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By: Sean Crose
Perhaps Deontay Wilder’s surprise defeat at the gloved fists Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia last December was just what the tall Alabaman needed in order to get his career back on track. In truth, the vibe online was basically that Wilder was done as a top heavyweight after dropping a decision to Parker, who Wilder was supposed to defeat. Boxing, however, is forever full of surprises. For, after the announcement that Wilder will be facing the popular and hard hitting Zhilei Zhang on June, 1st, news has now arrived that Wilder might be facing the undefeated Jared Anderson on August 3’d, as well.
Zhang, who Wilder will be facing in Saudi Arabia, has, like Wilder, recently dropped a fight to Joseph Parker. Perhaps surprisingly, however, ESPN reports that Zhang is currently a betting favorite to best Wilder. This may well be because Wilder appeared so out of form facing Parker last winter. Still, there’s no doubt that Wilder possesses extraordinary power. Indeed, the man may be the hardest puncher in the history of the sport. Then again, Zhang has stopped the vast majority of his opponents within the distance. At the very least this should make for an interesting matchup. It will also be an enormous career boost for the winner.
For Wilder, of course, there’s the chance to battle Anderson, a man who has never tasted defeat and has only gone the distance on two occasions. Should the former WBC heavyweight champion manage to get past both fighters, it will be hard to argue Wider doesn’t deserve another crack at a heavyweight title, even though his title was lifted by Tyson Fury several years back. Indeed, Fury defeated Wilder two out of three times (the first fight between the two men was a draw). As for the likeable Zhang, a win over Wilder will bring him a ton of prestige while he attempts to mount the upper rungs of the heavyweight ladder. And the same, of course, goes for Anderson.
Of course, a fight between Wilder and Anderson is not guaranteed. Still, Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi official behind his nation’s boxing boom, has openly indicated he’d like to see Wilder fight Anderson before the summer has come and gone. Yet Alalshikh has made it clear he only wants Wilder to face Anderson “if he’s ready by then to fight after June 1’s fight against Zhilei Zhang.” With that being said, Alalshikh has thus far proven to be an individual who can make big things happen in the fight game.
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