"By far the biggest fight out of the other options" - Anthony Joshua offered massive heavyweight replacement of Tyson Fury for his returning bout
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have verbally agreed to meet each other in a WBC title fight in December later this year. However, the official announcement isn’t done and the all-English super fight could fall off at any point.
Meanwhile, Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang is ready to face ‘AJ’ if ‘The Gypsy King’ doesn’t show up. Zhang and ‘AJ’ had squared off at the 2012 Olympics as amateurs, a fight that was won by Joshua.
After a decade, Zhang seems interested in avenging the loss as a professional. The Chinese boxer’s manager Tommy Lane connected with Vegas Insider and said:
"AJ and Zhang are on the same schedule. They fought last on the same night. Zhang didn’t get hurt during his fight, he’s already back in the gym and will be fresh and ready to go if AJ want’s it. Zhang and Joshua also have history and unfinished business from the amateurs, when they fought in the 2012 Olympics."
He added:
"Zhang has all of China behind him, and AJ is still one of the main faces of professional boxing. Joshua v Zhang is by far the biggest fight out of the other options Eddie Hearn has publicly mentioned."
Watch Usyk vs. Joshua 2 highlights below:
Zhilei Zhang and Anthony Joshua lost their last fights on the same night on August 20 in Jeddah.
Zhang suffered his maiden career loss via decision against Filip Hrgovic, while Joshua failed to capture his lost heavyweight belts against Usyk. Despite going the distance, neither man could walk out victorious.
'AJ' has already shown interest in an immediate return and could possibly appear by the end of 2022. Zhang’s manager reflects the same plans for his client, citing a potential fight between the amateur rivals as valid.
Anthony Joshua needs to win his next fight via KO
Anthony Joshua was an invincible high-level knockout artist before Andy Ruiz Jr. handed him his maiden career defeat via stoppage in 2019. Joshua avenged the loss in the same year and went the distance to earn the victory via decision.
The Brit star then resurrected his KO abilities by stopping Kubrat Pulev. That was the last time we saw Joshua win.
Former cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk fought Anthony Joshua next at Wembley. He outclassed him for all of 12 rounds to become the new WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO heavyweight champion.
‘AJ’ failed to reclaim the belts in the rematch and lost another fight against Usyk via decision.
He has lost three of his last five fights and cannot afford to look bleak on his next. That said, Joshua should earn a commanding knockout to reclaim his lost position.