Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) had to overcome two knockdowns in order to get a majority decision win over Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs).
The two fighters clashed at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This bout was part of “Knockout Chaos,” a March 8 card that is part of Riyadh Season, a state-funded entertainment and sports festival. Fight fans were able to catch the action live on DAZN PPV around the world as well as Sky Sports PPV in the UK. Scores for the bout were 115-111, 114-112 and 113-113.
Check out our earlier recap of the clash between Rey Vargas and Nick Ball. Also be sure to read our recap of Israil Madrimov becoming world champion and other undercard bouts.
Parker vs. Zhang at Knockout Chaos
Parker Outboxes Zhang to Victory
The opening round both fighters pawing at each other with their lead hands. Little was landed, Zhang spent most of the round walking towards Parker ever so slightly. The second round more of the same, though “Big Bang” did momentarily wobble the former WBO champion with a right hand, but was late to capitalize on it.
Parker went down from a straight left hand during the third, a punch that bloodied his nose. This did not impact his footwork as he did much better in the following rounds. One shot that Parker had success with was the right hook to the body. Despite the New Zealander mostly outboxing his opponent during the middle rounds, a chopping right hook from Zhang sent him down again halfway through round eight.
After the knockdown, Parker went back to what he had been doing during the middle rounds. He continued to avoid the power punches of Zhang and boxed his way to victory. Parker chose to be methodical and took advantage of the lack of activity from his opponent. Despite being knocked down twice, he was able to do enough in the other rounds to rack up the rounds.
Post-Fight Comments
“Thank you to my team,” said Parker after the decision was announced. “This is a great win. I just feel like we’re on the up now. Zhang is a tough man. Knocked me down twice, but, when I came back to the corner Andy [Lee] was ‘keep composure, keep boxing, so follow the plan…'”
During the interview, Parker confirmed that a rematch clause had been in place and that he will face Zhang once more. Whether the fight takes place remains to be seen.
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