Zhilei Zhang knocks out Deontay Wilder as Queensberry thrash Matchroom in 5 vs 5 event

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Zhilei Zhang knocked out Deontay Wilder in the fifth round on Saturday, as Queensberry thrashed Matchroom at a unique event in Saudi Arabia.

The card in Riyadh pitted Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom against Frank Warren’s company, with each promoter picking a five-man team.

American Wilder, a former world heavyweight champion, was Hearn’s captain but suffered a fifth-round KO by China’s Zhang, who capped off a dominant showing from his team.

Zhang, 41, spun around Wilder with a right hook then folded the 38-year-old with another at the Kingdom Arena. Wilder barely beat the referee’s count, but the fight was waved off as the “Bronze Bomber” staggered around.

Earlier in the night, Queensberry captain Hamzah Sheeraz stopped Austin Williams, Daniel Dubois beat Filip Hrgovic by TKO, Nick Ball dethroned WBA featherweight champion Ray Ford, and Willy Hutchinson easily outpointed Craig Richards.

Those results, including extra points for captains and knockouts, led to a 10-0 win for Queensberry.

Furthermore, Dubois’s victory claimed him the IBF interim heavyweight title and seemed to set up a September clash with Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium.

Elsewhere on the card, Dmitry Bivol retained the WBA light-heavyweight belt by stopping Malik Zinad. The latter was stepping in against the unbeaten Russian after Artur Beterbiev withdrew due to injury.

Bivol vs Beterbiev, the long-awaited undisputed clash, is now set to take place in Riyadh in October.