The official weights are in for tomorrow night’s big heavyweight clash between Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. And massive, as in a massive weight advantage for Zhang, is the operative word here. On the scale today, Zhang tipped-in at 282.8 pounds, while former WBC heavyweight champ Wilder came in much lighter at 214.6 pounds.
This, fight fans, is a staggering 68 pounds between the two men; and this must surely rank as one of the biggest ever weight differences in a big, significant heavyweight fight. Both men looked good on the scale, and for Zhang, 282 is far from his highest weight.
Some of us did feel Wilder might come in a little bit higher than 214, as he is facing such a big guy. But no, Wilder is light, he is trim, and he says he is ready to lay it all on the line in a do or die fight. That said, Wilder also declared how there is “no pressure” going into this fight.
38 year old Wilder let loose with his customary “Bomb Squad!” yell, while 41-year-old southpaw Zhang looked cool and calm at the weigh-in. Plenty of us have switched and swapped around when making a prediction for this fight, and it is possible plenty of people will be somewhat swayed yet again after seeing today’s weights.
Is Zhang just too big, and will he prove to be too strong and too durable for Wilder? Or will Wilder’s faster hands and his killer right hand prove too much for Zhang? Not too many people think this fight will got the distance. Somebody will fall. But will it be the bigger guy, or will it be the skinnier guy?
Pick: Wilder gets up from a knockdown to halt Zhang in dramatic fashion somewhere in the middle rounds of a great action fight.
This one promises to be the fight of the night tomorrow, this on a night that really does promise to give us some awesome slew of fights.
- Deontay Wilder (214.6) vs. Zhilei Zhang (282.8)
- Filip Hrgovic (247.4) vs. Daniel Dubois (245.8)
- Dmitry Bivol (175) vs. Malik Zinad (174.2)
- Craig Richards (174.2) vs. Willy Hutchinson (174)
- Hamzah Sheeraz (159.6) vs. Austin Williams (159.4)
- Raymond Ford (125.4) vs. Nick Ball (125.8)
