"It's your poorly kept secret". Zhilei's team accused Joshua

The team of Chinese heavyweight Zhang Zhilei is confident that Anthony Joshua is avoiding a fight between the two boxers.

Zhilei's manager, Terry Lane, directly accused AJ of not wanting to step into the ring with the Chinese fighter.

"Everyone in boxing knows this. It's a poorly kept secret that Joshua doesn't want to fight Zhang. There have been many opportunities to make the fight happen, but Anthony is avoiding it. It's unfortunate because we want this fight," said Terry Lane.

Zhang and Joshua fought as amateurs in London in 2012, where AJ defeated the Chinese boxer on points.

In June, Zhilei defeated Deontay Wilder. Previously, there were talks of a fight between Zhang and Tyson Fury after his two consecutive victories over Joe Joyce. However, "The Gypsy King" is set to have a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in December.

Joshua has won four consecutive fights and is scheduled to fight Daniel Dubois on September 21 for the IBF heavyweight world title.