Deontay Wilder vs. Zhilei Zhang fight results, highlights: Chinese heavyweight scores brutal TKO for win

Zhang kept himself loosely in the title picture by taking out the former WBC titleholder

Saturday's fight between Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder wasn't a thriller, but the final moment was memorable. Zhang finished Wilder with a pair of big right hands in the fifth round to bounce back from a recent loss to Joseph Parker and keep himself in the conversation for a future heavyweight title shot.

Wilder seemed reluctant to let his hands go for the second consecutive fight, having also lost to Parker in his most recent outing. The power that had made Wilder one of the most feared punchers in boxing history never factored into the fight, with Zhang forcing Wilder to fight off his back foot for nearly the entire fight.

Zhang was also fairly passive, not taking advantage of Wilder's passivity outside of brief bursts. That changed in an instant when Zhang landed a sweeping right hook that seemed to separate Wilder from his senses. Wilder spun and took a few steps away from Zhang when a second right hand connected, sending Wilder to the canvas.

Wilder beat the count, rising at nine but as he was instructed to walk to the referee, he stumbled, causing the referee to call a halt to the bout at the 1:51 mark of Round 5.

"I successfully took his right hand away," Zhang said of his success via an interpreter. "I blocked a few punches, but hell yeah, he punches hard. I give a lot of respect to him, he's a hard puncher."

Zhang said his plan is to continue on to a world championship. The title picture is a bit muddled right now, just weeks after Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury to unify all four world titles.

The IBF has said they were going to strip the winner of Fury vs. Usyk if they went ahead with their contractually obligated rematch rather than upholding their duty to face mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic. Usyk's team filed for an exception from the IBF, which the sanctioning body has yet to rule on.

If the title stays on Usyk, his December clash with Usyk keeps those titles tied up for a while. The winner will then have to defend against Daniel Dubois, who became interim IBF champion on the undercard when he defeated Hrgovic.

If the IBF strips Usyk, Dubois will be elevated to world champion and the plan seems to be for Dubois to face Anthony Joshua either way, leaving Zhang's future somewhat uncertain despite his highest-profile win. Parker, who holds wins over both Zhang and Wilder also belongs ahead of Zhang in the line of potential challengers for future world title fights, meaning a rematch between the two may actually be Zhang's most logical next step.

As for Wilder, the former WBC champion appears to have reached the end of the road as a serious contender and has now twice fought like a man who has reached the end of his time as a professional fighter. The punch output isn't there and Wilder is visibly struggling to throw the power shots that led him to the top of the game and kept him world champion for five years.

After admitting he struggled to pull the trigger against Parker, Wilder promised that he'd regained the fire that made him so dangerous but that was not on display against Zhang.

For years, the idea of Wilder vs. Joshua fascinated boxing fans. It now seems like a fight that would be a major step down for Joshua and it's hard to see why there would be demand to see Wilder in a fight against a big, strong, accurate heavyweight like Joshua who would be expected to run away with the fight.

Wilder's loss also completed a somewhat embarrassing night for Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing. The night's card was framed around a 5 vs. 5 showdown between Matchroom and Queensbury Boxing. Wilder's loss completed a clean sweep for Queensbury, with two of those wins coming by knockout, which gave bonus points, including "team captain" Hamzah Sheeraz stopping Austin Williams, which awarded twice as many points.

The final point tally in Queensbury vs. Matchroom was 10-0 in Queensbury's favor.

The other fight of note on the undercard saw WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol retain his title with a nasty TKO of Malik Zinad. The stoppage was Bivol's first since finishing off Sullivan Barrera in the final round of their 2018 bout. The Russian was expected to take on Artur Beterbiev to crown an undisputed champion in the division, but Beterbiev suffered a nasty knee injury in training camp and was forced to withdraw. That showdown is now set for Oct. 12 in Saudi Arabia, according to Turki Alakshih.

CBS Sports was with you through the entire card with the live results and highlights below. 

Fight card, results

• Zhilei Zhang def. Deontay Wilder via TKO, Round 5
  
• Daniel Dubois def. Filip Hrgovic via TKO, Round 8
  
• Dmitrii Bivol (c) def. Malik Zinad via TKO, Round 6
• Hamzah Sheeraz def. Austin Williams via TKO, Round 11
  
• Nick Ball def. Raymond Ford via split decision (115-113, 113-115, 115-113)
• Willy Hutchinson def. Craig Richards via unanimous decision (116-112, 117-111, 119-109)

Wilder vs. Zhang scorecard, live coverage

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
Wilder	10	9	9	9	TKO								37
Zhang	9	10	10	10									39

[Jun 1, 2024 at 8:27 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder -- Round 5: Wilder landed a good right hand early and that energized him ase he started throwing several rights in a row, showing a bit of life. Zhang landed a good right hand and Wilder clinched up. A right from Zhang stumbled Wilder and another dropped him to the canvas. Wilder got up at nine but stumbled to the referee and he waived it off! Zhang gets the big finish. Official result: Zhilei Zhang def. Deontay Wilder via TKO, Round 5

[Jun 1, 2024 at 8:24 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder -- Round 4: Zhang caught Wilder a bit off balance and Wilder seemed like he was trying to fire himself up, pounding his chest. To his credit, Wilder did start to look like he wanted to throw the right hand a bit more, though he wasn't connecting. Zhang connected with a body shot. To be brutally honest, this fight has not been good on either side. But the little work Zhang is doing is more than the next to nothing Wilder is offering. Wilder landed a late right, Zhang responded with a left. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Zhang (39-37)

