I mean, yes? He is a pro boxer, after all. Any boxer who wants to make something of themselves is bound to take some damage in the process. The fact that he has very little mileage so far means he can take much more punishment than the average pro his age could. I'm not saying he should let himself be used as a heavy bag, but it seems a bit premature to call it quits now.
Kabayel used him as a heavy bag until he needed a mask to breath from after only 5 rounds. He's one bad fight away from permanent damage. The guy is what, 42? People are screaming for a much younger and healthier Usyk to retire for crying out loud.
I take that point but Kabayel brought an abnormally high work rate against Zhang and pushed him back early. I very much doubt anyone else besides Usyk could execute that gameplan against Zhang without getting knocked out. The majority of the top 10 will fight Zhang by potshotting on the outside for the first 6 rounds, preserving his stamina.
But Kabayel did that to the body, which very rarely causes permanent damage. Kabayel whooped his a** no question, but I highly doubt Zhang took any kind of serious or lasting damage. Also, people are telling Usyk to retire because he has accomplished pretty much everything in boxing and they don't want him to ruin his legacy. Not to mention his style isn't one that ages well, while Zhang's is. But I'm sure if Usyk really wanted to he could stay at the top or close to it for many more years. Zhang however does not have anywhere near that kind of legacy to ruin. He can still add to his legacy, even at 42.
I'd like to see him in a few more fights. I've given up on my dream of seeing him fight Usyk - and yeah before anyone says anything, I know how it would've likely gone, a very one sided effort from Usyk that ends in either a shutout or a late exhaustion TKO. But I like the both of these guys, they were the first two active heavies I got interested in, and I wanted to see them share a ring. I'm sure most boxing fans can relate to the sentiment, even if they know one of them has a puncher's chance and little else. And even if you can't, hey, it would have been better than another ****ing rematch or an Alex Pereira fight at least That said, I think Zhang still gives most guys in the top ten a hard night, even if he ultimately falls short of beating them. Zhang's kryptonite has been movers, and not many of the top ten fit that bill or could even execute that sort of game plan well. Dubois, AJ, Bakole, Wardley, Ajagba, these are all guys ranked in the top ten, none of them move like Kabayel and all but one have been knocked down by guys not known to be big punchers. Hell, even the two movers he fought still got put down, and it took Kabayel nearly twice as many body shots to put Zhang down as it did his previous opponents. Yeah, Zhang is old and has a bad gas tank. He also carries freight train power in both fists and is incredibly resilient, is good at protecting his dome with the high guard and his parrying skills and has deceptively fast hands despite the slowness everywhere else. I don't think he should keep going terribly much longer, but there's still plenty of winnable money fights out there for him. As to what he should do next, yeah, any of those names I mentioned in the top ten would be good. Hell, he's fought for the mandatory position for the IBF, the WBO and now the WBC, why not go for all four and fight for the WBA one too. Make it against Pulev for his Regular title, that seems to be the old man belt right now anyways