Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang says his twelve-round co-feature bout with Joseph Parker on March 8th will be the real main event at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

For the record, WBO interim heavyweight champion Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) and Parker (34-3, 23 KOs) will be fighting as the chief support bout on the Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou card. Those two are the main event and were picked out by the Saudis for that purpose.

It’s surprising that Joshua’s fight with Ngannou (0-1) is being sanctioned as counting on the official records. It’s such a mismatch in experience in the sport. These types of fights weren’t allowed in the past. When you have such a vast difference in experience, the fights weren’t sanctioned.

Joshua-Ngannou: Exhibition or True Clash?

The two-time Olympian Zhang says he views the Joshua-Ngannou fight as a ten-round exhibition-level fight due to Ngannou (0-1) being an MMA fighter, competing only for the second time in a boxing match against the former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua.

Commercially, Joshua-Ngannou is the bigger fight than Zhang-Parker, but it shouldn’t be an official match. You wouldn’t see this type of thing going on in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL. You can’t just walk in from another sport and play in the high-level game.

Parker: No Sleeping Allowed

“Parker isn’t someone you can sleep on. I’m very happy to showcase my skills in Saudi Arabia,” said Zhilei Zhang to Fighthype about his fight with Joseph Parker on March 8th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“I would like to say. I would like to say thank you to my team and thank you to His Excellency for putting this excellent event together.

“In my point of view, that’s a ten-pound exhibition,” said Zhang about the Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou main event fight on March 8th. “People are going to tune in to watch that fight. A lot of people are going to tune in because they want to see boxing vs. MMA.

“They want to see Joshua vs. Ngannou. The two world-famous athletes are going at each other. But to me, there’s no question that Joshua will get the victory.

“But as I said, it’s a ten-round exhibition, and if you look at it from a boxing perspective, you know who the main event will be,” said Zhang about his fight with Parker” being the true main event on March 8th, not Joshua-Ngannou.