Deontay Wilder has hinted his fight against Zhilei Zhang on the undercard of Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev’s undisputed light heavyweight world title fight in Saudi Arabia could be his last.
Heavyweight Wilder was beaten in dominant fashion by Joseph Parker in December, while Zhang also tasted defeat at the hands of Parker in his last fight when the pair met in March.
Wilder said he is treating the fight as “his last dance.”
“Come the night of the fight we see if I got it or not. I’m holding it as my last dance my last chance,” Wilder told the news conference.
“I’m looking forward to the fight. I respect Zhang, he’s a good fighter. [But] It’s my time, I been through a lot. I had to regroup and get my stuff together. Things don’t just change overnight. you got to keep working,
“I’m just ready to do what I’m known to do, be the Wilder I am. I lost my passion and love for this business, I lost my hunger, for so many different reasons.”
Both Wilder and Zhang will be desperate for wins off the back of defeats to Parker as they seek to stay relevant in the division.
Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubious will form the other heavyweight bout on the card, while Willy Hutchinson and Craig Richards will fight at light heavyweight.
Austin “Ammo” Williams and Hamzah Sheeraz will meet at middleweight and newly crowned WBA featherweight champion Raymond Ford will take on Nick Ball.
Meanwhile, an uber-confident Eddie Hearn has warned fans not be be shocked if Bivol makes his fight against Artur Beterbiev look easy.
Speaking at the official press conference in London, Matchroom promoter Hearn said he’s confident his charge has all the necessary skills to beat Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs).
“Don’t be amazed to see him make this look easy on June 1,” Hearn said.
“I think it’s going be a very very tough fight, but he has all the ability to stand that man on his head while he’s trying to hunt him down. But while he’s doing it, he’s going to be very very dangerous.”
Source: www.espn.com