Dillian Whyte’s former trainer: “He might be old, but he’s too big and too natural”
The bout is speculated to form part of the Dmitry Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev undercard, seemingly one cog in the highly anticipated Matchroom vs Queensberry 5 vs 5 event.
While Matchroom does not promote Wilder, the rules for the event allow fighters to be signed from outside each promotion for the second heavyweight matchup of the evening. Meaning Wilder can be pitted against Queensberry’s Zhang on behalf of Eddie Hearn’s promotion.
The two men have earned a fearsome reputation amongst the heavyweight scene, able to end fights with one concussive blow.
Speaking ahead of the proposed thriller, Mark Tibbs, the former trainer of Dillian Whyte gave his opinion on who comes out on top.
“I fancy Zhang in that fight. Again, too big, too natural, too well-schooled. He might be old, but he’s too big and too natural. He will have know-how against Wilder,” Tibbs revealed to Boxing Social.
“Wilder will have to crack him and crack him and crack him to break that big tree down, and I just feel that he’ll have too much know-how, Zhang would.”
Zhang is coming off the back of a hard-fought decision defeat over Joseph Parker. The New Zealand fighter was knocked down twice by the Chinese boogeyman, although managed to survive to the final bell and pull through on the scorecards.
An interesting matchup, both men have now faced defeat in their most recent outings, and both at the hands of Parker. The showdown could prove as a vital opportunity to throw the winner’s name back into the hat as one of the top active heavyweights.
Wilder’s defeat to Parker had many counting his days at the top as over. An ageing fighter, Wilder looked slow and sluggish in his December outing. However, it’s a hard task to count out a man with such devastating power.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ may be slowing down, though he is still a real threat to any heavyweight on the planet. Zhang will have to come into the fight on top form if he wants to avoid the inevitable looping overhands that will be coming his way.