THE heavyweight division will serve up a tasty match-up as part of the Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou undercard on Friday, March 8 in Saudi Arabia.
Fresh off a career-boosting win over Deontay Wilder last month, Joseph Parker will next face Zhilei Zhang, who crushed the lofty ambitions of Joe Joyce on two occasions in 2023.
With last month’s Day of Reckoning event in Riyadh breathing life into an uneventful division, the pulse is quickening in 2024. Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury is scheduled for February 17, Joshua returns against the man who almost beat Fury, and now there is the addition of Parker vs. Zhang.
Zhang’s two performances against Joyce last year, which included a shocking third-round knockout win, propelled the Chinese fighter into the mix at the top end of heavyweight business.
For the over-cooked heavyweight super-fight between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder to take place in 2024 all Wilder had to do was beat Joseph Parker last month. However, the New Zealander ripped up those plans by outclassing the American over 12 rounds.
In an interview with Boxing News this month Parker revealed that a fight with Zhang had been agreed before the offer to face Wilder came in.
“Before I signed the fight with Wilder, Zhang and I already locked in to have a fight,” Parker said. “I already agreed terms. So, I don’t think it’s a hard fight to make.”
Speculation had also linked Zhang to a fight against Wilder on the Joshua-Ngannou card, but instead the 40-year-old will take on the former WBO belt holder.
The March 8 main event pits Joshua, fresh off his impressive stoppage win over Otto Wallin, against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Scheduled for 10 rounds, the match-up gives Joshua an opportunity to go one better than Fury, his long-term rival, who scraped past Ngannou last October.
A fight which was expected to be a walk in the park for the WBC belt-holder was anything but and in the third round Fury was dropped by the debutant. However, after 10 rounds Fury was awarded a split decision, much to his relief.