Zhilei Zhang is one of the most high-profile heavyweights in the world right now.
Zhang picked up a silver medal in the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, and then the Chinese heavyweight would later start his professional career relatively under the radar.
It was in 2023 that he really burst into the wider consciousness with an impressive pair of back-to-back wins over Joe Joyce. Both came by stoppage despite the fact that Joyce had never been down to that point.
‘Big Bang’ backed up those wins with a knockout victory over Deontay Wilder, though did lose on points to Joseph Parker in the interim.
Now he has been called out by former cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie, who has just signed with Frank Warren‘s Queensberry and laid out his path to a world title when speaking to talkSPORT Boxing.
“If I perform well in December, I’ll be straight into a top five heavyweight fight, which should be the fight before a world title.”
Okolie lost his cruiserweight title to Chris Billam-Smith but moved up a division to Bridgerweight. Having beaten Lukasz Rozanski last time out in May to claim that belt with the WBC, he is now ranked fifth with the same governing body up at heavyweight.
“Winning a fight against [Agit] Kabayal, Joseph Parker, Zhang basically lines you up for a world title shot after.”
The current WBC world champion is Oleksandr Usyk, but that could all change when he rematches Tyson Fury on December 21.
