Via Robert Segal: Two-time undefeated Chinese athlete Zhilei Zhang anticipates knocking out the undefeated, highly rated Filip Hrgovic on Saturday night in their IBF title knockout in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Big Zhang 6’6 ″ (24-0-1, 19 KOs) will likely need to meet Croatia’s Hrgovic (14-0, 12 KOs) soon if he has a real shot to knock him out for him physical problems.
Since his poor performance against cruiser Jerry Forrest in 2021, 39-year-old Zhilei has looked pretty good, stopping Scott Alexander and Craig Lewis in his last two games.
“I’m not going to give him a good time in the ring. A lot of people think he’s likely to be the best, but I think I’m the better one. On Saturday we will see who is better,” Zhilei Zhang told iFL TV about the fight against Filip Hrgovic.
“I believe I have a better team, and I have prepared better. Winning this bout will allow me to become the first mandatory heavyweight challenger from China. So this means a lot to the Chinese professional boxing industry. It will mean a lot to me and my country.
“I am fighting for my country. I will make my people proud of me. 100%,” Zhang said when asked if he believes he can take out Hrgovic on Saturday night.
“He said his follower count in China is 60 million, so the number is like 5,000 in Croatia,” Hrgovic told Secondsout. “It’s not a big deal in China if sixty million people follow you.
“We’ll see. I’ve never hit him or fought him, so we’ll see. It’ll be interesting to see what the first bell that rings is what he’s made of. I don’t know. know whether his strength is great or not. He has not fought anyone. He has fought with the journeymen. Everyone is dangerous against the journeyers.
“He needs to throw punches,” Hrgovic said when asked how Anthony Joshua beat Oleksandr Usyk. “He doesn’t throw punches. He needs to work on the body. He needs to throw his left hook. He didn’t throw it in the first fight. Go ahead and get aggressive with this guy.
“The danger is that he can gasp if he starts to get too aggressive. Also, he can knock him down because he’s a big puncher,” said Hrgovic.
