Over a decade ago, a 22-year-old Anthony Joshua stepped into the ring against a 29-year-old Zhilei Zhang at the 2012 London Olympics in the quarterfinals of the super heavyweight division. Held at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre, London, the bout was a closely contested high-intensity affair. As both fighters showcased their power and skill, Joshua leveraged his speed and home-crowd support while Zhang relied on his experience and physicality. The result? 

Zhang had nearly ended the fight when he dropped Joshua, but the Brit bounced back by maintaining composure and landing effective combinations. In the end, the judges scored the fight 15-11 in Joshua’s favor, a tight decision considering Zhang’s strong performance, especially because of the knockdown. The victory advanced Joshua to the semifinals, and then the finals, where he defeated Roberto Cammarelle to win the gold medal. Regardless, given the history between Joshua and Zhang, a fight between them in the pros makes all the sense. 

However, the fight never happened, even though they competed in the heavyweight division at the same time. Despite that, Zhang doesn’t have a shred of doubt about what he will do to Joshua if they ever come face-to-face in the professional ring. “Well, I want it. I don’t know about him, but I want it for over the years,” Zhang told iFL TV when asked whether he wants to square off against his former rival. “Fans know, you guys know, that how bad I won the Joshua fight. And if you ask me the question today, I still want him, but does he want me?”

When asked whether he thinks he can turn the Olympic knockdown into a knockout, Zhang told the reporter, “Absolutely.” While there’s no official talk of the fight just yet, Anthony Joshua is coming off a devastating knockout loss to Daniel Dubois late last year. According to reports, Matchroom Boxing—Joshua’s promoter—is targeting a November return for the British heavyweight. Although no opponent has been confirmed at the time of writing, Zhilei Zhang could certainly make a strong case to be the one standing across from him in the ring.

There are also some conversations around an all-British clash between Joshua and Tyson Fury, but that isn’t happening anytime soon. Regardless, like Joshua, Zhang’s professional career has been on a bit of a downturn since he defeated Joe Joyce twice in 2023. He lost a majority decision to Joseph Parker last year, but bounced back with a win over Deontay Wilder before suffering another knockout loss to Agit Kabayel earlier this year. Meanwhile, Zhang isn’t the only one who wants to share the ring with Anthony Joshua. 

Deontay Wilder may steal Anthony Joshua from Zhilei Zhang

Before Deontay Wilder’s outing against Tyrrell Herndon last month, Eddie Hearn hinted that a showdown with Anthony Joshua could be back on the table—provided Wilder took care of business. The long-awaited clash nearly materialized in late 2023, but hopes were dashed after Wilder suffered a surprising loss to Joseph Parker. Still, Wilder hasn’t given up on the fight.

Having defeated Herndon, Wilder seems ready for action. “If that fight against Joshua comes, and everything is right, why not?” Wilder told The Ring. “We’ll deal with the situation when it happens. He’s still in the business, and I am as well.” However, Wilder clarified that he is after every big name in the division. 

“I want all of [them], I am not going after just one particular person… I want to make the best fights people want to see.”

While the world waits to see what the future holds for these heavyweights, the fights that should’ve happened years ago finally seem to be coming together, slowly but surely. Who would you like to see Anthony Joshua face next?