Zhilei Zhang says bout with Joseph Parker the real main event

One thing that this Riyadh season has given us is outstanding boxing cards. Starting with a shockingly bad performance by Tyson Fury against Francis Ngannou, it moved on to perhaps the best overall card you are ever likely to see in the Day of Reckoning.

Of course, Ngannou’s camp have been arguing that it was not so much a case of Fury putting on a bad outing as much as Ngannou being underrated. The WBC seems to agree, slotting Ngannou in their top-ten rankings after only one professional fight.

Anthony Joshua, fresh off of his lightning-fast win over Otto Wallin, has decided to give Ngannou his due, agreeing to face the former MMA champ on March 8. All that was needed was a support card.

And in a move that is coming to define the Riyadh boxing scene, they have managed to get a corker.

Zhilei Zhang will take on Joseph Parker in what is being billed as a co-main event. But the Chinese WBO Interim World Heavyweight champion insists that you should see it the other way around. Anthony Joshua, says Zhang, is the undercard for his bout with Parker.

And it is difficult to argue with him, there.

While Anthony Joshua is showing glimpses of the power and speed that made him unified heavyweight champion before, he is involved in what Zhang insists is little more than a glorified exhibition with Ngannou.

“From my perspective, that’s a ten round exhibition,” said Zhang. “People are going to tune in to watch that fight, a lot of people, because it’s boxing versus MMA, they want to see Joshua versus Ngannou two world famous athletes going at each other. But to me, there’s no question Joshua will get the victory. If you really look at it from a boxing perspective, you know who the main event will be.”

Big Bang comprehensively took Joe Joyce apart, twice, to get his hands on his title, and has been very vocal about his ultimate goal of a clash with Oleksandr Usyk.

Across the ring from him will stand Joseph Parker, a former world champion who looks, if anything, better now than he ever has done. His dismantling of Deontay Wilder was the stuff of legend, and comes on the back of an extremely active year that saw the Kiwi fight four times in 2023.

Lennox Lewis, perhaps the last truly great heavyweight, seems to agree. The three-time champ, two-time lineal champ, and the last heavyweight to be undisputed said that in his opinion, the winner of Zhang-Parker deserves a shot at the undisputed heavyweight crown.

No matter how you feel about any of the personalities involved, it is impossible to argue with Zhang. While question marks are always part of the game, there is no doubt at all that the Zhang-Parker fight is as legitimate as it gets. The best versus the best.

With the WBO interim title on the line, it is a true risk for both men. A pick em bout. No matter how you feel about Joshua, or Ngannou for that matter, it is hard to call their bout a serious boxing contest.

At least not with a straight face.