who bested Tyson Fury. Those two are scheduled for a rematch before the year ends.
Wilder finished third and earned bronze in the heavyweight division at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Zhang was competing in the super heavyweight division.
Zhilei Zhang-Deontay Wilder Results
In the co-main event, Daniel Dubois stopped Filip Hrgovic in the eighth round. The card also saw Dmitrii Bivol defend his title with a sixth round TKO vs. Malik Zinad.
Hamzah Sheeraz stopped Austin Williams, Nick Ball claimed a split decision over Raymond Ford and Willy Hutchinson bested Craig Richards via decision.
