In the match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on March 9, Zhang Zhilei lost to Parker on points in 12 rounds and lost the WBO heavyweight interim boxing title. After the game, Zhang Zhilei received some questions, some people questioned him for releasing water in the game, but for this kind of questioning, Zhang Zhilei responded directly and declared that he would sum up the game well. After nearly one month, Zhang Zhilei fulfilled his promise. A few days ago, in an interview with the media, Zhang Zhilei summed up the reasons for his loss to Parker, and he said that he was too confident at the time, so much so that he was a little too relaxed in the game.
Zhang Zhilei said to the camera: I may not have the same mentality as when I played Joyce, because when I fought Joyce, I told myself that I was going to take the belt from him, and then in the second fight, it was I who was defending the belt, and the desire to beat him was very strong. After beating Joyce, I became overconfident and it made me a little too relaxed against Joseph Parker. In fact, I had the upper hand in the first half of the game, and in the second half he changed his tactics. He tried to control the distance so I couldn't hit him and I started to feel anxious.
Zhang Zhilei continued: After the game, I reflected. I did train for that situation, including how to deal with his hugs, but somehow I didn't get my mentality right in the second half of the game, I didn't manage some strategy. Judging from Zhang Zhilei's summary, even he doesn't know why he had such a negative performance in the second half of the game. It is worth mentioning that according to Zhang Zhilei's revelations, his second match with Parker will be staged at the end of the year, and the venue may be in China. I hope that Zhang Zhilei will not make similar mistakes again in the second battle.