Deontay Wilder faces Zhilei Zhang this weekend, then Jared Anderson in August
Deontay Wilder has told Sportsbook Review that he aims to fight Tyson Fury for a fourth time, but first he has the powerful ‘Big Bang’ Zhilei Zhang this weekend, then Jared Anderson in August.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ clearly has unfinished business with ‘The Gypsy King’, desperate to exact revenge on his old rival, “I want to make Tyson Fury pay so bad, so bad. I don’t think that chapter is over with. I could see a fourth fight. I could see a fourth in the making, created by the creators. The Saudis have the source and the power to make it all happen. I want to get it back so bad.”
Wilder has suffered two KO losses to Tyson and one draw – from their first meeting – so is keen to even the score, especially after their last exciting encounter in 2021 ended with five knockdowns between them.
But first, he has a powerful Chinese contender to deal with in Zhilei Zhang, this Saturday in Saudi. Both boxers are coming off a points loss to the same opponent, Joseph Parker.
However, their fights were quite different, with Zhang able to floor Parker twice, ultimately losing on a narrow mixed decision, whereas Wilder was completely outboxed and dominated by the Kiwi, and was staggered badly in eight.
Wilder views his forthcoming fight as ‘competitive’, but warns Zhang not to take too much from his last performance, “To see the announcement they made [about Jared Anderson] let’s go baby, let’s get people excited. I’m not looking past Zhang at all, he’s a great fighter, it’s going to be a great competitive fight on June 1.
“It would be the wrong thing to do [studying the Parker fight] because this isn’t the same Deontay, everything is different. The hunger wasn’t there, the mentality I have now wasn’t there.
“If he’s going to study something, he’s got to go back to the Luis Ortiz fights because that was the best southpaw in the world, with the best skills in the world. I’ve already faced the best southpaw, I love southpaws, I fight them very, very well.
“Go back and study the Artur Szpilka fight, that’s what he should be studying. If he’s studying the Joseph Parker fight, he’s going to be wrong. I don’t want nobody to judge me off of that fight.
“In that fight I could not pull the trigger, I saw so many openings, so many places where I could execute but my body [couldn’t]. It was so crazy to experience that. And maybe it came from the layoff or other things that happened in camp, but who knows. We can’t pinpoint what happened, but we know it happened and I’ve made corrections. I made big changes. And it will never happen again. Joseph Parker is not better than me, at all.
The 38-year-old the explained why he wasn’t at his best in his last performance, where he was visibly lacking the aggression and power he is so well known for, “It was mostly inactivity and the travelling [that went wrong for the fight against Joseph Parker]. I had to travel back and forth across countries in camp, I’ve never done that before.
“I only really had three weeks of training. I’d then had to go over and do the press conferences, both times breaking camp. And those guys were already in Europe and I’m doing 12 hours back and forth.
“It was my first fight in almost two years, if the roles were reversed he never would have lasted 12 rounds with me, if I was consistent and fighting as much as him.
“I thank God for that situation, though, because when I went home on Monday, I haven’t stopped training since. It really lit something inside of me and I told myself, ‘if I’m really going to do this, I’m doing this 110% again’. I have got to give it my all; I’ve got to bring that monster back out again.”
Trained by Malik Scott, the former long-reigning WBC World heavyweight champion reminded fans and fighters of his fearsome 97.67% KO ratio, “A lot of these guys think I have a weakness in my arm because they have seen certain things. But I tell them all, don’t be mistaken. The Bronze Bomber is here. I don’t care how big you are, what skills you have or where you come from, understand, I have that equaliser. All I need is one punch.
“But we’re coming in with more than one punch, we’re coming with punches in bunches and that punch will line up and when it hits you ain’t going to get up and you’ll wish you were dead. I have that fire and desire.
“I had Siarhei Liakhovich have a seizure right there in the ring, that’s the Bronze Bomber I’m going back to. And we all saw that, he had a seizure. His seizure was so bad and he was embarrassed so bad that he tried to sue me. But he didn’t win because I didn’t do nothing wrong. We signed for this, you can’t sue me in the aftermath, we signed up for this. How you going to sue me for doing my job?
“I’ve been a monster [in sparring] and I love the feeling that I’m feeling. I love this craving and hunger for blood. And when I felt this, then, and only then, did I know that I was truly back. The things I’m doing; not hesitating to throw my punches, not hesitating to get on a wounded animal when I see him wounded, like I used to do.
“The people around me told me ‘no more Mr Nice Guy when it comes to the business of boxing’. I’ve got people around me who want me to talk crazy, I’ve got people who want me to say ‘I want to kill somebody’ – it feels good being able to be myself.
“Outside of boxing I’m different, to know me is to love me, but in boxing I’m going to talk ruthless, I’m going to talk reckless sometimes because that’s how I feel. I’ve got to go in the ring with that mentality. If they want the Bronze Bomber back performing like he’s supposed to, let me be who I am. After this fight all my doors open up again, all the doors open. I’m still in contention for titles, after this all the doors open.
“I’m looking forward to working with the Saudis for a long time, even when I regain the titles. I truly believe that I will be the undisputed champion and hold all those belts.”