On April 16, Beijing time, I believe that many heroes witnessed the history of Chinese boxing star Zhang Zhilei, and the sixth round TKO was the WBO heavyweight (over 91 kg) temporary world boxing champion Joyce, and took away the gold belt in the opponent's hand.
Zhang Zhilei
Winning this game, Zhang Zhilei's influence can be described as rising. On BOXREC's website, Zhang Zhilei became a four-star fighter and ranked tenth among the world's heavyweights.
There are also many martial arts fans who care about Zhang Zhilei's income, because since 2020, Zhang Zhilei has been preparing for training in the United States, and clothing, food, housing and transportation are a large expense. However, since the income of fighters is generally confidential, most of the networks are speculative and for reference only.
Some media such as the foreign "InsideSports" believe that Zhang Zhilei will share 35% of the PPV income, and Joyce will share 65%, and finally Zhang Zhilei's total income will reach 700,000 US dollars (about 4.81 million yuan), if true, he will become the highest-paid boxer in China today. Some foreign media also believe that Zhang Zhilei will share 40% of PPV revenue, and the final total income is 800,000 US dollars. But no matter what, Zhang Zhilei not only made his own fame and made history this time, but also gained a lot economically.
After becoming the WBO heavyweight interim world boxing champion, Zhang Zhilei also has the mandatory right to challenge the WBA, WBO and IBF world boxing champion Usyk. However, because Usyk holds the gold belt of the three major organizations, he and Fury's world boxing champion unified battle, and has been disconnected, although it is likely to be difficult to form in the near future, but Zhang Zhilei still has many obstacles to a smooth fight with Usyk. The first is the WBA heavyweight (regular) world champion Dubois, who has been preparing to challenge Usyk for a long time, and the second is Hagovic, who defeated Zhang Zhilei in the last match to win the mandatory challenge to the IBF belt. Compared with these two, Zhang Zhilei does not have an advantage in commercial value, and if he waits in line for Usyk, he is likely to queue until next year.
So according to Zhang Zhilei during the live broadcast, his team is contacting WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury. However, Furi has always picked opponents with great commercial value to fight, so this battle is also very difficult to form. At present, Fury and Usyk are in a stalemate in the united war, Joshua, who wants to fight, is suspected of negotiating with Wild in the near future, and Fury is also facing the situation of having no suitable opponent. In addition to Fury, Zhang Zhilei also has a rematch agreement with Joyce, but Joyce himself did not insist on a rematch, and many people think that Joyce is not good at dealing with left-handed fighters, so a rematch with Zhang Zhilei, the possibility of winning is still unlikely.
Furi (left) Zhang Zhilei (right)
In addition to the above two, Hergovich also expressed his desire to come to China to fight Zhang Zhilei. According to reports, Hergovich is unhappy that many people think that his victory over Zhang Zhilei is controversial, so he is going to China to defeat Zhang Zhilei. Zhang Zhilei's team has also been unhappy with the decision to lose to Hergovich, and said before the match with Joyce that it would not hand over the results to the referee. It is worth mentioning that before Zhang Zhilei TKO Joyce, one of the three scoring judges decided that Joyce was ahead of Zhang Zhilei in points, which also caused dissatisfaction among many people. It also confirms the difficulty of Zhang Zhilei's overseas battle.
Hergovich (left) VS Zhang Zhilei (right)
Although many martial arts fans think that Zhang Zhilei will take a break after winning the belt, Zhang Zhilei said that he will soon get a visa to return to the United States and devote himself to training as soon as possible. The veteran, who is about to turn 40, continues to prove with his actions what it means to fight for dreams. If you don't do your best, what excuse is there to ask the firmament that it is bad luck if you fail to succeed!