Deontay Wilder’s dad branded ‘insane’ with boxing career hanging by a thread - EXCLUSIVE
EXCLUSIVE: Richard Riakporhe believes it may be time for Deontay Wilder to retire.
Richard Riakporhe has mocked Deontay Wilder's father Gary for suggesting the Bronze Bomber still has 'several good years' left in the sport. Wilder has endured a dramatic fall from grace as of late and recently hit a new low when he was beaten by Zhilei Zhang in Saudi Arabia.
The big-hitting American was knocked out in the fifth round, with Zhang unleashing two right hooks to send his rival crashing to the canvas. The manner of his defeat prompted calls for Wilder to retire, including from his own mother, but his father still believes he should continue to fight on.
Speaking earlier this month, the elder Wilder pointed the finger at his son's trainer Malik Scott and said: "You don’t need a buddy to train you. It’s not too late for [Deontay]. I believe he's got several good years left.
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"Deontay has always been a slugger. Now Malik’s trying to train him to be a boxer, and if you look at it, you’ll see that Deontay is not comfortable where he’s at."
Riakporhe, who faced Chris Billam-Smith for the WBO cruiserweight title on Saturday night, believes there is still hope for Wilder but does not agree with his father's optimistic view.
"I don’t know what it is but something is missing," Riakporhe told Express Sport. "If he can fix that, he can definitely do something. I think I read somewhere that his dad was saying he can have another several years in the sport. I think that’s insane. He’s nearly touching 40!
"But I would say he can definitely have a couple more fights and maybe call it a day. Something is wrong, something is missing. In the heavyweight division it just takes one good victory and that’s it, he’s there.
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"There are so many fighters at heavyweight who have lost plenty of times but they still headline. I think if he can fix that, it’s good, but if he can’t fix that, he shouldn’t step in the ring again."
Wilder suggested before his fight against Zhang that he would retire if he did not win, but the 38-year-old is yet to confirm any plans to hang up his gloves. He has lost four of his last five outings, with two of those defeats coming at the hands of Tyson Fury.
He was also beaten on points by Joseph Parker before losing to Zhang.
