Zhilei Zhang says he’s coming to “bang” unbeaten Agit Kabayel in their 12-round battle for the WBC interim heavyweight title this Saturday, February 22nd, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The two are part of Turki Alashikh’s card on DAZN PPV.
The big southpaw Zhang (27-2- (22 KOs) is going to need to be in better condition than he was in his loss to Joseph Parker last year in March 2024 in Riyadh. Zhang ran out of gas after dropping Parker twice and wound up losing a 12-round majority decision in a fight that he could have easily won if his stamina had held out.
Zhang bounced back from his loss to Parker to stop former WBC champion Deontay Wilder in the fifth round on June 1st last year in Riyadh. Zhilei was a little slimmer in that fight, coming in at 282 3/4 lbs for that fight compared to the 291 1/2 that he weighed for the Parker fight.
Kabayel, 32, is a lot younger than the 41-year-old Zhang, and he’ll likely follow Parker’s partially created blueprint for defeating the giant 6’6″ two-time Chinese Olympian. Parker, Jerry Forrest, and Filip Hrgovic have given Zhang the toughest fights in his 11-year career.
Kabayel has put together a good run lately, stopping Arslanbek Makhmudov and Frank Sanchez to put him in position to fight Zhang for the WBC interim title.
Zhang’s Mindset
“This is what boxing needs. Two tough guys fighting each other. One goes up, one goes down, and we’ll see what happens. This is what I want. To always stand up to the tough challenges,” said Zhilei Zhang to Boxing King Media about his fight against Agit Kabayel this Saturday night on February 22nd on DAZN.
“I do feel sorry sometimes. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s health and well-being, but we’re in this hurt business, we’re in this sport to show the ultimate respect to perform the best,” said Zhang.
“Kabayel, I bang you,” said Zhang with his prediction for their fight this Saturday.
