Two heavyweights who’ve taken on all comers have turned to each other for their next opportunities.
Boxing Scene has learned that interim WBO heavyweight titlist Zhilei Zhang and former WBO champ Joseph Parker are set to meet March 8 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The bout is expected to be confirmed during a press conference Monday in London to otherwise formally announce the Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou main event.
Boxing News’ Declan Taylor was the first to report the development. Messages left for representatives for both camps were not immediately returned before this story was posted.
Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) was among the few notable heavyweights to not appear on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ show December 23 in Riyadh, on which Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) and Parker posted separate wins. It left the 40-year-old Chinese southpaw — who lives and trains in New Jersey —eager to take on anyone from that card to carry over the positive momentum gained from his pair of knockout wins over previously unbeaten Joe Joyce.
Zhang stood toe-to-toe with the bruising Joyce in their first meeting April 15 and caused enough damage to his right eye to force a stoppage midway through round six.
The win netted the interim WBO title for Zhang, though likely a long wait before he gets a shot at the full title. Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) is the unified WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight titlists and set to face lineal/WBC champion Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) for the undisputed crown on February 17 in Riyadh. A rematch clause exists in the agreement, which means all mandatories — Zhang, IBF mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 14 KOs) and reinstated WBA ‘Regular’ titlist Mahmoud Charr — will all have to either wait in line or for the titles to be relinquished.
Zhang repeated the feat over Joyce, this time in far more emphatic fashion with a one-sided, third-round knockout last September 23. Parker previously was knocked out by Joyce in September 2022.
The ‘Day of Reckoning’ show was designed, in part, to set up a long-awaited showdown between Joshua and former long-reigning WBC titlist Deontay Wilder. New Zealand’s Parker (34-3, 23 KOs) ruined plans with his lopsided decision win over Alabama’s Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs), to wrap up a four-win campaign for the former titleholder.
To his credit, Parker did not want to rest on his laurels. He called for showdowns with any of the division’s top players, including Zhang and Hrgovic. It was Zhang who answered the call for a fight that will leave the winner in prime position to land a massive fight in the suddenly red-hot heavyweight division.
Jake Donovan