Fans agree that the heavyweight fight between Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker (or is it the other way round, who is the A-side here?) is a heck of a co-main event to the hyped Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou headliner of March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But “Big Bang” Zhang insists his fight should be, in fact IS, the main event – the real fight of the night that fans should be tuning in for.
While there is absolutely a ton of interest, intrigue and excitement surrounding the Joshua Vs. Ngannou rumble (and hopefully it will turn out to be a rumble, a good fight), plenty of fans agree with Zhang that his fight against Parker, 43-3(23) is a far more solid match up. While heavyweight great Lennox Lewis recently made plenty of headlines by stating how, in his opinion, the winner of Zhang-Parker should get a shot at the undisputed heavyweight crown, more so than the winner of the Joshua-Ngannou fight.
Zhang says the Joshua-Ngannou fight is merely a “ten round exhibition,” and that he has no doubt at all that Joshua will get the win.
“From my perspective, that’s a ten round exhibition,” Zhang said to Fight Hype on the subject of AJ against Ngannou. “People are going to tune in to watch that fight, a lot of people, because it’s boxing versus MMA, they want to see Joshua versus Ngannou two world famous athletes going at each other. But to me, there’s no question Joshua will get the victory. If you really look at it from a boxing perspective, you know who the main event will be.”
It’s true enough that the Joshua-Ngannou fight, or exhibition if you prefer (the result of the fight will count on the pro record of both men, as the result of the Tyson Fury-Ngannou fight registered on the pro record of both men) will draw eyeballs and possibly great numbers, but it’s tough to disagree with Zhang, 26-1-1(21) here.
Whatever you may think of the main event of March 8, there is no doubt the Zhang-Parker fight is a 100 percent legit heavyweight fight, a fight that will contest the WBO interim title. It’s a risky fight for both men, and plenty of fans do see this one as a genuine 50 50 fight.
Can you say the same about Joshua Vs. Ngannou?
Hopefully both fights will prove well worth tuning in for on Friday March 8.