Tyson Fury’s team holds talks with Zhilei Zhang over July return fight despite Andy Ruiz Jr claiming deal is ‘official’
Fury is set to return in July at Wembley Stadium, having seen a title unification with Oleksandr Usyk collapse.
Joe Joyce looked in line to challenge the WBC champion in the summer until his shock loss to Zhang.
And now the 2012 Olympic silver medalist has emerged as a shock alternative to fight Fury.
Zhang told iFL TV: “I just came back from my vacation, so everything is fresh to me.
“I believe that my team has made communications with their team on that matter.”
He added: “Let’s do it Tyson. If you’re looking at July, I’ll be ready for you in July.”
But Zhang, 39, could also be drawn into a second fight with Joyce, 37, due to a rematch clause in the Brit’s contract.
It leaves Andy Ruiz Jr, 33, as a frontrunner to welcome Fury, 34, back to the ring.
And the Mexican-American added fuel to the fire after re-sharing a mocked up fight poster of the two.
It read: “Tyson Fury vs Andy Ruiz Jr is official! July 22nd.”
And he accompanied it with an emoji of the UK flag.
But despite Ruiz’s tease, Hall of Fame promoter Warren told Boxing News that no deal is set in stone.