Deontay Wilder says he gets “chills” when promoter Eddie Hearn lifts him up and believes in him ahead of his bout with Zhilei Zhang this Saturday night at the 5 vs 5 event in Riyadh.
With the repeated defeats of former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) recently, it is encouraging for Hearn to believe in him and strengthen him ahead of a very dangerous fight against 'Big Bang' Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs).
Many people have given up on Wilder, 38, after three defeats since 2020, but Hearn believed in him enough to make him captain of the Matchroom Boxing Team.
If Hearn's endorsement of Wildre can lead to a victory, he's in for a big fight. Maybe not the match he dreamed of against Anthony Joshua, but someone interesting.
The Trill of Hearn's Promotion
“I just thought of Eddie [Hearn] he wanted to encourage me. I am a promoter's dream. Things I can do. He is the toughest boxer in the history of boxing,” said Deontay Wilder on the Title Sports Network talking about promoter Eddie Hearn.
“Seeing him lift me up, grow up, makes me cold because he is a talkative person. He knows how to increase his fights, and seeing him talk about me, makes me happy. It makes me want to get the job done, get the job done, get the job done,” Wilder said.
Hearn realizes he has to motivate Wilder and get him to believe in himself again after his two defeats against Tyson Fury and his recent loss to Joseph Parker. Wilder was given a bad deal in his first and third fights against Fury and arguably won both, but the referees saved the popular Gypsy King, as we have seen recently.
“I think we will sweep five and get them all out of there. It's another thing. I smile at that,” Wilder said of Hearn making him the team's captain.
The Matchroom team is unlikely to sweep the tournament, as Queensberry has some very good fighters who have a good chance of winning some, if not all, of the five bouts on the card. I wouldn't be surprised if Queensberry goes 5-0, and it may be down to Deontay to keep them from sweeping the tournament.
Hearn's confidence in Wilder
“Do you know why? Because he is a fighter on a very high profile card. He is a very popular fighter,” said Eddie Hearn explaining why he chose him as Team Captain. “He is the fighter who has achieved a lot in sports. He is one of the most exciting fighters in the world.”
Hearn is upfront here that Wilder is the “most famous” fighter on the Matchroom team, but there are plenty of fights he has that aren't household names. Wilder has been around for a long time and is the party's oldest spokesperson. He is the oldest member of the group, and has accomplished more than any of them.
“More important than that. He is one of the most feared fighters of all time. You want your guy to go last,” Hearn said of Wilder. “We may have to move from behind. We may need Deontay to win by knockout. I can sit there and go, 'Go ahead, man, and get those four points.'
If Wilder throws his right hand with full force and lands on Zhang, he will probably knock him out. But he needs confidence to throw his punches because he looks scared in most fights.
“That's why I did this because other boys, younger, more experienced, this boy has been there. He can't help himself. Zhilei Zhang said bad things tonight. “So, we're going to fire him on Saturday night,” Hearn said.
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