Joseph Parker will fight Zhilei Zhang in the March 8 co-feature to Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it was announced by Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.
Both fighters are rated in ESPN’s top 10 at heavyweight: Parker is No. 4 while Zhang is No. 5.
Parker (34-3, 33 KOs) is coming off a dominant decision win over Deontay Wilder in a major upset last month in Riyadh. Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) scored back-to-back stoppage wins over Joe Joyce last year in a breakthrough campaign.
Zhang’s lone defeat came via controversial decision to Filip Hrgovic in 2022 in Riyadh, a fight where Zhang floored his opponent.
The 40-year-old from China is the biggest heavyweight contender in the world at 6-foot-6, 287-plus pounds. Zhang is a southpaw who carries a big punch, and he’s knocking on the door of a world title shot.
New Zealand’s Parker, 32, has scored four consecutive wins since an 11th-round KO loss to Joyce in 2022. A former heavyweight titleholder, Parker won the vacant WBO belt when he narrowly outpointed Andy Ruiz in 2016.
Parker’s other two defeats came in 2018, back-to-back decision losses to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte.
Also, Rey Vargas will defend his WBC featherweight title against Nick Ball on the undercard.
Mexico’s Vargas (36-1, 22 KOs) suffered his first defeat in February when he met O’Shaquie Foster for the vacant WBC title at 130 pounds. This will be Vargas’ first fight since the decision loss and marks his return to 126 pounds, where he’s rated No. 7 by ESPN.
Ball (19-0, 11 KOs) will be challenging for his first world title. The 26-year-old Englishman is coming off a career-best win, a wide-points victory over former titleholder Isaac Dogboe. Ball is ESPN’s No. 9 featherweight.
