Zhelei Zhang vs Scott Alexander Preview May 7th, 2022
The undercard of the Dmitry Bivol vs Saul Alvarez fight this Saturday, May 7th will feature heavyweight hopeful Zhilei Zhang of China taking on Scott Alexander of Los Angeles, California in a 10-round tilt. Zhang was originally supposed to meet fellow unbeaten fighter Filip Hrgovic of Croatia in an IBF Eliminator but Hrgovic pulled out just a few days before the bout. Zhang last fought in November when he stopped Craig Lewis in the second round while Alexander dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to Carlos Negron last May.
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Zhang vs Alexander Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Scott Alexander +800
- Zhilei Zhang -1500
My Pick
The southpaw Zhang is already 39 years old but has a near-perfect mark of 23-0-1 with 18 Kos. This impressive record was built on his power as he owns a current knockout percentage of 75 per cent. He’s boxed just 71 rounds since turning pro in 2014 and has gone 10 rounds just twice. The first time came in November, 2019 when he beat Andriy Rudenko by unanimous decision to retain his WBO Oriental Heavyweight Title. Zhang won that belt back in 2017 with a first-round stoppage of Peter Graham.
He then fought to a 10-round draw with Jerry Forrest in February, 2021 after dropping Forrest in each of the first three rounds and then having a point deducted for holding in the ninth round. Zhang completely ran out of gas in that fight and seemed to be out on his feet several times from pure exhaustion but managed to see the final bell.
Zhang stands 6-feet-6-inches with an unlisted reach and his list of opponents so far include the likes of Rudenko, Forrest, Devin Vargas, Byron Polley, Curtis Harper, Mark Brown Galen Brown, Curtis Harper and Don Haynesworth. Zhang isn’t really that well known around the world as a pro but enjoyed quite a fine amateur career.
He won a silver medal as a super heavyweight at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as well as a bronze medal at the world amateur championships in 2007 and 2009. He was beaten in the amateurs by Grzegorz Kielsa, Odlanier Solis, Vyacheslav Glazkov, Roberto Cammarelle and Anthony Joshua but beat had a win over Joseph Parker.
The 33-year-old Alexander steps in as a late replacement and climbs through the ropes at 16-4-2 with 8 Ko’s. He’s boxed 94 rounds since making his pro debut in 2009 and is quite durable as he’s never been stopped in his four defeats. His other losses came at the hands of Rodney Hernandez by six-round unanimous decision in 2015, to LaRon Mitchell by 10-round unanimous decision in 2016 for the vacant NABF Junior Heavyweight Title and to Travis Kauffman via a 10-round majority decision in 2018.
Alexander’s draws were four-round affairs with Marcus Dickerson in 2010 and with Tracey Johnson in 2016. He stands 6-feet-3-inches tall with a 75-inch reach so gives up three inches in height to Zhang. As far as power goes, Alexander doesn’t really possess much of it as his current knockout ratio reads 36.4 per cent. He’s never faced a legitimate top-10 contender in his career as of yet and will be taking a step up in class this weekend.
Prediction…
Zhang is basically a banger who isn’t interested in what the judges have to say as he prefers to end things before going to the scorecards. His advanced age won’t work in his favour though and the longer this fight goes the better it’ll be for Alexander. Zhang needs to use his power to end proceedings as soon as he can or he could be in for a hard day’s night as the Beatles would say. Even so, I’ll go with Zhang due to his power.
Alexander will give it a good shot but should fall short.
Play: Zhang -1500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Scott Alexander betting • Zhilei Zhang betting