Joseph Parker's "absolute robbery" majority decision win over Zhilei Zhang divides fans online - "How did a judge have a draw?"

Earlier today in Riyadh, Joseph Parker overcame two knockdowns to outpoint Zhilei Zhang via a majority decision and claim the WBO interim heavyweight title. Like in the case of most closely contested fights, the result has divided fans.

The first of the two knockdowns came in Round 3 when the Chinese national floored the Kiwi with a huge left hand. Zhang once again produced a knockdown in the eighth round.

However, apart from these big moments, there was little activity from the now-former WBO interim heavyweight champion. This enabled Parker to employ clever boxing tactics and relentless jabs to ultimately outpoint his opponent on the judges' scorecards.

Zoltan Enyedi scored the contest a 113-113 draw, while Steve Gray and Patrick Morley had it 114-112 and 115-111, respectively, for Parker.

Check out the official decision below:

Suffice to say, fans are divided over the result, and they took to social media to note their opinions.

@kieranbeattie1 wrote:

"Absolute robbery but got him on the coupon happy days."

@Ablastfoever opined:

"Biggest robbery of all time."

@Dav3yAvFc chimed in:

"JUDGES actually scored a correct fight."

@KierTaylor1 wrote:

"How did a judge have a draw?"

Screenshots courtesy of @MatchroomBoxing on X

Parker holds a record of 35-3 and is currently on a five-fight win streak. He is a former WBO world heavyweight champion and has wins against the likes of Deontay Wilder, Andy Ruiz Jr., and Derek Chisora, among others.

While Parker captured the WBO interim heavyweight championship from Zhang, he might have to wait a while before landing a title shot since there seems to be major interest in matching Anthony Joshua against the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk.

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Joseph Parker confirms rematch with Zhilei Zhang

Joseph Parker edged out Zhilei Zhang at the Kingdom Arena, but the pair still has unfinished business with each other.

During his post-fight in-ring interview, Parker said that he is set to take on Zhang in a rematch in his next outing:

"What is next is I'm going to fight Zhang again. We're going to do it again. That's what we are contracted [for]. To have a rematch. So we're going to do it again."

Catch Joseph Parker's comments below (1:36):