Zhilei Zhang has targeted his next big bang.
The reigning interim WBO titlist was among the few top heavyweights to have not appeared on Saturday’s ‘Day of Reckoning’ Pay-Per-View event from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The card featured the only pro to defeat him, Filip Hrgovic, who won a disputed decision in their IBF eliminator last August. The headliner was former two-time unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua, who outpointed Zhang in the quarterfinal round en route to Gold in the 2012 London Olympics.
The latter is the loss that Zhang is keener to avenge at the moment. Joshua (27-3, 24KOs) re-emerged among the division’s elites after a fifth-round knockout of Otto Wallin atop Saturday’s show.
“I lost to a better man [eleven] years ago in the Olympics,” Zhang noted on Sunday. “I’m happy we have both come a long way, gone through ups and downs in life.
“Now it’s time to do this for the sport of boxing and give it to the fans around the world.”
The matchup, however unlikely, has more heat than ever given the 2023 campaign enjoyed by boxers.
Zhang (26-1-1, 21KOs) scored a pair of knockout wins over previously unbeaten Joe Joyce. Their April 15 meeting saw the now 40-year-old Chinese southpaw—who lives and trains in New Jersey—stand toe-to-toe with the bruising Joyce and cause enough damage to his right eye to where the fight was stopped midway through round six.
The win netted the interim WBO title for Zhang, though likely a long wait before he gets a shot at the full title. Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14KOs) is the unified WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight titlists and set to next face lineal/WBC champion Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24KOs) for the undisputed crown on February 17 in Riyadh. A rematch clause exists the agreement, which means all mandatories—Zhang, Hrgovic and reinstated WBA ‘Regular’ titlist Mahmoud Charr—will all have to either wait one more fight, or protest and hope for a vacant title.
Joshua is among the top three contenders for all four organizations after having posted three wins on the year. He has twice held the unified WBA/IBF/WBO crown but lost to Usyk last August to end his second reign.
Zhang is perfectly fine with an alternate solution to either getting a shot at the top prize.
“Let’s get it on,” wished Zhang.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox