One of the world's best heavyweights, Zhilei Zhang, has claimed that he was in talks to face former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou on the December 23 "Day of Reckoning" card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
However, the prospect of this fight failed to materialise with the event now to set to feature a number of boxing stars including former world heavyweight champions Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder who face Otto Wallin and Joseph Parker respectively.
Zhang is the mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk's WBO world heavyweight title, but with the Ukrainian set to face Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship on February 17, the Chinese star will have to wait a little while longer for his shot at glory.
One possible option for Zhang when it came to his next opponent in an attempt to keep active was Ngannou, but when pulling back the curtain on the negotiations, Zhang revealed that the Cameroonian was not interested in the fight.
"There were originally talks to have me fight Ngannou [on December 23] and I was like, 'Okay, it's a walk in the park for me, I'll take it'," Zhang told Mail Sport via FreeBets.
"But Ngannou didn't want to do it. And then it's what you see. The big names started to come in like Joshua filling the card. And that's what happened."
Ngannou made his boxing debut back in October when he faced WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, and while he lost on a split decision, Ngannou has quickly become one of the most sought after names when it comes to the biggest fights in the sport's most glamorous division.