ZHILEI ZHANG and Martin Bakole could face each other if Turki Alalshikh gets his way.
According to ESPN, these two heavyweight boxers are in Alalshikh’s future confrontation plans.
Zhang’s momentum from two wins over Joe Joyce was broken when Joseph Parker beat the Chinese fighter on points in March. However, ‘Big Bang’ came back with a… bang when he knocked out former WBC champion and wrecking ball Deontay Wilder.
Martin Bakole had been on the fringes of the heavyweight scene until earlier this month when he beat Jared Anderson in Los Angeles. The American put up a brave show against Bakole but the Scottish-born Congolese was too much for Anderson to handle. All this was witnessed by Alalshikh, who staged the inaugural Riyadh Season in the US with Matchroom and Queensberry.
With the champions – Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois – already scheduled to fight in September and December, contenders like Zhang and Bakole need to stay active. If the fight does go ahead, Alalshikh is considering Africa or China to stage the contest.
“I really want to fight the big Zhang in December in China,” Bakole told Sky Sports.
“I heard you wanted to hold the match in China so that’s the match I’m looking for. If that happens, I’ll be very happy.
“I am ready to fight big Zhang in China in front of his fans. I always fight outside, I went to America and beat Anderson, I went to Paris and beat Tony Yoka so I really want to go to China and beat Zhang in front of his fans, it is a fight I really like and I am looking forward to it.”
Zhang and Bakole have a combined 52 fights with just two losses but what’s more interesting is that both are heavyweights capable of putting on an extremely entertaining fight.
