On April 14, Beijing time, a high-profile heavyweight battle will be held in the United States, when the 24-year-old American heavyweight hopeful star "Big Baby" Anderson will return to the ring after an eight-month absence, facing the Ivorian Belgian fighter Merry. This bout is also a training session for Anderson before he reaches the world belt, and after winning this fight, he may find Zhang Zhilei to fight, because promoter Arum has already planned for it.
In the past few years, Zhang Zhilei's promoters have changed several, the more famous are Hearn and Warren, after a battle with Parker, Zhang Zhilei's contract with Warren has expired, and then it is likely to renew the contract with Arum, and Arum is Anderson's promoter, so the real purpose of Arum's signing of Zhang Zhilei is to increase Anderson's popularity, this intention has been confirmed by foreign media, and Arum hopes that Anderson will face off against Zhang Zhilei next year.
Anderson is now strong enough to knock out Zhang, and Rudenko and Forrest both fought Zhang for 10 rounds, but the two men combined for just seven rounds under Anderson. However, Anderson, a young man, has gradually lost interest in boxing, and he is ready to retire in 2027, that is, when he is 27 years old, and in 2026, Arum will arrange for Anderson to hit the world belt, which means that Zhang Zhilei will not only not be able to hit the world gold next year, but also use Anderson as a stepping stone.
Anderson's current professional record is 15 knockouts from 16 fights and is ranked 21st in the heavyweight world on the boxrec data website, while Zhang Zhilei has slipped to 11th.
To sum up, if Zhang Zhilei signs a contract with Arum, he must be careful, especially when he fights with Anderson, he must not give the scoring referee a chance to obstruct, and if there is a chance to KO, he must take advantage of the situation to chase, otherwise even if he plays the whole game, he is likely to be killed by the scoring referee's scorecard. Through the championship route designed by Arum for Anderson, it can be felt that Zhang Zhilei does not seem to be valued by Arum, and Arum is still cultivating their Americans, Zhang Zhilei wants to reverse this situation, and there is no better choice except for a clean knockout.
As for whether Anderson can knock out Merry beautifully this Sunday, thus taking a solid step towards a fight with Zhang Zhilei, let's wait and see!