There are quite a few interesting and potentially exciting heavyweight fights coming up, fights that are tough to pick a winner from. Obviously, the big one is the four-belt unification clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, while the Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou fight has got plenty of fans intrigued. As has the fight between Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker.
As fans know, the fight between the Chinese southpaw and the former WBO heavyweight champ from New Zealand will take place on the March 8 card that will be topped by AJ against Ngannou. But “Big Bang” has said he thinks “real boxing fans know my fight will be the real main event.” Zhang may have a point, as the fight between he and Parker is one heck of a tough one to predict and the action seems to be guaranteed; while some critics say the Joshua-Ngannou fight is a mismatch on favour of AJ. We will see about that on the night.
But as far as how he gets the win over Parker, as he is sure he will do, 40 year old Zhang says he will KO Parker, “for sure.” But not after coming through a “tough fight.”
Speaking with Gambling.com, Zhang, 26-1-1(21) said the Parker fight will be “very different from my fight with Joe Joyce.” It was of course those two, back-to-back stoppage wins over “The Juggernaut” that propelled Zhang into elite-level contention and into the minds of so many fight fans. Now, a KO win over Parker would see the drum for a Zhang title shot banged that much harder.
“I really think my fight against Parker will be very exciting, and possibly the most exciting of the night,” Zhang said. “Under normal circumstances, our fight would be the main event. The fight against Parker will be very different from the fight [I had] against Joyce. My preparation, approach, and game plan will be different for Parker. Parker performed great against Deontay Wilder and anything can happen in boxing. I am expecting a tough fight, but I think I will win by knockout for sure. I have the power to win in style.”
If his prediction comes true and Zhang does take Parker out, he will become just the second man to have done the job. Ironically, it was Joyce who became the first man to KO Parker, this last year. Since then, 32 year old Parker has undergone a brilliant rebuild and he has all the confidence in the world after that upset win over Wilder.
Parker, 34-3(23) showed in the Joyce loss that he really does take some shifting. But Zhang does have the look of one of the most powerful and most dangerous big men out there today.
Can YOU pick a winner here?
