After his against the odds win over Joe Joyce back in April, Zhilei Zhang appears to have grown a taste for upsetting British heavyweights – although this time he’s thrown out some verbal shots, rather than his trademark southpaw backhand.
Two main talking points arose after Daniel Dubois’ defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in Poland last month: the fifth round low blow that sent Usyk crashing to the canvas, and whether or not Dubois quit later in the fight.
And in a recent interview with Boxing Scene, Zhang has weighed in on both issues.
‘Big Bang’ stated that he believes referee Luis Pabon’s decision to rule the shot low was the correct one, and that Dubois did indeed down tools in the ninth round and “needs to work on his heart.”
“I watched the fight and that punch was a little bit low. It landed below Usyk’s navel. After the fight resumed, Dubois did not use his physical advantages and Usyk was able to regain his rhythm.”
“Dubois basically quit. I think Dubois needs to work on his heart.”
Similar accusations were thrown at Dubois after his stoppage loss to Joyce back in 2020 when, like in his only other top level contest against Usyk, he took a knee and failed to beat the referee’s count.
The much anticipated rematch between Zhang and Joyce is now less than three weeks away; a must win fight for Joyce if he is to have any aspirations of becoming world heavyweight champion.
The WBO interim belt, which Zhang pried from ‘The Juggernaut’ first time around, will be on the line once more, meaning the victor could potentially get their own shot at unified champion Usyk at some point next year.