- Zhang sent Deontay Wilder sprawling in the fifth round of their fight in Riyadh
- Frank Warren claimed bragging rights over Eddie Hearn with a clean sweep
- Bivol maintained his perfect record and Ball won the WBA World Featherweight title
Zhilei Zhang knocked out Deontay Wilder in the fifth round of their showdown in Riyadh with an explosive right hook on a memorable night for Frank Warren.
Wilder was thrown off balance by Zhang’s earlier punch, with the Chinese heavyweight closing in to finish the job and brutally dropping his opponent to the ground.
It capped a remarkable night for Warren’s Queensbury promotion in Riyadh, who made a clean sweep of Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
In reality, it looked like the fight was going to go Zhang’s way all along.
He landed a big right hook in the second round as his American opponent struggled.
Deontay Wilder was knocked out in the fifth round after a furious right hook from Zhilei Zhang
Zhang’s crushing blow ended a miserable evening for the Matchroom line-up of Wilder and Eddie Hearn
Wilder struggled to get into the fight the entire time and didn’t look like he wanted to be there
It was a fantastic night for Frank Warren’s Queensbury team, who cleared Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom line-up (right)
He turned up the heat in the third round, subjecting Wilder to constant pressure and suppressing the Bronze Bomber’s deadly right hand.
Wilder punched his own chest early in the fourth round to try to get himself ready for the match, but he couldn’t land many punches.
In the fifth round, he was spun around by a right hand from Zhang and fell to the ground after a hammer blow from his 41-year-old opponent.
Warren has bragging rights over rival promoter Hearn after a unique evening at the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia.
First, Willy Hutchinson defeated Craig Richards on points, scoring 116-112, 117-111, 119-109 on the scorecards, making it 1-0 to Team Warren.
Nick Ball then claimed the WBA World Featherweight title by defeating Ray Ford via split decision, winning 113-115, 115-113, 115-113.
This was followed by an 11th round knockout by Hamzah Sheeraz against Ammo Williams in their middleweight eliminator bout.
Willy Hutchinson (right) started the evening with a points victory over Craig Richards
Nick Ball claimed the WBA World Heavyweight title by defeating Ray Ford via split decision
Hamzah Sheeraz (left) secured a victory for Warren’s team when he stopped Ammo Williams
Dmitry Bivol extended his perfect record to 23-0 and earned his first knockout since 2018 against Malik Zinad
Daniel Dubois (right) claimed the interim IBF heavyweight title by stopping Filip Hrgovic
Dmitry Bivol stopped Malik Zinad with his first knockout since 2018, extending his record to 23-0.
In the fifth fight, Daniel Dubois gave Filip Hrgovic a nasty beating – with gruesome cuts above both eyes – and claimed the interim IBF heavyweight title with an eighth-round stoppage.
Hearn might have hoped to save face with a win over Wilder, but it wasn’t to be, and his crown jewel on the night hardly looked like he wanted to be there.