Zhilei Zhang would be open to a battle against Tyson Fury in Britain after his stunning third-round knockout win over Joe Joyce.
Zhang unloaded a huge right hand to topple Joyce at Wembley Arena in their heavyweight rematch and is now targeting Fury, who returns against Francis Ngannou, a former UFC champion, in Saudi Arabia on October 28.
Fury’s promotional team hope to revive talks with Oleksandr Usyk for an undisputed world title fight, but Zhang has emerged as another potential opponent for the WBC champion after back-to-back stoppage wins over Joyce in London.
Zhang floored Joyce with a huge right hand
“We would love to fight Fury, but I do believe they are trying to make Fury vs Usyk next,” Zhang’s co-manager Terry Lane told Sky Sports.
“We’ve got to see in a few weeks if they make that fight. If not, we’re not going to sit back and wait.
“There’s other names like (Deontay) Wilder out there, so it’s just really hard to say, but I do think after last night, there’s Usyk, Fury and Zhilei and then everyone else [in the heavyweight division.]
“But Zhilei is 40-years-old, he wants to fight big names and guys like Wilder are out there and we’re just going to have to see what happens.”
Speaking after his victory on Saturday night, Zhang had said: “To the audience, I want to ask you a question: Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”
Joyce suffered a repeat stoppage loss to Zhang in London
Saudi Arabia would be the most likely location for Fury vs Zhang, according to Lane, but he would ‘love’ to bring Zhang back to London for another major bout.
“If they do not make Usyk and Fury, then Fury is our target. I think with the new deal that the Warrens have with the Saudis, it would probably go there,” said Lane.
“With the Fury fight, it makes more sense than China or even the UK, but listen, we love fighting here, so we would love to come back to Wembley, or even do it in New York or Vegas.”
Can the undisputed fight happen soon?
Top Rank president Todd DuBoef believes the Fury vs Usyk fight will happen sooner rather than later, with every world heavyweight title at stake.
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Tyson Fury has previously played down a potential fight with Usyk
“Absolutely,” DuBoef told Sky Sports. “I think we were plagued by timing in this last go-around. Timing from both guys just didn’t match up and we were trying to squeeze this fight in, in the spring, before the Dubois-Usyk mandatory had to happen.
“There were a bunch of circumstances, so the good news is Usyk came out of the fight with Dubois. Some people thought he didn’t look as good as they thought he would, but it was a really good, competitive fight.
“Tyson is going to stay razor-sharp and hopefully is going to be fighting the baddest man on the planet, and they’re going to be going at it.
“I think, soon after that, it would be appropriate, and the stars should align for timing purposes, that the unification happens very soon.”
Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk told Sky Sports they remain hopeful and are willing to cooperate with Fury’s team to make the fight happen.
“We’ve always been optimistic and cooperative,” Krassyuk said. “Usyk even accepted a 70/30 split [in Fury’s favour] early [than] this to make it happen.”