Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker: The Potential Fight Of The Night
Zhang will face Parker as the chief support to Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou this Friday night in Riyadh
Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker is the chief support to Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou this Friday night in Riyadh and this could end up being the fight of the night.
Both Zhang and Parker are in brilliant form, pointing towards a genuine 50-50 contest between two of the best heavyweights in the world.
Zhang-Parker is like the extra tasty starter before the main course. It won’t completely satisfy you but it has the potential to get your juices flowing before a historic bout between Joshua and Ngannou.
Since suffering a draw to Jerry Forrest in 2021, Zhang has looked very impressive. On his Boxrec you can see a unanimous decision loss to Filip Hrgovic, yet this result doesn’t tell the full story.
For a start, Zhang dropped Hrgovic in the first round. It wasn’t the cleanest of knockdowns but a punch landed on the back of Hrgovic’s head and down he went. And secondly, many believe the Chinese boxer was unlucky to not win on points.
However, it is Zhang’s last two fights against Joe Joyce which has skyrocketed his reputation in the boxing fraternity.
After all, Zhang became the first man to defeat Joyce as a professional in 2023. Despite Joyce being nicknamed ‘The Juggernaut’ and at one point seeming to possess a granite chin, Zhang put the rumours to bed with two knockout victories against the Brit in a row.
‘Big Bang’ Zhang couldn’t miss with the left hand in the first fight, forcing Joyce to retire from the contest due to excessive damage to his right eye. And in the rematch, Zhang landed one of the best right hooks you will ever see in a boxing ring.
Now 40 years old, the hype behind Zhang is almost surprising.
Zhang competed at the 2012 Olympics where he lost to Joshua on points in the round of 16 and few would have predicted him to break into Ring Magazine’s top five heavyweight rankings as a professional.
But as the heavyweight division has shown before, age is just a number. This is especially the case when you look at the top three such as Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, and Joshua who are all aged over 34.
Not to mention Ngannou who made his debut in professional boxing at 37 against Fury last October and was close to emerging victorious.
Still, if there is any advantage with regard to being a younger man, it’s with Parker. Even though the New Zealander turned pro in 2012, he is only 32 years old and it feels like he has been around for ages.
Parker announced himself as someone to watch in 2016 when he outpointed Andy Ruiz in his home country to capture the WBO Heavyweight Championship.
Yet since 2018, Parker’s career has been a rollercoaster of mixed performances. No one was overly surprised when he lost to Joshua but it was a shock to see Parker come up short against Dillian Whyte the following fight.
And after his first bout with Dereck Chisora in 2021, question marks started to appear regarding how much he had left in the sport of boxing.
However, no result made his career look bleaker than the knockout loss to Joyce in 2022. At that point, it was seriously difficult to see how Parker could remain a force in the heavyweight division.
That’s the beauty of boxing though, because in 2023 Parker’s career was reincarnated with four dominant wins.
When Parker was scheduled to face Deontay Wilder last December, most people believed the fight was a foregone conclusion. Wilder was meant to go in there, land the right hand, and set up a lucrative bout with Joshua.
And yet, Parker boxed Wilder’s ears off for twelve rounds, capturing the best win of his career.
In a nutshell, both Zhang and Parker have mustered phenomenal comebacks in the last twelve months which is why the contest is so intriguing.
Stylistically, it is Zhang who is the bigger puncher and possesses more offensive weapons. But Parker has the speed advantage in both hand and foot which could allow him to outbox the 6’6 ‘Big Bang’.
Regardless, Zhang is the slight favourite with the bookies and if he wins it's likely to come in the early rounds via knockout. Meanwhile, Parker as the underdog has a better chance of winning on points.
One thing is certain. The winner of Zhang-Parker will be in a great position to fight for a world title at the end of this year or in early 2025.
The WBO Interim Heavyweight Championship is on the line and it's only a matter of time before a mandatory shot is called.
Fury-Usyk is set to take place on May 18th for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship. But judging by heavyweight history, all the belts won’t stay together for too long.
Really good card all round to be fair. This is the pick for me as well. Fancy Zhang via KO. Although that's not a knock on Parker as he accepts tough fights time and again.
Yeah Zhang is dangerous! Parker is a warrior but I think he needs to move a lot in this fight if he has any chance of winning.