Today is Media Day ahead of the history-making 5 vs 5 collision between promotional rivals Queensberry and Matchroom, a $69.99 PPV event taking place Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arebia.
Heavyweight: “Big Bang” Zhilei Zhang vs. “Bronze Bomber” Deontay Wilder
Heavyweight: IBF #1 contender Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois
Featherweight: WBA world champion Ray Ford vs. Nick Ball
Middleweight: Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams
Light heavyweight: Willy Hutchinson vs. Craig ‘Spider’ Richards
In addition, WBA light heavyweight champion Dimitry Bivol will defend against Malik Zinad.
Here are a few shots from Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing:
i think wilder is going to get KTFO by big bang.
ive never seen zhang hurt and he times his punches so well.
hes going to clip wilder with some powerful short shots while wilder is swinging wide.
This is a hard one to choose. Neither Wilder nor Zhang is a high-output fighter. Both rely on their ability to detonate a bomb on the other guy’s chin. I could see this being a 1st round KO or a dreadful, dragging 12 round snoozer. My hunch is someone drops inside of 4. If this one goes past the middle rounds, chances are it’s not a good fight.
50/50. Zhang has never been hurt but keep in mind he’s never been hit buy a guy like Wilder. We’ll see.
by
definately tough fight.
I’m confused… So, the Bivol fight is on ESPN? But the entire rest of the card is PPV? And Beterbiev is out? Everything about this card is confusing. Even when Beterbiev / Bivol was the main event, I believe ESPN held the rights.
Beterbiev got injured. Bivol decided to take a stay busy fight that doesn’t belong on a PPV.
Wanting Wilder and Dubois to win, but I will probably be disappointed in both results.
Dubois wins easy if the ref does not let Hgvic punch him behind the head
I am so enjoying these boxing marathons from the Middle East. Cannot wait for Saturday.
Wilder will be caught sooner or later and Zhang has the better chin for sure. A Wilder fan, but actually concerned about the damage Wilder will endure in this fight.
Wilder was so stagnant against Parker. Wilder’s anemic performance made Parker look great when in fact, Parker is average at best. Wilder is in a tough spot this time. It will be sink or swim with being in the spotlight against Zhang. Each fighter has a puncher’s chance. Tough call. I would give hand speed to Wilder while the boxing IQ goes to Zhang. My pick? Wilder on a TKO.
Parker is average at best!! Not sure about this statement.
Parker controlled the fight by jabbing and running away from Wilder’s right hand. Yes it was a stinker – but Zhang is very slow and has no head movement. If it the fight is a stinker – Wilder will win by stinking less. Zhang has allways run out of gas in late rounds and he tends to be easy to hit in the late rounds. So anything is possible but I can not see Zhang dancing & jabbing to a decision he must get a stoppage. Zhang has a lot of heart so maybe he can go the distance.
Zhang is slow plodder who can only fight for 4 rounds then gasses. All wilder needs to do is stay away for three or four rounds and set up the kayo after that.
Wilder’s inability to pull the trigger in his last fight makes me wonder if he’s done at top level. His quick strike was his only skill
This card had me angry for awhile actually. I could not figure out why they pushing this Eddie VS Frank crap and were barely mentioning the Bivol Beterbiev fight. This went on for quite awhile before the news of Beterbiev’s injury was made public. I kept checking the schedule to ensure Bivol – Beterbiev was still on. In hindsight I am guessing they knew for quite sometime before it was made public. Look, the card is good and I will buy it but I still feel somewhat misled. It was like they were trying to get us to buy into this Eddie vs Frank thing knowing that the match we all wanted to see was going to be postponed. Do not get me wrong Wilder Zhang is very exciting. I just do not like the way this Eddie VS Frank promotion all of a sudden became the selling point. I was suspicious from the start of it and feel they were trying to manipulate us fans in a way that insults our intelligence.
The was very little press coverage of that fight being postponed. You’d have thought it would be a major story.
Lately, I’ve been wrong, it happens. Sometimes the boxers are too close in skill or ability then that one punch comes in and changes the fight. I’m sticking to my guns and saying wilder knock out Zhang. Don’t ask what round. I think wilder has the hand speed over Zhang, but importantly wilder has more heart than Zhang. I think he takes the cue knowing that his career or fighting at a higher level is on the line. Wilder KO!
Well I felt strongly about Haney and Fury winning so I am not doing so well lately either! I think for now I am leaning Zhang but this time I am not confident. For one they are two devastating punchers and for two my picks really suck lately. Good news Killa at least we will not both be wrong!!! Watch they will fight to a draw! LOL!!!
I’m right there with you.. I had Haney and Fury, and even whiffed on Kabayel beating Sanchez. I am gonna take Wilder only because his power last 12 rounds, Zhang fades badly after about 4 rounds. But it’s close enough that I have zero confidence in my pick.
Zhang I think is technically better but you are right…his gas tank is one of the worst I have ever seen. Wilder was very listless against Parker but he has often looked that way before landing the bomb. It just did not happen with Parker. Regardless it is a match between two of the hardest punchers ever so that is a good thing!
There must be some hard-headed people here who don’t like admitting they’re wrong. I note that I struck out on 3 big fights and get down-voted by two people. What’s the other side of that coin, pretending I got cheated? I didn’t. I simply thought Haney, Fury, and Sanchez would win and was wrong.
Yes, with our luck it goes that route. I will be looking for you on here after the fight, Pete and brainchild! Here’s to one us picking it right this weekend.
I wanna say Zhang by KO but I’m not very confident in that pic. I think Wilder may enjoy this fight because he’s faster, has a WAY better gas tank, and will be able to land pretty much at will. But he doesn’t fight all that great against southpaws and once he feels Zhangs power he might change his entire game plan. Either way, it should be an exciting fight because either guy can get knocked out at any time.
wilder wont make it past 4
Paid for last one not paying for this
1. Wilder gets koed rd 1-5 retires
2. Dubois tkoed ie quit
Too much money for this
“……Queensberry and Matchroom, a $69.99 PPV event taking place Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
– Thank you, again, Amazon Fire Stick……….
Zhang is too slow and lacking in stamina, Wilder will catch him with that right hand around the 8-9 th. It might be a brutal ko.
wilder & zhang are both over the hill. Not quite shot fighters but not as formidable as they were just a couple years ago.
Neither guy can change who they are at this point.
So it obviously comes down to wilders speed and long right hand vs Zhangs deceptively quick counter left.
I hate to say it but I’m leaning towards zhang’s counter left.
I am hoping neither fighter gets hurt and that the loser retires.
Zhang vs Wilder is intriguing. It depends on which versions of them show up on fight night. Its a 50/50 fight. Not if but when one of them lands a bomb it’ll be interesting.
Zhang will win by KO 6, and Wilder will retire. Hopefully, he has plenty of money for the rest of his life and for his family.
Probably gonna break Tua v ibeabuchi record for punches thrown in this one!
i think zhang will ko wilder inside 7 rounds