Zhilei Zhang ‘was very happy’ to see one of his heavyweight rivals impressing on the Day of Reckoning card in Saudi Arabia.
It was a superb night of action on December 23, which included Joseph Parker scoring an upset win over Deontay Wilder. He managed to diffuse the American’s fearsome punching power by pushing him backward with educated pressure that led to a wide points victory.
Elsewhere, Dmitry Bivol was always on top in his light heavyweight contest with Brit Lyndon Arthur, and Daniel Dubois showed real heart to eventually overpower the giant physical presence of Jarrell Miller, stopping him with just seconds to go in the 10th and final round.
However, Zhang was most pleased with the performance of the bill topper Anthony Joshua, who used his size and power to get to Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin early on and force him to retire on his stool between the fifth and sixth rounds.
Speaking to FightHype, Zhang shared his delight at seeing Joshua getting back to his best.
“I was really happy to see him come back in that way, it makes me happy overall, human to human, it’s a good win.”
40-year-old Zhang had a huge 2023 himself with two big knockout wins over Joe Joyce to get himself right in the world title mix. Many are now calling for him to fight Joshua and the man himself has said he would put him to ‘sleep.’