Arum: Zhang Will Earn China Homecoming If He Beats Parker
Mar 4, 2024 • 6:35 PM ET
A hero’s homecoming is being eyed for heavyweight Zhilei Zhang should the 40-year-old emerge victorious over former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker on Friday in Saudi Arabia.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told Boxing Scene on Monday that discussions are under way for Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) to headline a card in his native China later this year should he find a way to topple Parker.
“The plan is to have him fight in Macao,” Arum said. “A good fight; it’ll be against a top-10 guy.”
Both Zhang and New Zealand’s Parker (34-3, 23 KOs) occupy consensus top-five spots in various publications’ heavyweight ratings.
"The Ring" has Zhang at No. 3 following his second consecutive triumph over Joe Joyce – a third-round knockout in September – with Parker at four following his dominant showing over former WBC champion Deontay Wilder in December.
Zhang, nicknamed “Big Bang,” will find his power tested by the revived Parker, who has only been finished one time previously – by Joyce in 2022 – while going the distance in losses to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte and previously claiming the WBO belt over another impressive puncher, Andy Ruiz Jr.
Zhang-Parker is the co-main event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the main event pitting Joshua versus the former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou earned the fight by virtue of his narrow October 28 defeat by WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, whom Ngannou knocked down during the bout.
Arum is obviously intrigued by Zhang’s bout and in how Ngannou will fare against a second consecutive fighter who has stood as heavyweight champion.
Yet the 92-year-old Top Rank chairman said this is the one trip he’s sitting out during the first half of 2024, given his abundance of coming global travel.
Arum is venturing to Tokyo on May 6 for Fighter of the Year Naoya Inoue’s super bantamweight title defense versus Luis Nery. Then he’s on to Perth, Australia, on May 12 for the former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko’s lightweight bout against former lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr.
On May 18, Arum's fighter Fury meets three-belt champion Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh, and two weeks after that, his three-belt light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev meets Russian countryman Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed title, also in Saudi Arabia.
“So much travel … ” Arum said.
And maybe more to come with Zhang’s China homecoming, too.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
