John Fury, the father of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs), shared his thoughts on the upcoming fight between the "interim" WBO heavyweight champion Zhilei Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) and Joseph Parker (34-3, 23 KOs), scheduled for March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
"Joseph will probably be well compensated for this fight, but Zhang is hard to beat. I'm a big fan of his; I like what he does: 193 cm tall, southpaw, knows how to hit and does it well. Joe is 31 years old—he's younger and fresher, and he has shown what he's capable of. He can cause an upset again, like against Wilder. That night, Wilder wasn't himself because Tyson had beaten him so severely [in their 2018-2021 trilogy] that he couldn't come to terms with it after three tough fights.
Zhang is a different opponent: still fresh, still strong, hasn't gone a million miles and hits with both hands. Overall, it's a great fight. Joe Parker is fighting the right guys, he can beat anyone, including Zhang. Wilder didn't bother Joe, and he did what he had to do," said John Fury.
In 2023, Zhilei Zhang twice knocked out Joe Joyce (15-2, 14 KOs), and Joseph Parker in his last fight defeated Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) by unanimous decision.