Zhilei Zhang wants a rematch with Anthony Joshua, provided they both come through their next fights.

Joshua takes on Francis Ngannou on March 8, 2024, following his impressive win over Otto Wallin. He made the Swede quit on his stool as Wallin’s corner threw in the towel. That set up the Ngannou fight, which gives the winner the chance to fight for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship.

Tyson Fury Vs. Oleksandr Usyk face off on February 17, 2024, to decide this era’s best heavyweight. But Zhang is hoping to throw his name into the mix. 

He is in the co-main event against Joseph Parker. Zhang is coming off the best wins of his career, having stopped Joe Joyce in consecutive fights to get him the WBO Heavyweight Interim Belt.

That places him as the mandatory for the winner of Fury-Usyk. But he faces Parker, who is coming off the best win of his career. He dominated Deontay Wilder to win a unanimous decision. This spoilt the Joshua-Wilder fight after both fighters signed to make it happen.

But now Zhang wants his shot against Joshua. 

Zhang On Joshua

“I think everyone knows I want to fight AJ. We fought in the Olympics in 2012 and he beat me. But that was a long time ago. I am here if they want to do it. I want that fight very much – maybe I can ask him in person come 8 March.  It is also my dream to fight in at home in China someday. Will it be next? I don’t know. But I am working with my promoter to explore the option,” Zhang said 

Their only meeting was at the London 2012 Olympics, where Joshua came out victorious via a unanimous decision. Since then, both have had contrasting careers. Joshua became a two-time Unified Heavyweight Champion and is now working himself into a position to become a three-time heavyweight champion.

But at 40, Zhang is having the best moments of his career. The Chinese did accuse Eddie Hearn of keeping Joshua away from him, given that he was in contention to fight AJ before Ngannou was chosen. But Parker is also incentivised to win since he wants to avenge his loss to Joshua. He lost his WBO Heavyweight Title in 2018, losing a unanimous decision. 

Parker On Joshua

"Joseph has earned that fight [with Joshua] in my opinion and the Saudis would see merit in Parker against Anthony Joshua. It might not be next, there might be a bit more work to do but I think that’s the fight fans want to see.

"It’s a merit-based fight. In terms of opponents, Joseph will fight anyone and if you look at all the names on his resume from Derek Chisora twice, Joe Joyce, Joshua, Wilder, Dillian Whyte, the list goes on and he’s still only 31-years-old. We’ll fight Anthony Joshua in a heartbeat. Everyone knows Joseph will fight him next,” David Higgins (Parker’s promoter) stated 

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