Knockout Chaos is underway and what a night we’ve had. After what seemed like an eternity of back-to-back fights, we finally made progress towards the main event of the night. However, another big fight on the night was Zhang Zhilei vs Joseph Parker, the co-main event of the evening.
For the most part, the main attraction of the night is likely the mega fight between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou. However, the WBO interim title bout between Zhang and Joseph Parker made for a very watchable, high-stakes, co-main event. With that said, the fight did not fail to deliver either.
BANG goes Zhang 💥 Parker down in the third #JoshuaNgannou, live now worldwide on DAZN. Buy 𝗡𝗢𝗪 at https://t.co/FoiaUucafv#KnockoutChaos | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/8QbowRFIcW
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 8, 2024
Having made their walks and entered the ring, it was clear that it was about to be a long day at the office for Parker as he faced off against the mammoth-sized Zhang. Coming off back-to-back KO wins against Joe Joyce, and with 21 knockout wins to his name already, it was clear that the Chinese boxer’s power was something that Joseph would have to contend with.
Joseph Parker’s comeback win against Zhang Zhilei
From the start of the fight, ‘Big Bang’ Zhang applied a lot of pressure on Joseph Parker. With his sheer size, having him walking one down is a frightening idea for any fighter. Standing at 6ft 6 inches, it was relatively easy for the China man to establish himself early on. To make things even better, Zhang landed a clean, straight left dropping Parker in the third.
However, despite Zhang’s little victory lap at the end of the round, the knockdown turned out to be a catalyst for Parker, who finally came to his senses. Rallying back in Rounds 4, 5, 6, and 7, the Kiwi boxer simply took over giving the 40-year-old Zhilei no time to breathe. With that said, he was given another wake-up call in Round 8, this time with a right hook that had him taking a knee.
Once again, he was let off the hook by Zhang, who failed to capitalize on any of his good work. Towards the latter end of the fight, the interim WBO champ seemingly reserved himself to wait for the opportunity to land the perfect one-shot KO. Unfortunately, that opportunity never came as Parker ran away with it in the final two rounds, before being declared the winner by Majority decision (113-113, 114-112, 115-111).
Fans react to Joseph Parker beating Zhang Zhilei
For the most part, many were thoroughly disappointed with the performance put in by Zhang Zhilei. Despite being the favorite according to many, the Chinese boxer seemingly relied on his power a little too much. By the end, even the commentators were left appalled by the lack of activity from the former WBO interim heavyweight champion.
Thus, Joseph Parker became the only one keeping the crowd awake on a late night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to the desk, Zhang did not manage to land a single punch in the final round of the fight, despite his corner calling for him to go guns blazing for a KO. Naturally, the fans online had a lot to say on the matter. One fan wrote, “Fair result. Big Bang didn’t do enough outside the knockdowns.”
Similarly, others followed up by saying, “Zhang didn’t even punch the last round.” and “Expected more fireworks but congrats to Parker”. Following the win, Joseph Parker revealed that he was looking forward to going home and celebrating with his family. Notably, he also broke the news, that his next fight would be a rematch against Zhang, as stipulated in their contract.