Zhilei Zhang Highlights
In 2020, while Zhang made a rare visit back home the day after Chinese New Year, his father died of a sudden cardiac arrest at home during COVID-19 lockdown in China. Zhang mistakenly believed his father to be choking and attempted the Heimlich maneuver to no avail.
Round 1: As is often the case in an orthodox vs southpaw clash, we start with fencing jabs, both men tapping each other's leads and having a look. Oh, now we're throwing leather! Joyce gets a left hook through but Zhang thuds home a couple to get the home fighter's attention. Now a nice left from Zhang and Joyce responds with a lumbering, ineffective right. And again, another solid Zhang left. As we know, there's nothing wrong with Joyce's chin but he probably wasn't planning on having it checked so soon.
Su regreso se produjo en el mismo punto, prácticamente, en el que se había quedado. Pese a tener un 80% de triunfos KO, siempre se le ha acusado de no tener una gran pegada. Es zurdo y técnico, lo que hace que a veces no luzca tan bien como debería, pero siguió con la flecha para arriba. Era el momento de pensar en títulos y eso le llevó a chocar contra Filip Hrgovic en agosto de 2022. Perdió ese combate de manera injusta. Fue mejor, pero los jueces apostaron por el 'joven'. Zhang no cumple los estándares de prospecto.
Zhang was housemates with middleweight Meng Fanlong and lightweight Wang Zhimin in New Jersey when he first came to the US. Along with Zou Shiming, these four were the first wave of boxers ever released by the Chinese authorities to turn professional.
Parker lost his next fight, too, a decision setback to Dillian Whyte that seemed to end any hope of a future title shot. But now, Parker is well-positioned while the trio of top heavyweights settle bragging rights as he looks toward another bout with Zhang.
Round 3: Joyce comes out trying to stick that jab in there, also trying to get his short hook around the side. Joyce’s right eye not looking great already, but that’ll happen when a 280 lb guy is landing 55 percent of his power shots. Another left got in there. Good body shot from Zhang, Joyce pecking and poking way up top. Joyce with a good little hook. The activity level from Joyce is helping him a lot now, still eating the odd shot, but not as many. Joyce’s best round so far, but Zhang backs him down with another left, and then another lands. The telling shots are still coming from Zhang right now. Zhang 10-9, 30-27.
Zhang faced former WBC champion Deontay Wilder on 1 June 2024. He secured victory in the fifth round after landing a counter right hook that left Wilder reeling. With Wilder defenseless, zhang zhilei height rushed in and delivered the knockout.
Op 20 augustus 2022 verloor Zhang van de Kroaat Filip Hrgović door een controversiële jurybeslissing, die gepromoveerd werd tot verplichte uitdager van de IBF-titel. Vervolgens vocht hij op 15 april 2023 tegen de eveneens ongeslagen Britse WBO-interim-titelhouder Joe Joyce. Zhang won het gevecht middels een technische knock-out, nadat de scheidsrechter het gevecht stopte vanwege een ernstige zwelling in het rechteroog van Joyce. Op 23 september 2023 won hij de rematch tegen Joyce door een KO in de derde ronde.
"I want to fight all the best fighters of this era," he said . "I want to fight everyone, starting with guys like (Martin) Bakole or (Joe) Joyce, or Frank Sanchez, and then Joshua, Wilder, Usyk. I want to fight them all, of course.
As if Zhilei Zhang wasn’t already intimidating—as if being 6' 6" with Thanos-like fists didn’t make your knees rattle, as if back-to-back knockout wins last year over granite-chinned Brit Joe Joyce weren’t enough—on this particular mid-November afternoon, inside a nondescript gun range in northern New Jersey, Zhang has his fingers wrapped around a Sig Sauer P365 XL. Guns, Zhang insists, were never his thing. His trainer, Shaun George, introduced him to recreational shooting a few years ago; Kurt Li, his co-manager, translator and, it turned out, part-time range safety officer, showed him the ropes. The first time he pulled a trigger, his hands trembled.
"Shaun has been telling me every day in training that I’m not only a big puncher. I’m a smart boxer and I have a high boxing IQ," said Zhang, who hit the punching bag for 11 straight minutes before finishing up training on the speed bag.
Zhang later found out various errors in his preparations. During his one-week COVID-19 quarantine in Miami before the bout, the hotel provided him only two meals a day. Unfamiliar with Miami's high humidity, Zhang's water intake during his stay at hotel was insufficient and he suffered from severe dehydration. Compounded by a drop in fitness from staying in the hotel during quarantine, he lost 9 pounds. Zhang had been unconcerned with his weight loss since it was not an issue in the unlimited weight class. His doctor also concluded that his excessive consumption of Chinese tea during training was partially responsible for his iron-deficiency anemia. When Zhang was discharged from hospital, his first words to his managers were the Chinese idiom, fang hu gui shan, lit. "a tiger let go would come back at the village hard", referring himself as the tiger. Since then, Zhang hired a nutritionist, quit smoking and has stayed away from tea during training and in the immediate run-up to boxing matches.