The world may be waiting for Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury to fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship, but the division is not slowing down any time soon. At the beginning of April, Jared “Big Baby” Anderson is set to fight in Newark while Anthony Joshua is scheduled to make his debut with trainer Derrick James. Those two fights will set the stage for a heavyweight clash featuring two contenders, Joe Joyce and Zhilei Zhang. With a record of 15-0 with 14 knockouts, Joyce will enter the bout as heavy favorite, but Zhang remains undeterred.
“Everybody calls him a juggernaut for a reason. He does look like one. He’s very well-conditioned, can take a punch and has an iron chin. All these things are very impressive,” Zhang told Lewis Watson during a recent interview.
“He’s never fought anyone like me. I have the power to hurt him and he’ll feel this. If he is a juggernaut, then I am armor-piercing.”
Zhang suffered a controversial defeat in his last bout. Despite knocking his opponent, Filip Hrgovi?, down, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Hrgovi?. Now, he’s looking to enter enemy territory and take on the unbeaten fighter in his home country.
“I don’t see the United Kingdom as away territory. I know that I have fans there and I know that people will be buying tickets to see me, as well as Joe Joyce,” Zhang said.
The bout is set for April 15, 2023 in London at Copper Box Arena.
