Zhilei Zhang vs. Joseph Parker (WBO interim heavyweight title) March 8

[Distinctin]

Have you all seen Zhang's press conference he believes that his fight against Parker is and should be the real main event because the Joshua - Ngannou match is just an exhibition while his match against Joseph Parker is a title match and many fans agreed that their match should not be an undercard or even a co main event

According to Zhang

“From my perspective, that’s a ten round exhibition,” Zhang said to Fight Hype on the subject of AJ against Ngannou. “People are going to tune in to watch that fight, a lot of people, because it’s boxing versus MMA, they want to see Joshua versus Ngannou two world famous athletes going at each other. But to me, there’s no question Joshua will get the victory. If you really look at it from a boxing perspective, you know who the main event will be.”

https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/zhilei-zhang-says-him-against-joseph-parker-is-the-real-march-8-main-event/273287

Although he has a case but Joshua - Ngannou has a lot of intrigue, curiosity, and interest the boxing wants to see how Ngannou will pair against Joshua or if Joshua will perform better than Fury who suffered from a knockdown when he fought Ngannou.

I believe both fights deserve a spotlight and the winner of their respective fights will move on for another title shot, it would be unusual if Ngannou ended up a champion before the end of the year, Ngannou a World Champion in less than 5 fights could be the biggest shake-up in boxing history.

With such a statement, I would believe he is trying to belittle Ngannou for he wants to be the next to fight Ngannou.

He doesn't believe Ngannou will win because he is not a legitimate boxer, or started his career as a boxer. And yeah, he may be little him but if Ngannou will lose and he wins, it doesn't make sense if he'll fight Ngannou. What we could potentially see is that AJ vs Zhang fight, and Ngannou will slowly loss the spotlight. Remember that he was only popular now in boxing because he have Fury a hard time on his debut in boxing, and that until now people still believe that he won, but a loss against AJ will change the perfective of the people and slowly he'll be forgotten as their attention will be focus on  AJ and Zhang.

Zhang is a real deal, he could even defeat Fury in he legitimate match and China will soon produce more fighters like him to dominate the boxing industry. Zhang vs Ngannou could be the next fight already.

Not sure if he could defeat Fury though, but of course he is a real deal. I think he should prove himself first by defeating a popular boxer. As I've mentioned, he could potentially face AJ after the fighter if both boxers will end up victorious, so maybe after that he could fight Fury if Fury will also defeat Usyk on their match.

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[passwordnow]

This is a problem for me and IMO also with the other boxing fans, we only follow the popular ones but we don't tune in to fights like this. I'd like to thank OP first for bringing this heavy weight match. It's been so long that I have watched an heavy weight match so I am no longer familiar with the heavy weight fighters on this era.

I follow boxing only a little bit, mainly a fan of Fury, but this fight seems interesting. Until recently I didn’t really know Zhang but he has a pretty good record but is already 40 years old. Parker upset Wilder and his odd to win seems pretty good, so there might be some value in it. Most people on here think Zhang will win so will do some research before betting on it.

Both of us haven't followed the category for that much but it's interesting that this has been brought and that's why I am going to take a look and watch some clips of these fighters for me to have some idea on what you guys are talking about. But typically, they're just all about the exposure to add some heat to the match and make some noise of it for everyone to have an idea that this match is coming soon.

[Finestream]

This is a problem for me and IMO also with the other boxing fans, we only follow the popular ones but we don't tune in to fights like this. I'd like to thank OP first for bringing this heavy weight match. It's been so long that I have watched an heavy weight match so I am no longer familiar with the heavy weight fighters on this era.

You mean you don't know the popular boxers like the following?

1-Anthony Joshua
2-Tyson Fury
3- Deontay Wilder
4-Oleksandr Usyk

These are the popular big men in the heavyweight division but not all of them are champion, only Usyk and Fury are. So they should give a chance so people will also knkow Zhang and Parker who are into a title fight. Who knows, one of these two might become an undisputed champion, although unlikely though.

I follow boxing only a little bit, mainly a fan of Fury, but this fight seems interesting. Until recently I didn’t really know Zhang but he has a pretty good record but is already 40 years old. Parker upset Wilder and his odd to win seems pretty good, so there might be some value in it. Most people on here think Zhang will win so will do some research before betting on it.

Both of us haven't followed the category for that much but it's interesting that this has been brought and that's why I am going to take a look and watch some clips of these fighters for me to have some idea on what you guys are talking about. But typically, they're just all about the exposure to add some heat to the match and make some noise of it for everyone to have an idea that this match is coming soon.

