A nervous-looking Eddie Hearn says he’d be open to doing a fight between Anthony Joshua & Zhilei Zhang in China if the “money” is right. Hearn states that he’s still currently interested in making the Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder fight. If enough money is offered from someone in China, Hearn would be interested in letting Joshua (26, 23 KOs) fight Zhang there. Interestingly, Hearn feels that Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) isn’t on Joshua’s level, and he points to AJ’s narrow and, some say, questionable 15-11 victory over Zhilei in the 2012 London Olympics. That was a very, very close fight, and it was a long time ago before Joshua began showing signs of mental & physical deterioration. This writer had Zhang beating Joshua, but it wasn’t surprising that he lost. After all, the fight took place in London.

Joshua Vs. Zhang Possible “I said to you that he’d [Joyce] get stopped inside six rounds. Joe Joyce is a great guy. He’s 38, he’s taken a huge amount of punishment in sparring and in fights, and his greatest asset was his ability to take punches and walk through them. He can’t do it anymore,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about Joe Joyce. NEWS:   Joe Joyce to come in “heavier” for Zhilei Zhang rematch on Saturday “Yeah, absolutely,” said Hearn when asked if he would do the Joshua vs. Zhang fight in China. “AJ’s always fancied that fight. He beat him in the amateurs. It was a good fight [in the 2012 London Olympics] Zhang is clearly fighting on a higher level than Joshua, who looks mentally shot, with his punch resistance & self-confidence gone and not coming back. Even if Joshua were still in mint condition, coming out of the 2012 Olympics, Zhang would be too much for him and hammer him into the earth. The fact is, Joshua was never that good of a fighter to begin with, and the only reason he went this far is due to Hearn’s careful match-making.

“Yeah, of course. Money talks,” said Hearn on whether he’d be open to doing Joshua-Zhang in China. “We’ll talk about that fight, no problem. We want to make the Wilder fight. Zhang’s an easy [fight for Joshua]. It’s still dangerous, but why not?” said Hearn. “Zhilei Zhang is a good fighter. He’s not an elite heavyweight, in my opinion, but he’s a world-class heavyweight. When I say ‘Elite,’ I’m talking, like top three, four, or five in the division. No, not really. I think there’s an argument he could creep into number five, but he’s a lovely man,” said Hearn when asked if Zhang is a top five heavyweight in the division.

At this point in Joshua’s career, he’s NOT a top five heavyweight anymore and would lose to all of these fighters: Zhilei Zhang Arslanbek Makhmudov Deontay Wilder Oleksandr Usyk Filip Hrgovic Andy Ruiz Jr. Tyson Fury Jared Anderson Frank Sanchez Martin Bakole

The look on Hearn’s face when he said, “Zhang’s an easy” fight for Joshua didn’t match his words. He was saying words for effect but didn’t believe them. Hearn obviously knows if he throws Joshua in with Zhang, the two-time Chinese Olympian will destroy what’s left of his career, which is on its last legs as it is. Joshua is utterly shot, a prime example of a fighter who has been on the front lines of a war for too long and can longer handle the heat of battle. AJ looks like someone in the trenches, shaking with fear each time an artillery round or a bullet whistles by overhead. He doesn’t belong in the warzone anymore, and he would be destroyed even worse than Joyce. With the apprehensive look on Hearn’s face when he was asked about his interest in matching Joshua against Zhang, it’s clear that he knows that AJ is shell-shocked at this point in his career.

