New Zealand’s former world champion Joseph Parker walked away with the win against Chinese Zhilei Zhang live from Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday, March 8. The pair squared off in the co-feature on the “Knockout Chaos” fight card headlined by Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou.
The scheduled for 12 rounds heavyweight bout went the full distance. In the third and eighth round Zhang secured a pair of knockdowns. Parker returned, fought back and claimed the win by decision.
Judges Steve Gray and Patrick Morley scored the fight 114-112 and 115-111 in favor of Parker, respectively. Judge Zoltan Enyedi had 113-113.
With the victory by split decision, Joseph Parker improved to 35-3, 23 KOs and secured his fifth win in a row. In addition, the Morecambe, England-based 32-year-old claimed the interim WBO belt.
Bloomfield, New Jersey-based 40-year-old Zhilei Zhang dropped to 26-2-1, 21 KOs. The defeat snapped his two-fight winning streak.
In his post-fight interview Parker said he was contracted to face Zhang in the rematch.
Get Joshua vs Ngannou full fight card results.