Anthony Joshua wants to fight Alexander Usik and Tyson Fury, but may have another heavy foe to worry about.
Britain is determined to win back its belt from Ukrainian Usyk ahead of Britain’s mammoth battle with the Gypsy King, but an undefeated giant also has AJ.
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Zhang Xilei is the unbeaten heavyweight man-mountain 23-0 and wants an AJ brawl in Beijing.
The Chinese star is a knockout machine, with 18 of his 23 victories coming via KO.
At a height of 6 feet 6 inches, he surpasses AJ – whom he lost on points in the London 2012 Olympic quarterfinals.
And the 38-year-old also tiptoes the scales at 19st 8lbs.
Zhang won the super-heavyweight Olympic gold in Beijing 2008 where Britain’s David Price took the bronze.
And he wants to return to the iconic Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium for a huge AJ match.
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As reported by Fightmag, Zhang said: “I would love to fight AJ in China because of my amateur background.
“The venue is there, the Bird’s Nest has 100,000, so that’s all we have.
“Beijing and Shanghai are the largest cities, very developed economically and boxing is growing in China.
“The sports fans out there love boxing, they love AJ, so if we can do that it will be huge for boxing.”
Zhang’s most recent win was on the undercard of Jorge Kambosos’ surprise victory over Teofimo López.
The giant southpaw caught American Craig Lewis within six minutes and was waved by the referee after losing twice.
‘Big Bang’ Zhang is ranked 13th by IBF and 8th by WBO.
He is also signed to matchroom boxing for Eddie Hearn—the same promoter as Joshua—which gives the fight a greater chance of happening.
After losing on points at Tottenham’s stadium in September, AJ is set for a rematch with Usyk next year.
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