Now, it’s just about putting him in a cash-out fight with Deontay and scooping up the gold. Joshua will be shattered by Wilder, and Hearn won’t be able to pick up all the broken pieces of him afterward to ramp up for another cash-out fight. Joe Joyce = “Punching Bag” “I saw the fight. We watched it. You can’t come in two stone nearly heavier than the last fight if you’re just going to be a punching bag, and that’s what he was tonight,” said Hearn about Joyce. “He was a punching bag.” It was a crazy idea for Joyce to have taken the rematch with Zhang in the first place, and you have to wonder who in his camp made the decision to go in that direction. Joyce should taken a couple of confidence-building fights against some local lads before getting back in the thick of things against world-level competition. “He wasn’t in the fight at any moment,”  said Hearn. “He was getting pinged left, right, and center, and it was a horrific knockout. I think his punch resistance is not what it was. That’s why I thought he’d win the first fight, but I said to you in the interview. He’ll get stopped within six rounds. He’s not the same fighter.

“No. That would be dangerous,” said Hearn when asked if he’d make Anthony Joshua vs. Joyce. “He [Joyce] shouldn’t be boxing. He’s had a great career, and he should have been Olympic champion [in 2016]. He’s won the [WBO] interim World Heavyweight, so I’m sure he’s made a lot of money as well. “People around him will know. You can’t get hit. AJ punches as hard as Zhang, with much more speed. It’s not so right fight to make. You have to protect these guys,” said Hearn about his lack of interest in making a fight between Joshua and Joe Joyce. “It’s a car crash, that fight, a car crash. Zhang is quite ponderous and quite slow but a good southpaw, who can bang a little bit. AJ punches as hard with speed. It would be [a mismatch]. Joe doesn’t need that fight. He’s had a great career, and let him enjoy his life. He can’t keep going in and taking punishment,” said Hearn.

TYSON FURY has walked away from the heavyweight boxing division to play cash-grab with MMA giant Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia.

With Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz – who stunned the world by beating Anthony Joshua in 2019 – refusing to fight each other to decide a mandatory challenger for the WBC Gypsy King, the division is frustrating fans no end.

After dominating Anthony Joshua in back-to-back fights and jabbing Daniel Dubois into submission, Oleksandr Usyk is the rising star after being undisputed king of the cruiserweight division.

But the rest of the rankings are a pick’em blend of falling heroes, rising prospects and champing-at-the-bit-contenders.

As with all of these utterly subjective, fantasy boxing lists, nobody really knows.

10. JARED ANDERSON

11

Big Baby is growing in record and reputation, with US promoters Top Rank expecting the 23-year-old to be a sensation.

Fury used the American for sparring before his Wilder wins and agrees with them.

Bizarrely 16-0 Anderson doesn’t seem to love the sport and is treating it like a business he is already looking forward to leaving but he has all the credentials and potential to be the boss of bosses when the current crop start to retire.

9. BAKHODIR JALOLOV

11

It’s another dark mark on the greedy boxing bureaucracy that this 29-year-old southpaw giant has been allowed to have 13 pro fights while still jetting around the world winning amateur tournaments.

The 6ft 7in leftie is a major problem for everyone in the heavyweight division but he’s currently battering journeymen in the pros and, mainly, kids in the amateurs. Once he commits to the pro ranks he will be a world champion but right now his handlers are exploiting boxing’s bonkers rules and wasting his and our time.

8. FILIP HRGOVIC

11

A few fights back the Croatian ‘Animal’ was chairman of the who-needs-him club. A celebrated amateur, a spiteful puncher and a no-nonsense brute who doesn’t care for talking trash or selling tickets.

But he was handed a gift against Zhang and he was taken all 12 rounds by unknown Australian Dempsey McKean in August so nobody is begging for Hrgovic to get his world title shot right now.

But mandatory position with the IBF could get him a shot at Usyk soon.

7. DANIEL DUBOIS

11

A controversial choice on current form but both of the Londoner’s defeats have come with caveats.

He was ahead on the cards when he took a knee against Joyce and he floored Usyk with a body punch that was ruled a low blow and is currently being contested by promoter Frank Warren.

The sadly unavoidable fact is that behind Dynamite Dan’s ideal physical characteristics there remains a frail mind that is prone to folding under extreme pressure.

But a bit more maturity, a psychology coach or just a lightbulb moment could cure that and make him a monster.

