Former WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder 43-4-1 (42) has made no decision on his future after being brutally stopped in the fifth round by Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang 27-2-1 (22) at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
The 38-year-old American struggled to let his hands go against Zhang, who outweighed him by 68-pounds. Chinese southpaw Zhang, 41, had Wilder hurt as early as the second round and put him away in the fifth with a crushing right hook.
Many fans and pundits are calling on Wilder to hang up the gloves after a successful career that saw him rule as WBC champion from 2015 to 2020, making 10 successful defences of his belt.
Wilder’s manager Shelly Finkel said it was too soon for Wilder to make a call on the future of his career.
“He is fine, he is sleeping now,” Finkel said to talkSPORT. “He was very emotional last night obviously. We didn’t expect it to go the way it did.
“I have nothing but praise for the way Zhang fought, he was the better man.
“It is Deontay’s decision whether this is his last fight or not.
“I love the guy, I’ve been with him for 15 years and I don’t want him to get hurt.
“It is totally his decision, I will let him know how I feel but it is his decision and I support him whatever he does.”
Wilder, who entered the bout with three losses in his past four fights, admitted before facing Zhang that he knew what was at stake.
“I’ve had a successful career and this is a do or die moment for me,” Wilder told Seconds Out.
“I don’t think the heavyweight division is exciting without Deontay Wilder in it but come Saturday night we will see.
“Will I prevail? Will I succeed? Who knows? But Saturday night is the true answer and we are going to see.
“This could be the end of the career, this could be the final farewell of Deontay Wilder if I lose.
“If I win, of course, I go on to bigger and better things.”
Zhang proved to be too good for Wilder on the night, who landed an average of just three punches per round.
“Probably but Zhang also had something to do with it, he was very good, a very big man,” Finkel continued to talkSPORT.
“You can’t just pitty-pat, you have to hurt them to stop them and it didn’t work last night.”
Frank Warren, who promotes Wilder’s old rival Tyson Fury 34-1-1 (24), believes ‘The Bronze Bomber’ should’ve call time on his career three fights ago.
“The thing about fighters is they are the first to know when their powers are gone and they’re not the fighters they were, but they’re the last to admit it,” Warren said to talkSPORT.
“I’ve told fighters to retire and done it on numerous occasions, but the problem is whether they listen.
“And unfortunately in boxing what they can’t do is go somewhere else.
“That’s the problem. And you’ve got people around who will keep saying, ‘Yeah, just have one more, have one more.’
“But you can’t do that because all you’re doing is putting miles on the clock and it comes back to haunt you in later life.
“He should have hung up his gloves I believe after he fought Tyson. Because those fights took a lot out of him.
“But let’s hope now that’s gonna be the case and that’s his last fight.”
Eddie Hearn, who promotes former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua 28-3 (25), was equally pssimistic about Wilder’s future in the ring.
“He’s just not the same, in all honesty,” Hearn told Fight Hub TV. “I just feel his belief is not there anymore, and you’ve got to ask yourself, why? Is it just the time? Is something else not right?
“He is not letting his hands go and that is what made him one of the most feared fighters in the world. He is not the fighter he was, at the moment. People come back, but it is deep in the road.
“He was world champion. He had a lot of defences. He lit up the heavyweight division. He didn’t have many wins against elite-level guys but had some good wins and was exciting.
“He had some great fights with Tyson Fury, so he will be remembered.”
