Zhang preparing to go the distance in heavyweight WBO interim title clash with ‘very dangerous’ Parker
- Zhang Zhilei says he holds psychological edge over Joseph Parker and is already thinking about what happens ‘when I beat him’
- Fighters will clash as co-main event of Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou card in Riyadh on March 8
Zhang Zhilei knows his next opponent Joseph Parker is “a very dangerous fighter”, but said the Kiwi knew the only way he could win their WBO interim title bout in Saudi Arabia was by going the distance.
The heavyweight pair will clash as the co-main event to Anthony Joshua’s fight with Francis Ngannou in Riyadh on March 8, and Zhang said he still held the psychological edge having beaten his New Zealand rival when they were amateurs.
That 2011 fight at the World Championships in Baku saw southpaw Zhang win on points, and he remembers taking on a young, raw Parker.
“Back then, because Parker was quite young, 19 or 20 years old, he wasn’t very experienced,” Zhang told the Post.
“Now, after so many years, he’s improving and won the WBO title [in 2016]. And his recent fights have been very good.”
Zhang is heading into the fight on the back of a career-defining 2023, in which he won the WBO interim heavyweight title in April, when he beat Briton Joe Joyce via a sixth-round stoppage.
The Chinese heavyweight then made light work of Joyce in the rematch in September, knocking the 38-year-old out with a brutal right hook at the end of the third round.
But Parker is also going into the fight off back-to-back wins, the most prominent of which was a unanimous decision victory against former WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder, in December.
Zhang though is not convinced that proves Parker’s prowess, and suggested Wilder was underdone going into the clash.
“The fights he [Parker] had recently were amazing,” Zhang said. “Against Wilder, he was able to dominate and bring his strong points into play.
“Wilder didn’t fight for a long time [before he faced Parker]. Actually, in two years he only had one fight and that lasted one round. So when he did fight, he couldn’t find the rhythm.”
Zhang also said while any heavyweight could throw a punch, he believed the 32-year-old Parker would try and to wear him down, rather than get into a slugging contest.
However, he was also quick to praise his rival, and said that after analysing previous fights he didn’t think the Kiwi had many weaknesses.
“Parker’s plan is pretty simple. He’s going to try and slow me down and make the fight go 12 rounds,” Zhang said. “That is what we are training for, increasing physical reserve, making sure there is enough in the tank to go the distance.
“In heavyweight boxing, there is a lot of unpredictability, every fighter hits hard, there’s a chance you can be knocked down by a single hit or combo at any time and it can change the outcome of the fight. So, we’re going to maintain a very simple approach.”
Zhang has only gone 12 rounds once in his professional career when he lost by unanimous decision to Filip Hrgovic in 2022, a fight that also took place in the desert kingdom
However, Zhang said the defeat in Jeddah, the only one of his professional career, was a pivotal moment.
“After the loss to Hrgovic and any loss for that matter, I try not to let the result affect me. I take time to summarise but then try to move past it,” he said.
“But after that loss, I became more disciplined in my life and started to approach training more scientifically to ensure that the result of my fights, and everything that comes afterwards, is in my hands.”
Should Zhang lose the fight against Parker, he will have the right to trigger a rematch.
Zhang though is looking beyond to a WBO world title shot, although that will depend on a chaotic heavyweight division further confused by Tyson Fury, who holds the WBC belt, having to pull out of his unification bout with WBA, WBO and IBF holder Oleksandr Usyk.
“When I beat Parker, then we’ll look at the next steps,” Zhang said.
