A strong rumor is gaining steam as the rumor mill is hearing that former two-time heavyweight world champion, Anthony Joshua, could face Zhilei Zhang later this year. Zhang, best known by his ring name 'Big Bang', stopped 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joe Joyce twice this year, with his knockout last month over Joyce being a knockout of the year contender.
Since the win, Zhang has been very forward-thinking as he is looking to land something massive. A fight against Anthony Joshua, one of the biggest draws in the sport of boxing could exactly be that.
Last week, Eddie Hearn the promoter of Joshua had gone on record saying that they might look into a fight with Filip Hrgovic, who is the IBF heavyweight mandatory for Joshua's next fight.
The bout would be a rematch of a fight from the 2012 Olympics if it were to happen as Joshua defeated Zhang in the quarter-finals en route to winning a gold medal. The fight was very close and was based on computer scoring which was done away with for the 2016 Olympic Games.
This rumor states this news could break as soon as any minute or any day now, as a source with intimate knowledge of the situation explained.
Joshua last fought Robert Helenius on a week's notice after Dillian Whyte failed a drug test for their fight. Helenius after being stopped by Joshua would also fail a drug test, but after the fight had happened. Earlier this year, Joshua defeated Jermaine Franklin, if this fight were to happen in 2023, it would mark the first time Joshua has fought three times in one year since 2016, the year he won his first world title.
