Chinese Boxer Zhilei Zhang
From Shiapedia
Zhilei Zhang, who turns 40 next month, is closing in on a shot at Oleksandr Usyk's WBO world heavyweight titles, after pulling off an upset sixth-round technical knockout win over Joe Joyce on Saturday.
The fight was allowed to continue, but with Joyce's eyesight clearly hindered - and being repeatedly peppered by Zhang's punches - referee Howard Foster recalled the doctor in round six before deciding to save Joyce from any more, potentially long-lasting, damage.
On 27 November 2021, Zhang faced Craig Lewis on the undercard of Teófimo López vs. George Kambosos Jr. Zhang started the fight off slowly, but dropped Lewis twice in round two, leading Lewis' corner to throw in the towel, giving Zhang a win by TKO.
Zhang continued to enjoy success with the straight left hand in the third and fourth rounds, as the condition of Joyce's right eye worsened. Zhang rocked Joyce with a right hook in the fourth round and finished the round with two thudding left hands.
From afar, George had cringed at how Zhang was being developed. There was no plan, he says. No visible signs of improvement. The only objective seemed to be to lard Zhang’s record with enough warm bodies until one of the top heavyweights would pay a premium to face him. "Do you remember Nikolai Valuev?" asks George, referencing the 7-foot Russian who briefly held a heavyweight title. "That’s how everyone was looking at Zhilei. Like a gimmick."
Round 6: Zinad lands a hook to the body early as Bivol got a little lazy. And another one up top this time. Bivol is controlling space though and resets. Hets the jab going. Lands a left hook. He’s not willing to step up his pace or power at this point.
"Not so long ago I would have picked Wilder by KO and not thought twice about. But Wilder’s recent performances have me wondering if, like many KO guys, they fade quickly. Wilder looks to be in that fading point of his career. Having said that Zhang is a step down from Tyson Fury and Joseph Parker. Then again, Parker dominated Wilder while Zhang lost to him by majority decision in a close fight. So who wins? Zhang could easily beat Wilder if the latter continues to fade but this is also a crossroads fight for Wilder. He has to understand, one would think, that a fourth loss in his last five fights means an end to him as a legitimate contender and big payday money maker. So I’ll go with the more desperate fighter in Wilder and pick him by TKO. But I’m not doing it with a lot of conviction, to be honest."
But he was big. Not just for his family. For his town. Zhang grew up in Shenqiu, a rural county that sits on the line between Henan and Anhui in the eastern part of the country. He wasn’t athletically gifted. Wasn’t so athletically inclined, either. When he was 12, his father, concerned about his weight, suggested Zhang try sports. Kayaking was popular. Zhang liked it. But the first time he squeezed his 6' 1", 190-pound frame into one he felt the water splashing into the sinking vessel as he paddled.
It’s just not popular. Not yet anyway. China has 1.4 billion people, but, says promoter Bob Arum, "that doesn’t mean anything. India has number of people, and you couldn’t sell a ticket to Mahatma Gandhi fighting for the title." In 2013, Arum signed Zou Shiming, Zhang’s Olympic teammate. The relationship was successful, with Zou even winning a 112-pound title. But he failed to capture national interest. "The problem was the guy couldn’t f—ing fight," says Arum. "He won two gold medals, I don’t know how, but he couldn’t fight." Zhang, Arum says, is different. "Heavyweights are the baddest guys in the world," says Arum. "And I think his ability is much greater than Zou’s was."
He took third place at the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Chicago, thus qualifying for boxing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he won a silver medal. His fight was the last event of the 2008 Olympics. His coaches were disappointed he missed the publicity that would have accompanied the final gold medal for China. Despite that, he attracted a lot of attention by being the first Asian to win an Olympic medal in the unlimited weight class. At the 2012 Olympics, he was defeated on points in the quarterfinal by Anthony Joshua, the future unified heavyweight world champion.
In 2012, an American website Boxun falsely reported that Zhang was paid $100 million to sleep with top Chinese officials. zhang zhilei wife sued Boxun in a US court for defamation. In December 2013, Boxun settled the case after agreeing to pay an undisclosed amount to Zhang and issue a front-page apology. Zhang also sued Next Media in Hong Kong and Taiwan over the similar reports by the group's two titles, Apple Daily and Next Magazine, both citing Boxun. She won the case in Hong Kong but lost in Taiwan.
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.
