Zhilei Zhang is itching for a world title opportunity and believes he will make that dream a reality by beating Filip Hrgovic in Saturday night’s IBF eliminator.
The heavyweight behemoths face off in Saudi Arabia with a view to snatching the spotlight from Anthony Joshua’s headline rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, the winner of which one of them looks set to face.
Zhang, who lost to eventual gold-medallist Joshua in the quarter-finals of the 2012 London Olympics, enters the fight unbeaten at 24-0-1 (19 KOs) in his professional career.
Advisor Terry Lane told Sky Sports he believes the 39-year-old can emerge as the No 1 heavyweight in the world.
“Overall, we think Zhang is the stronger and superior fighter,” said Lane, regarding the fight against Hrgovic. “I don’t want to go into details, but we think the fight is in our favour.”