He's old, that's probably a disadvantage, but he won his last two fights against a KO artist, so we can respect his power.

[Yaunfitda]

Zhilei Zhang reminds me of George Foreman after his comeback in his later years. He is quite old for a champion and doesn't have the best reflexes but he can still hit like a mule. Joseph Parker demonstrated against Wilder that he is able to handle a one-dimensional fighter with heavy hands so I see the outcome being favorable for him. The speed, age and skill advantage are all in Parker's favor. He just needs to follow a similar strategy to the one he used against Wilder.

Yeah, but I think if we look at Wilder, he is already not in his prime when he had Parker. I mean his lost to Fury might be his last straw, because after that we've seen him self destruct and blame everyone around him including his so called customed. And that's why Parker was able to bet and dance around as Wilder can't pull the trigger and he even admit that post fight interview. But with Zhang, like you said, the more he age, the more he mature and maybe, just maybe if he can hit that one power left hook of his on Parker, straight flush, we will see how Parker can take it. And maybe this is the reason why is the favorite in this fight. Odd makers are giving Zhang to hit him with his power early and put the fight away in his favor.

[aioc]

Actually Parker has more fights as per boxrec, and he is younger, looking at that he got the edge but bookies listed him as underdog.

https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/613846
https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/692149

Because Parker was beaten by stoppage by Joe Joyce who Zhang beat twice by stoppage on those two fights so based on the analysis and on the theory that you have to beat the man that beat the man, Zhang is the favorite to win, this fight looks even two me, I already agreed that there should be a dedicated thread for this because not only this is a title fight but its also this is a much interesting fight as the fight could go either way, it depends on who wants the fight badly.
Both fighters know the importance of the fight and they will go all out for this fight.

So far the result of the poll

Zhang by decision   - 1 (12.5%)
Zhang by KO   - 6 (75%)
Parker by decision   - 0 (0%)
Parker by KO   - 1 (12.5%)

[Viscore]

Actually Parker has more fights as per boxrec, and he is younger, looking at that he got the edge but bookies listed him as underdog.

https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/613846
https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/692149

Because Parker was beaten by stoppage by Joe Joyce who Zhang beat twice by stoppage on those two fights so based on the analysis and on the theory that you have to beat the man that beat the man, Zhang is the favorite to win, this fight looks even two me, I already agreed that there should be a dedicated thread for this because not only this is a title fight but its also this is a much interesting fight as the fight could go either way, it depends on who wants the fight badly.
Both fighters know the importance of the fight and they will go all out for this fight.

So far the result of the poll

Zhang by decision   - 1 (12.5%)
Zhang by KO   - 6 (75%)
Parker by decision   - 0 (0%)
Parker by KO   - 1 (12.5%)

Zhang by KO is the winner. Most of us here believe that it will happen and Zhang will dominate the fight. However, I don't consider it a big factor that Joyce beat Parker while Zhang beat Joyce twice because Parker might have improve and he gained enough confidence now after beating a KO artist Wilder. IMO, this fight is very unpredictable, two unpopular boxers which one will be a champion soon. Hopefully they'll gain more popularity after this especially if this fight will end up to be a close contest so we could possibly see a rematch or even trilogy.

[passwordnow]

This is a problem for me and IMO also with the other boxing fans, we only follow the popular ones but we don't tune in to fights like this. I'd like to thank OP first for bringing this heavy weight match. It's been so long that I have watched an heavy weight match so I am no longer familiar with the heavy weight fighters on this era.

You mean you don't know the popular boxers like the following?

1-Anthony Joshua
2-Tyson Fury
3- Deontay Wilder
4-Oleksandr Usyk

These are the popular big men in the heavyweight division but not all of them are champion, only Usyk and Fury are. So they should give a chance so people will also knkow Zhang and Parker who are into a title fight. Who knows, one of these two might become an undisputed champion, although unlikely though.

I know Fury but it seems that I am just a fan of boxing with the ones that I know but don't follow the whole industry. Or just some specific weight divisions and that's why I don't know that much on this weight.

Both of us haven't followed the category for that much but it's interesting that this has been brought and that's why I am going to take a look and watch some clips of these fighters for me to have some idea on what you guys are talking about. But typically, they're just all about the exposure to add some heat to the match and make some noise of it for everyone to have an idea that this match is coming soon.

He's old, that's probably a disadvantage, but he won his last two fights against a KO artist, so we can respect his power.

