Zhilei Zhang has piled on the pounds ahead of his upcoming clash with Deontay Wilder on Saturday night.
The Chinese puncher is set to tip the scales at close to 300lbs for their bout on the unprecedented Queensberry vs Matchroom 5vs5 tournament.
3
Zhang is set to weigh in at a career-heaviest weight against Wilder
‘Big Bang’ weighed in at a career-heaviest 291lbs for his last outing against Joseph Parker.
But it appears he will surpass that figure when he steps on the scales on Friday afternoon as he looks to physically dominate Wilder like Tyson Fury did in their second and third fights.
Having boxed to a draw in their inaugural encounter, Fury opted to pack on 17lbs for their rematch in order to help him force Wilder onto his heels and nullify the American’s legendary punching power.
→ Swipe to see more articles
The plan worked to perfection, with Fury decking Wilder twice en route to a seventh round stoppage victory.
He added another 4lbs of mass for the trilogy and went on to knock out Wilder in the eleventh stanza after a far more competitive fight.
Inspired by Fury’s successes, Zhang is hoping to follow his blueprint this weekend.
“I have actually put on a lot of weight for this fight to prepare for Deontay Wilder,” Zhang told The Metro.
“From watching Tyson Fury’s fights against Wilder I believe Fury had some wonderful success when he put on a lot of weight.
3
Zhang is hoping to man handle Wilder like Fury did in their second and third fightsCredit: Getty
3
Wilder and Zhang square off on June 1 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia live on DAZNCredit: GETTY
“He was punching a lot harder and he was also able to absorb Wilder’s power.
“Right now I weigh about 295lbs. I think it is my personal record. Wilder is very dangerous, I have to give him a lot of respect.
Lawrence Okolie offers Oleksandr Usyk the opportunity to become three-weight world champion and also hints at potential fights with Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang
“But taking this approach will definitely change the dynamic of the fight.”
Adding extra weight to his already massive frame seems somewhat counterintuitive given the 41 year olds questionable gas tank.
In his last outing against Parker, Zhang had the Kiwi down twice in rounds three and eight, but seemingly lacked the conditioning to stop his adversary as he fell to defeat on points.
Only time will tell if coming up in weight will pay dividends for Zhang.