[Jun 1, 2024 at 8:20 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder -- Round 3: Wilder worked the jab a bit and almost threw the right but decided to pull it back. Zhang landed a good left that seemed to bother Wilder a bit. Wilder landed a right but Zhang also landed one that stumbled Wilder a bit. Zhang connected with another left as he kept pushing Wilder back to the ropes. Wilder threw a left hook that didn't land well. This is the Wilder from the Joseph Parker fight and that's not a good thing. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Zhang (29-18)

[Jun 1, 2024 at 8:16 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder -- Round 2: Zhang unloaded and landed an uppercut that stunned Wilder a bit. Zhang tried to flurry, landing some good shots but Wilder threw a few counters of his own. Wilder got out of the corner without suffering too much damage but that was a big moment for Zhang. Zhang trapped him in the corner again and dug to the body. Wilder popped a few jabs. He followed one of those jabs with a good right hand. Zhang landed a hard right hand to Wilder's jaw. Terrible round for Wilder who just doesn't look like he can pull the trigger yet again. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Zhang (19-19)

[Jun 1, 2024 at 8:12 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Zhilei Zhang vs. Deontay Wilder -- Round 1: Zhang tried to walk Wilder down to start the fight, forcing Wilder to slide along the ropes. Wilder landed the first right hand of the fight. Wilder landed a little hook. Zhang threw a left to the body and Wilder came back with a right hand upstairs. Zhang pushed forward and tried to rough Wilder up a bit. Zhang missed with a big left. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Wilder

[Jun 1, 2024 at 8:06 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Fighter introductions are done and Zhang vs. Wilder is just moments away.

[Jun 1, 2024 at 7:40 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

We move along to the main event. Or, we will after whatever post-fight and pre-fight broadcast stuff that is yet to come.

[Jun 1, 2024 at 7:39 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois -- Round 8: Dubois continued to fire away, meeting very little resistance from Hrgovic. The referee halted the action to have the doctor check Hrgovic's cuts and that led to the stoppage. What a show by Dubois. He's now the interim IBF champion and could be elevated to world champion very soon if the IBF decides to go through with stripping Oleksandr Usyk.

Official result: Daniel Dubois def. Filip Hrgovic via TKO, Round 8

[Jun 1, 2024 at 7:36 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois -- Round 7: Dubois opened with a good hook as he continued to grab control. Hrgovic had a cut over the other eye now. Hrgovic also looked nearly exhausted. Dubois dug to the body with a left and came back to the head. Dubois followed that up with three short shots as Hrgovic kept alternating between clinching and falling back to the ropes. Dubois landed a massive right and Hrgovic looked as though he had given about everything he had, barely throwing punches back. A few more big left hooks landed for Dubois and Hrgovic was basically a punching bag. Another big right for Dubois. Dubois closed the round with two heavy left hooks and send Hrgovic stumbling to the corner looking completely defeated.

[Jun 1, 2024 at 7:28 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois -- Round 5: They corrected that the cut above the eye suffered by Hrgovic earlier in the fight came from a punch, not a headbutt. Dubois' jab connected several times before Hrgovic threw a few of his own in return and then a short right hand as Dubois lunged in. Hrgovic landed another right and that one seemed to hurt Dubois a bit. Hrgovic dug in with a body shot and another right hand. Hrgovic cracked with another right and then Dubois fired back with a one-two.

[Jun 1, 2024 at 7:23 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois -- Round 4: Dubois was on point with several jabs early, forcing Hrgovic backward. Hrgovic landed a right hand but he was firing that weapon less early in the round after it had done so much earlier in the fight. Another right landed for Hrgovic and another seconds later. Hrgovic's cut appeared to be troubling him more in the round. Dubois' jab was landing with power throughout the frame.

[Jun 1, 2024 at 7:20 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois -- Round 3: Hrgovic has a cut that came from an accidental headbutt in the second round. Dubois' pressure did appear to be tiring Hrgovic a little already. A sweeping left hook landed for Hrgovic and one landed for Dubois as well. Dubois cracked with a right hand and then he had to eat two in return from Hrgovic. This fight may come down to who can keep this frantic pace longer.

[Jun 1, 2024 at 7:16 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois -- Round 2: Right hands exchanged early. The Hrgovic right just continued to land over and over. Dubois had yet to get badly hurt but continuing to eat power shots from a large man is not a good strategy. Dubois cracked with a hard jab and a big right hand. Dubois again landed the right hand. Hrgovic opened up the next two right hands but throwing lefts to the body first. Dubois' jabs were stiff and snapping Hrgovic's head back frequently. Good stuff through two rounds.

[Jun 1, 2024 at 7:11 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois -- Round 1: Dubois opened working the jab, trying to establish the center of the ring as his territory. Hrgovic tried to counter with a straight right. Hrgovic just missed the right a few times as Dubois kept popping the jab. Hrgovic landed two clean right hands and just kept looking for it, continuing to land it almost at will. Dubois landed a good left hook but ate another right hand. Dubois continued to focus in on the jab, even as kept getting countered with the right of Hrgovic.

[Jun 1, 2024 at 7:03 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

One fight left before the main event, it's Filip Hrgovic vs. Daniel Dubois for the interim IBF heavyweight title.

[Jun 1, 2024 at 6:42 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Dmitrii Bivol (c) vs. Malik Zinad -- Round 6: Zinad laded a counter left but ate a three-punch combination from Bivol. Bivol landed a good overhand right. A hard counter left hook was next for Bivol. Bivol connected with some shots and had Zinad reeling. Bivol poured it on with a constant assault of shots until the referee was forced to jump in and save Zinad. Bivol waited for his moment, turned it on and got the frustrating challenger out of there.

Official result: Dmitri Bivol def. Malik Zinad via TKO, Round 6