Tyson Fury could be offered lucrative fight against Zhilei Zhang who is now ‘a superstar in China’ | Boxing News

Tyson Fury could be offered a lucrative fight this year against Zhilei Zhang, who is now recognised as “a superstar in China”, says his co-manager Terry Lane.

Zhang has expressed his interest in a fight against Fury following his stunning sixth-round stoppage of Joe Joyce at the Copper Box Arena in London last Saturday.

His dramatic triumph drew a massive audience back in his home country, with Lane hoping to host an historic fight between Zhang and one of the biggest names in the heavyweight division.

“The win over Joyce in London made Zhang a legitimate sports superstar instantly in China,” Lane told Sky Sports.

“Over 30 million people viewed it there, and it is projected even more will for future matches.

“He was also trending on all social media platforms, and news outlets who rarely cover sports, much less boxing, were running stories on him.

“What this means is that we can now use this newfound interest in China and stage events there, or distribute events there – this was Zhang’s dream all along.

“In time, he can leverage this interest into getting the fights he wants.”

Joyce, however, does have a rematch clause, which means the Londoner could force Zhang to box him a second time.

If that does happen, Zhang would like to bring the Joyce rematch to the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing.

“That’s where the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was held. And it has also witnessed the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Two Olympics, you know. I wish the fight could be held there,” Zhang told CGTN Europe.

“[Joyce] has asked for the rematch, and asked for the date and the location. I actually don’t mind about the when and the where. Of course it would be the better if it could happen in China. So that the Chinese boxing fans can see a championship heavyweight fight.”

Zhang ripped the WBO interim title from Joyce with last weekend’s victory, and has also put himself in line to fight unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.

The Ukrainian has been ordered to fulfil a WBA mandatory title defence against Britain’s Daniel Dubois, although Zhang is confident his team will position him for a future shot at Usyk.

“Now I can challenge Usyk, so my next plan is, of course, to fight against him. My team have been talking with Usyk’s team about a date and venue of the competition. That needs a lot of negotiation,” he said.

“I am very confident. My goal is to become the world boxing champion. Now I am only one step away from that goal, so I will train harder.

“I will make myself stronger and hope I can defeat Oleksandr Usyk to become the first [heavyweight] boxing champion in China’s or even Asia’s history.

“I like to challenge the strongest. As I said before the fight, only by defeating the strongest can one become stronger. And now, people probably think that I am not strong enough, because there are real boxing champions above me, like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Although Joshua is not a champion now, he has mastered the sport and has ruled for many years.

“They’re all strong fighters. So I want to challenge any of them. In this way, I can gradually become stronger. I will show everyone, show to the world, to all boxing fans, Chinese power.”