Richard Riakporhe has mocked Deontay Wilder’s father Gary for suggesting the Bronze Bomber still has a “few good years” left in the sport. Wilder has recently suffered a dramatic decline, most recently hitting a novel low when he was defeated by Zhilei Zhang in Saudi Arabia.

The hard-hitting American was knocked out in the fifth round, with Zhang unleashing two right hooks, sending his opponent to the canvas. The manner in which he lost led to calls for Wilder to retire, including: from his own mother’s side, but his father still believes that he should continue to fight.

In a speech earlier this month, the elder Wilder pointed the finger at his son’s coach Malik Scott and said: “You don’t need a buddy to coach you. It’s not too delayed for [Deontay]. I believe he still has a few good years ahead of him.

“Deontay has always been dull. Now Malik is trying to train him to be a boxer, and if you look at it, you can see that Deontay is not comfortable where he is.”

Riakporhe, who faced Chris Billam-Smith for the WBO cruiserweight title on Saturday night, believes there is still hope for Wilder but disagrees with his father’s hopeful view.

“I don’t know what it is, but something is missing,” Riakporhe told Express Sport. “If he can fix this, he can definitely do something. I think I read somewhere that his dad said he might spend another few years in the sport. I think this is crazy. He’s almost turning 40!

“But I would say he can definitely have a few more fights and he can end it all. Something is wrong, something is missing. In the heavyweight division, all it takes is one good win and that’s it, he’s there.

“There are so many fighters in the heavyweight division who have lost so many times and are still at the top. “I think if he can fix it, then fine, but if he can’t fix it, he shouldn’t get in the ring again.”

Wilder suggested before the fight with Zhang that he would retire if he did not win, but the 38-year-old has not yet confirmed any plans to hang up his gloves. He has lost four of his last five appearances, with two of those defeats coming at the hands of Tyson Fury.

He was also defeated on points by Joseph Parker before losing to Zhang.

Chris Billam-Smith defended his WBO cruiserweight title for a second time, exacting revenge on Richard Riakporhe at Selhurst Park with a comfortable victory on the scorecards.

After a lively and technical first three rounds, it was mostly a fight of punches, but when one of them had success, it was quickly stifled by the holding of the other.

Billam-Smith was getting better at the action and his attacks were more successful than the challenger’s at mid-range, but eventually the pair opened up in the eighth and Riakporhe landed a solid right hand, but again it was the champion who had the last word.

Riakporhe came on forceful in round nine, smashing Billam-Smith’s rubber shield with a powerful right hand, but he was unable to sustain the success and Billam-Smith remained slippery and struck first in the championship rounds.

Riakporhe was deducted a point for illegal exploit of the head in the final round and that was the final nail in the coffin for him as Billam-Smith defended the belt with two scores of 115-112 and a third of 116-111.

Whittaker gained some distance

Massey dethrones Chamberlain

In a thrilling clash, Jack Massey became the recent Commonwealth and European cruiserweight champion after beating Isaac Chamberlain on points.

Massey (22-2, 12 KO) got off to a good start, but Chamberlain (16-3, 8 KO) took up the challenge after halfway through what promised to be a tight contest. Both men were tired throughout the stretch and it was a war of attrition, but Massey won by one score of 116-112 and two scores of 115-113.

Azeez was forced to settle for a draw

Dan Azeez (20-1-1, 13 KO) was on his way to a comeback after losing to Joshua Buatsi in his last fight, but suffered another setback when he dropped to an eight-round featherlight heavyweight draw against Hrvoje Sep ( 12-2-1 , 9 KOs). The referee scored the fight 76:76.

Full undercard summary

Fran Hennessey (4-0, 1 KO) went eight rounds for the first time as a professional, but she was unable to cope in the bantamweight fight with Dorota Norek (7-5, 1 KO). The bantamweight champion won 77-75.

Former contender for the English middleweight title, Mitchell Frearson (11-1-1, 1 KO) went four rounds and won on points against Marco Simmonds (2-2, 0 KO) and cruiserweight hope Deevorn Miller (8-1, 6 ) KO) stopped Edwin Mosquera (12-5-2, 6 KO) during the round.

Potential heavyweight contender Lewie Pochetty (2-0, 2 KO) needed less than a round to knock out Tobi Vermeire (0-3-1).