In Saudi Arabia, Joseph Parker defeated Zhilei Zhang by majority decision after getting off
the canvas twice.
In the third and eighth rounds, the heavy-handed Zhang knocked the New Zealander out, but
he didn’t let that stop him. His better work rate and precision earned him scores of 114-112,
115-111, and 113-113 on the Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou card, according to three
judges.
In the first round, Zhang grabbed centre stage and poked punches to determine range before
launching a left hand that just missed Parker.
Zhang showed off his strength in the second round when he caught Parker off guard with a
cuffing blow, and in the third, the Kiwi was sent flying to the ground with a straight left hand.
After being knocked down in the eighth round due to a chopping punch, Parker was worried
once more. However, he recovered well and returned fire in the ninth round with some excellent combinations.
Parker picked up his pace with sharp jabs into the tenth round, and he finished the last two
rounds by stopping Zhang with well-placed punches to win on two of the scorecards.
