The dust has barely settled on Zhilei Zhang‘s latest win but already he is being called out by an undefeated fighter who has previously been referred to as the heir to the heavyweight throne by Tyson Fury.
Sitting pretty atop that throne right now is Ukrainian and former Olympic Gold medalist Oleksandr Usyk. The two-weight undisputed champion has, in just 22 unbeaten contests, swept up all belts in both the cruiserweight and banner divisions.
Plenty of contenders are now vying for position in the hopes of a shot at his crown if not one of the belts that he may be forced to vacate due to the politics of the various governing bodies involved.
One of those is Zhang who has had a mixed year so far. It started in March when he lost to Joseph Parker out in Saudi Arabia on the undercard of Anthony Joshua versus Francis Ngannou. However, the 40-year-old Chinese fighter quickly righted that wrong by getting back to winning ways on the 5 v 5 Matchroom versus Queensbury card.
He took on American puncher Deontay Wilder and put him away in impressive fashion inside five rounds, potentially signalling the end of the road for the former WBC champion and once fearsome knockout artist.
Zhang has now been called out by Jared Anderson, an unbeaten young heavyweight from Toledo who has only gone 12 rounds twice having knocked out 15 of his 17 opponents so far.
Responding to a call out from fellow American Jarrell Miller who got stopped by Daniel Dubois back in December, Anderson declared more interest in a fight with Zhang.
“This N**** Broke & Need Some Money. I’m Not Interested In Stoping a N**** Who Just Got Stopped I’ll Take Zhang.”
While Zhang is keen for a shot of redemption at Parker or a world title shot, Miller will face Andy Ruiz Jr on the August 3 Riyadh Season card. Also appearing is Anderson, who will face Martin Bakole in a great heavyweight match-up.