That's good to know and adds to the flavor of my research with him. While age seems to be a disadvantage but as they always reason out, it's just a number and if he's got the prowess and power at that stage. He's still got some guts to do some KOs and probably on this match. Still, I need to know more for both of them.

[robelneo]

For this match, I'll go for their history, Parker was beaten by Joyce, and Joyce got beaten by Zhang twice, so Zhang has the motivation that if he has beaten the man who beats Parker he can also beat this guy but we have a different Parker when he fought Wilder if he can do that aggressiveness against Zhang then he has the chance to beat Zhang, but between the two Zhang is the heavy hitter and a more agile fighter and posses a good skill than Wilder so his aggressiveness might not work because of Zhang lightning jab that may stop him from moving forward to attack.
This is an interesting fight too, not your usual undercard it should be a co-main event fight.

[yazher]

This is hard to predict since Zhang had some unique skills when he won in his last fights and that could be a problem for Parker unless he already solved it and also prepared for working strategies like how he managed to beat Wilder last time. Overall, this is something to watch and if Parker will gonna win this one too, he might get a chance to fight Ngannou as well or Usyk and Fury for the Unification championship in the heavyweight bout.

[TravelMug]

This is hard to predict since Zhang had some unique skills when he won in his last fights and that could be a problem for Parker unless he already solved it and also prepared for working strategies like how he managed to beat Wilder last time. Overall, this is something to watch and if Parker will gonna win this one too, he might get a chance to fight Ngannou as well or Usyk and Fury for the Unification championship in the heavyweight bout.

I think the winner could elevate and become mandatories to any of those top fighters that we have right now in the division. So this is a make or break, specially for Zhang, who we haven't heard before by suddenly burst into the boxing scene with his two wins against the so called next face of the HW in Dubois. But he beat him by knockout and so the same can be said for Parker, he derail the AJ vs Wilder in Saudi. But I guess the scenario that we are looking is that Zhang by early knockout win or Parker boxing his way to a 12 round decision and avoiding those heavy bombs from Zhang.

[mirakal]

This is hard to predict since Zhang had some unique skills when he won in his last fights and that could be a problem for Parker unless he already solved it and also prepared for working strategies like how he managed to beat Wilder last time. Overall, this is something to watch and if Parker will gonna win this one too, he might get a chance to fight Ngannou as well or Usyk and Fury for the Unification championship in the heavyweight bout.

I think the winner could elevate and become mandatories to any of those top fighters that we have right now in the division. So this is a make or break, specially for Zhang, who we haven't heard before by suddenly burst into the boxing scene with his two wins against the so called next face of the HW in Dubois. But he beat him by knockout and so the same can be said for Parker, he derail the AJ vs Wilder in Saudi. But I guess the scenario that we are looking is that Zhang by early knockout win or Parker boxing his way to a 12 round decision and avoiding those heavy bombs from Zhang.

Zhang is not popular like the big names in the heavyweight division but he is a" (WBO) interim heavyweight title since 2023." And maybe if he wins here he will become the champion. I don't know how this goes since Oleksandr Usyk is also currently the champion and if he lose to Fury, it will be Fury that will take his place. But according to the report, this is a title fight, so most probably they are fighting for the WBO championship.

I think we read already the voice of the majority here, and most of us believe that Zhang will win again. I believe Zhang has no chance against a more popular champion like Usyk and Fury, and even AJ, so most likely he will just retire while he is still ahead, but it's still up to him though.

[JariKriting]

because the two boxers Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker are not the top boxers. so even though the fight for the WBO world championship the echo is quiet not heard. lost to the bigmact fight tyson fury against ursyk. because the time of the match is not much different fury vs ursyk will compete in February, everyone will be more focused and watch fury vs ursyk.

[Finestream]

because the two boxers Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker are not the top boxers. so even though the fight for the WBO world championship the echo is quiet not heard. lost to the bigmact fight tyson fury against ursyk. because the time of the match is not much different fury vs ursyk will compete in February, everyone will be more focused and watch fury vs ursyk.

Yeah, people are paying to see that match. However, they don't have the same schedule since this fight is the undercard of  Joshua - Ngannou fight, it wasn't a championship fight but people recognize them more than this title fight since they are more popular. Zhilei Zhang have to accept the reality, he needs to build his name so he will become popular, maybe next fight if he wins this, he could go for Fury or Usyk, but let's see if it will happen.

Fury vs Usyk, and  Joshua vs Ngannou .. these are the two popular matches, any fights that are on their undercard will also benefit on the number of people willing to pay to watch a big fight.