PATERSON, New Jersey – Zhilei Zhang was shocked when Agit Kabayel took out Arslanbek Makhmudov by battering the previously unbeaten Russian heavyweight’s body.

Zhang was very familiar with Makhmudov and thought he would beat Germany’s Kabayel when they fought in December 2023 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The unbeaten Kabayel, Zhang’s opponent Saturday night at nearby ANB Arena in Riyadh, hammered Makhmudov to his body, sent him to the canvas three times from body shots and won by fourth-round technical knockout on the Anthony Joshua-Otto Wallin undercard almost 14 months ago.

“It was pretty surprising, to be honest with you, because I know Makhmudov,” Zhang said after a recent workout at True Warriors Boxing Club. “My opinion before the fight was that Makhmudov would beat Kabayel, but I didn’t realize that Kabayel would go in there and throw all these body shots and stop him.”

The 6-foot-6, 287-pound Zhang (27-2-1, 22 KOs), a strong southpaw from Zoukou, China, was less surprised Kabayel stopped previously unbeaten Cuban Frank Sanchez in Kabayel’s last fight. Kabayel (25-0, 17 KOs) knocked Sanchez (24-1, 17 KOs) to the canvas twice in the seventh round, when Kabayel won by knockout May 18 on the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury undercard at Kingdom Arena.

“I think Frank Sanchez is a good boxer,” Zhang said. “He moves around well and he has good ring generalship, but his punches are not a big threat. [Kabayel] went forward worry free.”

Zhang’s right hook has been his most impressive weapon during a resurgence that began when he narrowly lost a 12-round split decision to rugged Croatian contender Filip Hrgovic (then 14-0, 12 KOs) in August 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The 2008 Olympic silver medalist dared Kabayel to come after his body the way Kabayel did with Makhmudov (19-2, 18 KOs), but the former WBO interim champion respects Kabayel’s recent run.

“I watched his fights,” Zhang said. “He’s young, he’s hungry and he’s definitely on a surge.”

The 32-year-old Kabayel’s back-to-back victories over Makhmudov and Sanchez have elevated him to the No. 5 position in The Ring’s heavyweight rankings. Zhang is rated fourth by The Ring.

DraftKings lists Kabayel as less than a 2-1 favorite to beat Zhang in their 12-round fight for the WBC interim heavyweight title. Zhang-Kabayel will be the third of eight pay-per-view fights on this loaded card scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m. GMT in the United Kingdom (£19.99) and 11:15 a.m. ET in the United States ($25.99).

Coincidentally, Sanchez will fight Saturday night in Tijuana for the first time since Kabayel beat him nine months ago. He will meet Mexican journeyman Ramon Olivas Echeverria (18-24, 12 KOs) in a six-rounder on the Luis Nery-Kyonosuke Kameda undercard.