Zhang: “I Can Only Become Stronger By Fighting, Beating The Best – Joshua, Usyk, Fury”
Fight fans await the next fight of Chinese giant Zhilei Zhang with great interest. Fresh off his hammering of the previously indestructible Joe Joyce, “Big Bang” is plotting his next move. Speaking with CGTN, the 39 year old southpaw said he has two main goals: to become the first-ever Chinese world heavyweight champion, and to have a big fight at the enormous Bird’s Best Stadium in Beijing.
It was at The Bird’s Nest Stadium where Zhang won his Olympic silver medal and now he wants to fight a big pro fight there, with the likes of Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua on his hit-list. Or, if you prefer, these guys are on Zhang’s wish-list.
“I am very confident,” Zhang said to Wang Qiwei. “I like to challenge the strongest fighters – I can only become stronger by fighting and beating the best fighters. There are real boxing champions above me – Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are all strong fighters. I want to challenge any of them. My goal is to become the world boxing champion. Now I am only one step away, so I will work even harder and hope that I can defeat Usyk to become the first heavyweight world champion in Chinese or even Asian history. The Bird’s Nest Stadium is where the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics took place – I’d love to have a fight there.”
Zhang against either of the big names he listed would be a big attraction; in China especially. Zhang, 25-1-1(20) pulls in massive numbers when he fights, his countrymen and women tuning in by the tens of millions when he fights. Now a bigger star than ever, and recognised by almost all as the real deal, as a genuine threat to any rival heavyweight out there, Zhang’s numbers will only rise.
And this means that whoever fights him next will get a big payday. Might a Fury, or an AJ, or a Usyk like the idea of going to China to fight Zhang in front of both an enormous live audience and a colossal TV audience? Why not? Currently, there is all this talk of some possible heavyweight mega-fights taking place in Saudi Arabia later this year. But maybe a Zhang-Joshua, a Zhang-Fury, or a Zhang-Usyk fight might break records in China here in 2023? Right now, “Big Bang” Zhang is the heavyweight on everyone’s lips and it will be interesting as well as fun seeing how much more there is to come from his amazing story.
Let’s ask again, can Zhang become world heavyweight champion?
