Zhang Zhilei to face Sergey Kuzmin
More than a year after his last bout unbeaten Chinese Heavyweight Zhang Zhilei (20-0, 16) [张志磊] looks set to return to the ring in his biggest fight so far. The unbeaten Olympic silver medal winner, has been announced as being part of the November 30th card in Monte Carlo, with his opponent being announced as once beaten Russian Sergey Kuzmin (15-1, 11).
Zhilei, who hasn't fought since September 2018 when he stopped Don Haynesworth, was supposed to be a card in Monaco last year before visa issues forced the bout to be cancelled. He's sadly not fought since then, and at 36 years old, can ill afford any more slip ups if he's to land a big career defining fight. Just a year ago he was being touted as a possible opponent for Anthony Joshua, though that ship appears to have well and truly sailed.
At the age of 32 Kuzmin has a bit more time on his side, though is no spring chicken. Notably he comes into this bout on the back of his first loss, a decision defeat to Michael Hunter back in September. In that bout he looked awfully limited, and not for the first time, though he'll see this as a great chance to gt his career back on track against an aging and beatable Zhilei.
The winner of this will likely find themselves in the top 15 with at least one of the 4 world title bodies, though it's really hard to see where the loser goes.
Zhilei, who hasn't fought since September 2018 when he stopped Don Haynesworth, was supposed to be a card in Monaco last year before visa issues forced the bout to be cancelled. He's sadly not fought since then, and at 36 years old, can ill afford any more slip ups if he's to land a big career defining fight. Just a year ago he was being touted as a possible opponent for Anthony Joshua, though that ship appears to have well and truly sailed.
At the age of 32 Kuzmin has a bit more time on his side, though is no spring chicken. Notably he comes into this bout on the back of his first loss, a decision defeat to Michael Hunter back in September. In that bout he looked awfully limited, and not for the first time, though he'll see this as a great chance to gt his career back on track against an aging and beatable Zhilei.
The winner of this will likely find themselves in the top 15 with at least one of the 4 world title bodies, though it's really hard to see where the loser goes.