Anthony Joshua could face Zhang Zhilei in his next fight if the long-awaited blockbuster showdown with Deontay Wilder can’t get made. AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he is “absolutely” interested in staging Joshua vs Zhang but insists that the Wilder fight remains their top priority.
Joshua vs Wilder was initially expected to take place at the back end of the year but a recent shift in the Saudi Arabian boxing landscape has threatened to derail their plans.
Saudi promotional outfit Skills Challenge – who had initially made offers to promote the event – are reportedly struggling to come up with the money to stage the fight as the lion’s share of the Kingdom’s funding has been re-directed to Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority.
Alalshikh’s organisation are co-promoting Tyson Fury‘s upcoming crossover clash with Francis Ngannou and appear to be the ones with the financial firepower to get Joshua-Wilder over the line. Hearn claims they have received several new offers to stage the fight in the Middle East and that it is more likely to take place in February or March now.
However, if negotiations continue to stall then the Watford powerhouse may be forced to take a fight in between. A bout against Zhang would likely be the next best option following his impressive third-round knockout victory over Joe Joyce on Saturday – and Hearn is open to making it happen.
When asked whether a meeting between the pair is a possibility for the future, he told iFL TV on Sunday: “Yeah, absolutely. AJ’s always fancied that fight. He beat him in the amateurs. It was a good fight. We want to make the Wilder fight, Zhang is an easier fight, still dangerous obviously. Why not?”
Joshua defeated Zhang 15-11 in the quarter-finals of the 2012 Olympics en route to winning a gold medal at the London Games. Following a second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in the paid ranks last year, Hearn floated around the idea of Joshua going on a world comeback tour including a fight in Beijing against Zhang.
At the time, Zhang was signed to Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing but has since put pen to paper on a new multi-fight deal with Queensbury Promotions, who represent Fury.