According to DAZN, China's undefeated heavyweight professional boxer Zhang Zhilei accepted IBF's arrangement to compete with Croatian undefeated boxer Filip Hrgovic for the IBF heavyweight world championship mandatory challenge.
The winner will be a mandatory challenger for WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Zhang Zhilei (23-0-1, 18 KO), 38, has agreed to face the 29-year-old Hégović (14-0, 12 KO). The next two will negotiate for 15 days, and if it is overdue, the two sides will have to bid on the right to host the match.
In general, it is customary for Hgović to play a knockout match against the top 15 players. He should theoretically compete with "King Kong" Ortiz, Joseph Parker, Ruiz Jr. and others. But some of them can't play due to injuries, such as Ortiz.
There are also those who are not ready to face Hégović before April. In addition, Parker and Ruiz Jr. are star players, and they will not compete for this opportunity for a small appearance fee. Therefore, Zhang Zhilei, who finally ranked 13th, got this rare opportunity.
Hegovich, who is 198cm tall and has an arm span of 208cm, showed athletic talent at a very young age, and when he was a teenager, he played basketball to lose weight and won the national championship.
He later began to learn boxing at the age of 13 with a back and knee injury, and he won the AIBA World Junior Boxing Championship, the European Boxing Championship, and the bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Hegović began his professional boxing career in 2017, winning the WBC International Gold Belt on 8 September 2018 and the IBF International Gold Belt on 7 November 2020.
On December 4 last year, Hégović twice knocked out his opponent in the first two legs twice, TKO Germany's Emile Amatovic in the third round.
Zhang Zhilei, who has a height of 198cm and an arm span of 210cm, won the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the bronze medal at the 2009 Boxing World Championships. He began his professional boxing career in 2014 and won the WBO Intercontinental Gold Belt in 2017.
Tied with Jerry Forrest for 10 rounds last February due to severe dehydration, he knocked out two opponents at Madison Garden Plaza on November 27 last year, with TKO Craig Lewis in the second leg.
It can be said that Zhang Zhilei has never stopped the pace of rushing to the world championship, and this time he finally has an opportunity in front of him.
Although the opponent is very strong and has an absolute advantage in age, we also expect Zhang Zhilei to seize the opportunity to climb into the ring of the championship battle.