6. JOE JOYCE

The Juggernaut was robbed of 2016 Olympic gold that would have fast-tracked him to a world title in the same way it did for AJ four years early.

But when he beat Daniel Dubois in 2020 he finally became a mainstream star.

The loss to Zhang was disastrous and a repeat will sadly end his status as a serious contender but a win will rocket him back into the reckoning where all-English clashes with Fury and AJ would sell out a football stadium.

5. ZHILEI ZHANG

Nobody in their right mind wants to fight a 20st southpaw who struggles to sell tickets outside of his China home so when the 40-year-old battered Joe Joyce in April he catapulted himself into the big leagues.

He was robbed of a win over heavyweight boogie man Filip Hrgovic in the bout before but is now bearing down on the big boys. Time is running out for the veteran and a rematch defeat to Joyce will almost end his top-tier career but a win makes him a major player.

4. ANTHONY JOSHUA

Another London 2012 golden boy but also another former champion on the slide. There is no shame in losing back-to-back decisions to Usyk but the comeback performances against Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius have underwhelmed.

The history books should never forget the rapid rise through the amateurs, the tear through the division and the excellent way he has conducted himself. But never facing Wilder or Fury will be a stain if AJ’s superb career ends any time soon.

3. DEONTAY WILDER

Despite a draw and back-to-back defeats to Fury, Wilder’s stock rose following their iconic trilogy – he was proven not to be just a flat-track bully – and it is a travesty he has done just one round in the two years since.

If he lands that right hand on Usyk, Joshua, Ruiz et al he could well knock them spark out and separate himself from that chasing pack but his inactivity is doing him no favours and he could soon fall lower down the list without a real bout.

2. OLEKSANDR USYK

London 2012 Olympic champion after an amateur record of 94-15, undisputed 14st 4lbs boss inside just 15 pro fights and now the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight ruler.

We are already looking at one of the finest fighters of the modern era. But the step up to 6ft 9in, 19st Fury is massive and would take something superhuman, which the Ukraine southpaw could well be capable of.

1. TYSON FURY

The undefeated 34-year-old giant outboxed Wladimir Klitschko when he was the decade-long don and demolished Bronze Bomber Wilder in two of their three fights to cement his position as top dog.

Bouts against Derek Chisora and Dillian Whyte recently have underwhelmed but if AJ and Usyk are turning down his offers, he has earned the right to play away with Ngannou for now.

The duo, 33 and 35 respectively, have twice been on the the brink of a historic domestic dust-up but have yet to share the ring with one another.

British boxing fans are still itching to see the pair duke it out before they call time on their careers, although the same, seemingly, can’t be said for former heavyweight champ Frank Bruno.

The former WBC titleholder told The Gypsy King: “I don’t think Joshua should go anywhere near you.

“Because you’ll teach him a lesson you know, a boxing lesson.”

Fan favourite Fury is well aware of the global interest in a fight with AJ but has zero interest in facing his fellow Brit.

He told The Daily Mail: “I don’t really care what he says. He’s a bum in my opinion.

“He’s just one big bum-dosser that has been knocked out three times.

“He’s been knocked out twice and had three losses.

“He can’t even compare in my league any more.

“It’s not even a fight I am thinking about any more.

“I’m not even interested. That bubble has been burst.

“His virginity has been taken away so it’s not interesting for me any more.

“He’s been spanked by Usyk twice and been beaten by a fat man.

“So it’s not in my interest to beat him.”

Current WBC king Fury is gearing up for a controversial crossover clash with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia next month.

And he insists the boxing novice poses more of a threat to him than former unified champ AJ, saying: “I am fighting a guy who is in his prime, who is a champion.

“Who is bigger than him, who is stronger than him and who is a bigger knockout puncher than him.

“He needs to get to the back of the queue. That fight is gone, it’s dead.

“That fight was off the cards as soon as he got beaten.”