Zhilei Zhang finishes Deontay Wilder in brutal 5th-round TKO.

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Zhilei Zhang scored the biggest win of his career Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and might have effectively ended former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder's run in the process.

China's Zhang, 41, connected with a perfectly timed counter right hook that spun Wilder in a daze. With Wilder defenseless, Zhang (27-2-1, 21 KOs) sprinted in and smashed him with another right hand that planted the American hard on the canvas.

Wilder, 38, somehow was on his feet before the count of 10, but his legs were unsteady and the referee wisely waved off the fight at 1:51 of Round 5.


Now, he is back on what he called the "road to the champion." That's currently Oleksandr Usyk, who defeated Fury last month in Riyadh for the undisputed championship.

Zhang closed as the -150 favorite against Wilder, according to ESPN BET. He is ESPN's No. 6 heavyweight, and Wilder entered the ring at No. 7. Zhang won a silver medal as a super heavyweight at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing while Wilder claimed bronze in the heavyweight division.


They appeared to be in different weight classes Saturday, too, as Zhang outweighed Wilder by 68.2 pounds -- at 282.8 compared with Wilder's 214.6. There is no weight limit in boxing's heavyweight division.

Zhang used that size advantage to bully Wilder and smother him on the ropes. A southpaw, Zhang was able to connect with right hooks that scored time and again as Wilder cocked his vaunted right hand back but rarely let it go.

In Round 5, Zhang finally began to unload his best weapon. Wilder had just scored with a chopping right hand when he threw yet another right that was countered by Zhang for the finish.

The victory made it a clean sweep for Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions, which was squaring off with rival U.K. promoter Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing in a unique 5 vs. 5 team concept created by Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority.

After Zhang's TKO win, Alalshikh presented Warren with a large check worth $3 million.

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