Anthony Joshua called out by KO artist… and historic fight could happen in 100,000-seater Bird’s Nest in China
ANTHONY JOSHUA has been called out to a fight in China by Zhilei Zhang after a showdown at the 100,000-seater Bird’s Nest was touted.
Zhang catapulted himself into the elite heavyweight picture following consecutive stoppage wins over Joe Joyce.
And the Far East star is desperate to avenge his amateur loss to AJ that dates back to the 2012 Olympic Games.
Eddie Hearn has talked up a rematch over a decade in the making in Beijing Bird’s Nest and Zhang revealed financial backers are on board.
He told Gambling.com: “I have been talking to a lot of Chinese companies and investor groups, and they are passionate about making Zhang versus Joshua in China.
“They are new and have never done a world title fight before in China.
“It would be the first one to happen in decades and it takes time to facilitate those deals.
“I believe in the next two years something big is on the way and a big world title fight will happen in China.”
Zhang, 40, claimed Heanrn was never keen on a fight with Joshua, 34, when they worked together but their minds look to have changed.
He said: “I want to fight one of the four guys: Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua.
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“I think Joshua is a big option for me considering Fury and Usyk have signed for a unification fight to happen next.
“I have history with Anthony Joshua and I used to be with Matchroom Boxing, but they never wanted to make the fight with me.
“All of a sudden, there is now talk from Eddie Hearn about a fight between myself and Anthony Joshua, but I never saw anything materialise with the fight.
“If they are really interested, I am here 24/7 so send over the contract and we will get it on.
“When I was with Matchroom, my team spoke to Matchroom face to face, and they knew I wanted the fight, but they never decided to make it for whatever reason.
“I can go to London for the fight with Joshua, Saudi Arabia is an option or even China.
“I respect everybody who steps in the ring to compete with the elite fighters.
“To me, no matter who the opponent is, I have the ability to put them to sleep with one punch.”