Bob Arum Seeking a Tyson Fury vs Zhilei Zhang July Heavyweight Brawl
In a perfect world, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson “Gypsy King” Fury (33-0-1, 24 KO’s) would be facing Oleksandr Usyk in his next battle. With Usyk holding the Super WBA, WBO and IBF titles, their prizefight would crown the undisputed champion of the division. Sadly, the two teams were never able to see eye-to-eye and get the fight made. Now, Fury may mix it up with the heavy-handed Chinese bruiser Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang (25-1-1, 20 KO’s).
At one point, it appeared as if Andy Ruiz was going to get the nod to chuck knuckles with Fury in a summer duel. This no longer seems to be the objective, as 3Kings Boxing previously reported on. In a recent interview with Ringside Reporter, when directly asked, Top Rank head Bob Arum indicated that the focus was getting a deal done with Zhang.
“What we are focusing on is the Chinese kid that beat Joe Joyce, whatever his name is . . . it’s likely for July. We’re trying to closeout over this weekend.”
THE MAN FROM THE EAST
Zhang, 40, is coming off a tremendous stoppage win over Joe Joyce this past April 15. Known for his iron chin, Big Bang was not able to ever get Joyce off his feet. Instead he did the next best thing. Rather than lay him low with brute force, Zhilei Zhang targeted Joyce’s right eye and pummeled until it was a multicolored, closed ball of mashed flesh. In his compromised state, the fight was called off in the sixth. With the spoils of wa,r Zhang took the Interim WBO heavyweight title with him.
With the big win, current buzz and new WBO trinket, obviously Zhang presented himself as a solid adversary for Fury. Standing at 6’9 and 6’6, respectively, Fury vs Zhang would certainly be a battle of big men. Naturally the faster, more fluid Gypsy King would be the betting favorite, but perhaps the powerful and sturdy Big Bang could find a way to hurt or dismantle the verbose WBC champion. First however, let’s wait and see if this would-be match-up even gets over the finish line!
