“The White Rhino” suffered a points defeat against Arslanbek Makhmudov after 10 hard-fought rounds in October, but he got back to his winning ways in Nottingham on Saturday night. England’s Allen (25-8-2, 20 KOs) wiped out Frenchman Karim Berredjem in just 57 seconds as part of the undercard for Leigh Wood’s long-awaited rematch with Josh Warrington.

But now the 33-year-old from Conisbrough, Yorkshire has confirmed that talks are ongoing about a far sterner test, which is expected to take place sometime in September.

“I think it’s going to be Zhilei Zhang,” Allen told First Round TV, a podcast hosted by his one-time trainer and former IBF middleweight champion Darren Barker. “I think it’s going to happen. We’ve already spoken about it. They mentioned Zhilei Zhang to me and I’ve never backed down from anyone in my life and I’m not going to start with him.”

“Big Bang” Zhang (27-3-1, 22 KOs), the Chinese southpaw, has been out of the ring for a whole year, dating back to his sixth-round stoppage defeat at the hands of Agit Kabayel in February 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

But the 42-year-old Zhang has happy memories of England, having stopped Joe Joyce in stunning fashion in two consecutive fights in 2023. His most recent victory was his brutal knockout of former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in June 2024 in Riyadh.

“All I want to do is entertain everyone,” Allen said, “and if I box Zhilei Zhang, one of two things will happen: I’ll get flattened for the first time or he will be knackered after three rounds and I’ll beat him on points.”