Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder 43-3-1 (42) says his loss to Joseph Parker 35-3 (23) in December was the wake up call he needed.
The 38-year-old American struggled to land a meaningful punch on New Zealand’s Parker, 32, through their 12-round contest at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, eventually losing by scores of 111-118, 108-120 and 110-118.
Going in to the fight Wilder had boxed less than one round in more than two years. He expects to deliver a better performance when he takes on 40-year-old Chinese southpaw Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang 26-2-1 (21) at the same venue where he lost to Parker on June 1.
“The last one was a blessing in disguise,” Wilder said to The Stomping Ground about his fight against Parker.
“I thought I had things figured out and when you think you have things figured out and you go through something else — you probably think things ain’t put together as you thought it were until you realise when you get into a fight, like damn, it’s a little bit more to go. And it’s a blessing in disguise because after that fight I hit the ground running that Monday morning.
“So I look forward to displaying what I feel is here. I lost the love of boxing, you know. I lost that fire and desire in me due to a lot of things occurred to me in my life. And people don’t understand as a fighter, you’re so much more outside of the ring.
“We still have business, we still have personal problems and then we have to deal with life itself. It’s a lot. And then come and try to be the best that you could be up in a career. It’s a lot that we have to deal with, we’re not robots.
“The ultimate thing of it all, what I’m excited about, is that I’m working with people that want to see that monster, that want to see that killer, that won’t judge me for saying I want to kill a man and put them on my record like the world done me for their own various of reasons.”
Zhang is coming off a loss to Parker too after dropping a majority decision to the former WBO champion in Saudi Arabia last month. He had Parker on the deck twice but faded late to lose on points 111-115, 112-114 and 113-113.
“I got the utmost high respect for him,” Wilder said. “He’s a fighter and I think he’s a pretty damn good fighter as well, so I’m definitely going to have to be on my A-game with him.
“He understands what he’s up against and what I bring, and I understand what I’m up against and what I often bring to the table. Two bangers, this is a good fight. This is an amazing fight, actually and I’m looking forward to it.”
Wilder added: “I didn’t do what I wanted to do last fight, so I owe the Saudi fans something. I owe them some excitement. I owe them a knockout. I owe them a great win. And I’m looking forward to June 1st, delivering that knockout for Matchroom.”
