Zhang's Manager: "Zhilei Is Disappointed but Not Embarrassed"

In an interview with Sky Sports, Terry Lane, the manager of heavyweight boxer Zhang Zhilei (26–2–1, 21 KOs), commented on his client's defeat to the "interim" WBO champion Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs).

"Firstly, our whole team wants to congratulate Team Parker and Andy Lee on executing the perfect fight plan against Zhilei.

Parker is an experienced veteran, and he certainly showed that on Friday night. The momentum he has right now is incredible. I think Zhilei wants a rematch.

From my point of view, if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, what's happening in the heavyweight division right now is really exciting. It reminds me of past eras when there were a number of top, loud, great world-class men who kept fighting each other for the benefit of boxing fans.

Zhilei is disappointed but not embarrassed. Parker's squatting and holding really threw Zhilei off, and he never found his rhythm. He says he wasn't tired, just felt frozen in the last third of the fight. After the eighth round, he thought he was leading by a large margin on the scorecards.

Zhilei is a puncher; he never really had to worry about scraping rounds together, but when you do little in the last four rounds, it won't win you the fight. He needs to work on that.

But the fight was very competitive, and the rounds were close. If he had won one more round on one card and two on another, he would have won by majority decision," said Lane.