Zhilei Zhang has had perhaps the best year of any top heavyweight, stopping Joe Joyce twice on away soil to make himself first in line for a shot at the WBO World Title.
Unfortunately for him, the belts are tied up in an upcoming undisputed contest between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
The giant southpaw from China has made it clear that he wants big fights in the mean time, and many fans had assumed that he would land on the December 23 heavyweight extravaganza in Saudi Arabia.
The date was originally set for Fury-Usyk but when that was pushed back the boxing businessmen behind Riyadh Season were keen to fill the gap with more heavyweight action.
It has since been revealed that Zhang is injured, but it seems he was previously in discussions to be a big part of it.
Joseph Parker – who fights Deontay Wilder on the night – revealed to Seconds Out that, first of all, it was set to be him versus Zhang.
“I didn’t know about this [Wilder] fight [before the Simon Kean fight.] I knew about it a week and a half after. I was in New Zealand and I had Zhang locked in for a fight. After a few days it was Dubois, and after about five or six days it was Wilder.”
“I’ve been busy this year, and I am pumped and excited for this fight. It’s the biggest challenge of my career, and I’m gonna put on the best performance.”
Parker returns to action for the fourth time this year against the hard-hitting American. Following a bruising loss to Joe Joyce in 2022, he has beaten Jack Massey, Faiga Opelu and Simon Kean but faces by far the toughest test of the lot next month.
Zhang is expected back out in the first half of 2024 to defend his mandatory position, perhaps on the Fury-Usyk undercard on February 17.