Zhilei Zhang can 'wallop' but will struggle to get fights with Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk, says Tony Bellew
25/09/2023 20:39
Tony Bellew believes it would be ‘brilliant’ to see Anthony Joshua take on Zhilei Zhang in the ring.
However, the former world champion does not believe that the latter is an attractive prospect for elite heavyweight fighters despite his impressive KO victory over Joe Joyce.
On Saturday, Zhang knocked out Joe Joyce in the third round of their rematch, with the Chinese boxer also winning their first bout.
He delivered a brutal blow at Wembley Arena and the Brit collapsed on the canvas, with the fight waved off as he tried to get back to his feet.
As a result, Zhang retained his WBO ‘interim’ world title and is now a mandatory for current champion Oleksandr Usyk.
However, when speaking exclusively to talkSPORT, Bellew cast doubt on whether Zhang will get the shot at the big time an increasing number think he’s due.
On Zhang, Bellew said: “He’s dangerous isn’t he? No one is going to want to touch him with a barge pole… listen, the likes of Usyk will just go, ‘What do I want him for? I’m not touching him, it doesn’t do anything for me.’
“Now, this will be a little bit of a Catch-22 position because he should be an undefeated fighter. I thought he’d beat Filip Hrgovic, I really do, I like Hrgovic he’s a good fighter but I thought he lost to Zhang but he just didn’t get it.
“Now, if Zhang was an undefeated fighter, it’s a more attractive opposition to the other heavyweights out there because they’d be like, ‘I want to put a dent in him and be the first to beat him’.
“Because he’s now got a loss on his record, even though it’s not a proper loss, fighters will go, ‘Well listen if I beat him, everyone will say it’s because I’m supposed to, Hrgovic has already beaten him’. So he’s not an attractive option.
“I think Tyson Fury would beat him hands down, I think Fury beats almost everyone in the world barring Usyk. I just think Fury is so good but at the same time, there’s nothing to win by facing Zhang. He’s not a world champion, he’s not undefeated and he’s super dangerous.
“He can wallop with either hand. It’s just not someone you take on, I’m talking from a boxing business perspective, I’m not talking as a boxing fan. As a boxing fan, a great fight would be Zhang against Joshua, that would be brilliant.”
When asked who would win, Bellew added: “I haven’t seen Zhang take one back off the likes of Joshua. You’ve got to look at the heavyweight division, the biggest puncher in the heavyweight division is Deontay Wilder.
“I’ve got no problem in saying that, he’s the biggest puncher of his era. But Joshua is right on his coattails, right behind him as the second biggest puncher in the heavyweight division. I just think Joshua wallops Zhang, I mean it’s a shootout once again.
“I’m not sure Zhang is as athletic and as mobile as Joshua. Joshua is still evolving, he’s becoming a better fighter each and every time. People are going, ‘This style of Joshua…’, he’s under the new coach, he’s learning new things, he’s trying out new stuff.
“But at the same time, make no mistake, he’s still got the old Joshua, it’s just that no one has put it on him yet and made him have a fight. Zhang would, Wilder is going to do it and that’s when I think you’ll see and everyone will see Joshua at his best.
“When someone goes, ‘Right, I’m going to stick it on you now and give it to you’, that’s when I think you’ll see him bite down on his gumshield and fire back and if he did, I would tip him, I would tip Joshua to knock Zhang out.”
