Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker 34-3 (23) will take on just the second southpaw of his professional career when he battles Chinese giant Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang 26-1-1 (21) at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday night.
The 32-year-old Kiwi kept up a busy schedule last year, boxing four times for four wins. In his last outing, Parker impressively outpointed hard-hitting former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder 43-3-1 (42) at the same venue where he will face Zhang in December last year.
The activity appears to have benefited Parker, who has looked better with each fight since his 11th round knockout loss to fellow contender Joe ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce 15-2 (14) in Manchester, England in September 2022.
“Here we go again,” Parker said at his grand arrival in Saudi Arabia. “Back-to-back. I feel like staying busy is the reason there’s been so much success, the momentum, keeping in camp, staying in shape, eating good and resting well and I think it’s very good.
“I love keeping busy because it keeps me in the gym, working with [trainer] Andy Lee and [nutritionist] George Lockhart, and I love it.
“I’ve only fought one southpaw in my career, but my trainer was a southpaw and we’ve brought in some great sparring in training camp.
“I’m looking forward to putting on the best performance I can put on. There’s other discussions and other fights being made, but my focus is on Zhang. The ultimate goal is to be heavyweight champion of the world.”
The 40-year-old Zhang will be doing everything in his power to prevent Parker from having that opportunity. At six-foot-six and weighing in at over 287-pounds for his last bout, the New Jersey-based Zhang is in career-best form following back-to-back knockout victories over England’s Joyce, 38, last year.
Zhang praised Parker for his win over Wilder but cautioned against reading too much into it.
“I enjoyed watching that fight, I liked both fighters. Wilder fought one round in two years, he’s been inactive. Parker has been active. When you look at it, activity is the difference,” said Zhang, who has a rematch clause in his contract with Parker that would see them fight again before October should he lose.
“My whole focus is Joe Parker. Without this victory, nothing else is possible.”
Last month Zhang reflected on his performances against Joyce compared to Parker’s.
“I thought Joyce was controlling the fight from round one to round 11 and Joyce gave Parker a lot of pressure,” Zhang said to iFL TV.
“I could see Parker landed multiple shots on Joe Joyce, but he didn’t do the damage he wished. [My] two victories [over Joyce] boosted my confidence and I’m really confident going into the Parker fight.”
The Zhang-Parker fight will be the main support bout to the heavyweight clash between former two-time unified champion Anthony Joshua 27-3 (24) and former UFC champion Francis Ngannou 0-1.
