Zhilei Zhang is in pursuit of a fight, and he wants the rest of the division to take note.
The Chinese southpaw is coming off the back of a career-best performance against Joe Joyce in London. He punished the local man with a straight left hand that landed on the eye so often that the referee had no choice but to wave it off.
Now WBO Interim Champion, ‘Big Bang’ Zhang is after the next challenge. Taking to Instagram, he laid out how hard it was, due to both politics and reluctance.
“Heavyweight boxing is chaos now. After I got the Interim title I should have the right to challenge Usyk, who has commitment with Dubois.
I wish to fight Tyson Fury the most. But Fury is picking between me and Ruiz Jr. Ruiz was in a legal battle a while back.
Joshua doesn’t want to fight me. This goes without saying. Whyte and Chisora have told the team that they didn’t want to fight me.
Wilder was involved in a police case in Los Angeles yesterday. He believed that it’s better to be judged by 12 than carried by six. Is it getting harder or easier? I think we will find out soon.”
Zhang’s stock rose after his most recent win, and it will go up further still now that he’s echoed fans’ frustrations at the state of the heavyweight scene.
Ironically, the one name the 39-year-old didn’t mention – Joyce – might just be the most likely to end up in the opposite corner. Joyce has a rematch clause that many in the sport feel he has to activate should he want a title shot anytime soon – and time is ticking for both men.
With Tyson Fury rumoured to announce a summer opponent in the coming weeks, and Oleksandr Usyk expected to face Daniel Dubois either through promotional agreement or purse bid, the fog around the division should lift soon.