Boxing
Heavyweight star claims he has accepted landmark fight with Derek Chisora
Parker vs Wardley exclusively on DAZN PPV - Oct 25
Zhilei Zhang is allegedly waiting for Derek Chisora to put pen to paper on the contract for them to fight on December 13.
The fight in Manchester will be Chisora’s 50th, and potentially last, as he continues to tease his retirement from the sport at 41.
Zhang’s advisor, Terry Lane, has revealed that they were contacted by Queensberry Promotions regarding a fight with Chisora and quickly agreed to it.
“We’ve been very quiet about it because our team and Zhang himself, we’re just not ones to rush to social media,” Terry Lane told BoxingScene. “But we were presented with the fight [three weeks ago] and we accepted in a couple of days.
“So it’s been well over three weeks since the fight has been accepted on our end, in principle.”
Chisora is coming off two impressive wins over Joe Joyce and Otto Wallin that have positioned him well for a big 50th fight, and Zhang thinks he is the perfect dance partner for the landmark occasion.
The Chinese contender will be looking to get back to winning ways as soon as possible after suffering defeat at the hands of WBC interim champion Agit Kabayel in February.
With his patience wearing thin, Zhang took to social media to try and coax Chisora into signing the contract this week.
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This was in response to Chisora posting to social media himself, teasing three potential opponents: Deontay Wilder, Jarrell Miller and a trilogy fight with Dillian Whyte.
But Zhang’s advisor, Lane, was sceptical of the viability of these opponents.
“I know that two of those opponents are not going to work out,” Lane explained. “I’ve been wrong before, so I can’t say anything in boxing. You can’t say anything with certainty, but I just don’t think two of those fights are in the running.
“What I’m hearing on my end is that the powers that be want to make Zhang versus Chisora. So it’s kind of up to Chisora to say yes or no to it. But if he says no, I don't know what direction they would go in, but we would move on and probably focus back on [fighting in] China again [in January].”
Based on what we know, Wilder is not available to fight in December due to having recently revealed he plans to fight in January, and it is uncertain whether Whyte will return to the ring at all after losing inside a round to Moses Itauma in August.
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Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley fight on Saturday, October 25, to become the WBO mandatory challenger to Oleksandr Usyk. Watch the fight and undercard live and exclusive on DAZN PPV.
