Zhilei Zhang

Zhilei Zhang (born May 2, 1983) is a Chinese professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) interim heavyweight title between April 2023 and March 2024. As of June 2024, Zhang is ranked as the world's fifth-best active heavyweight by The Ring magazine.

As an amateur, he was highly regarded by American promoters by 2009 after winning a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics and bronze medals at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships. His career stalled from 2009–2019, however, by a combination of his belated release from the Chinese boxing authorities to turn professional, the managerial and legal fiasco of two successive fringe promotional companies, and his visa problems. He could not line up high-profile matches until he signed Matchroom Sport in 2020 at 37 years of age. Zhang considered his fight with Jerry Forrest in 2021 to be the landmark moment of his career until that point.

Family
Zhang was born on May 2, 1983, in Qianzhangying village, Shicaoji Township, Shenqiu County, Zhoukou, Henan Province, China. Zhang is the tallest member of his family. By 15 years of age, he was 1.95 meters tall and weighed 120 kg. His father, Zhang Tan (1948–2020 ), was 1.76 meters tall while his mother, Deng Yuying stood just a shade over 1.6 meters tall. His elder brother and elder sister are of a more normal height.

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.

Childhood
At age seven, Zhang and his father moved to downtown Shenqiu County for educational reasons. Zhang later attended Shenqiu's Huaidian Hui Town No.3 Middle School. His father enrolled him in canoe sprinting lessons in order for him to lose weight. The Zhoukou region was a hotbed of watersports in the 1990s, with Olympic rower Mu Suli, born the same year as Zhang, growing up in a different part of Zhoukou during the 1990s.

In 1995, Zhang was called up to the Shenqiu County canoe sprinting team by coach Li Guofeng. When Zhang injured his leg during a tryout for the provincial canoe sprinting team, he was referred to the provincial boxing coach Gu Ganqing. In 1998, Gu signed him to the Combat and Weightlifting Center in the Henan Provincial Department of Sports, headed by center chief Li Yan in Shangjie. From 1998 until he was released from his sporting obligations, he was coached by Gu. This was the first time Zhang had lived away from his family.

Amateur career
After winning third place in the unlimited weight class in boxing in the 2001 National Games of China, he was called in as a sparring partner for the Chinese national boxing team in 2002. In 2003, he lost 22:8 in the first round of the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships to Grzegorz Kiełsa. At the 2004 World University Boxing Championships, he lost in the final to Rustam Saidov. Zhang enrolled at Zhengzhou University in 2005 and graduated in 2009 majoring in sports training. At the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships in China, he beat Vugar Alekperov 20:11 before losing to eventual champion Odlanier Solis (17:7).

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.

Belated release from national boxing obligations (2009−2013)
Zhang was highly regarded by American promoters by 2009 but his career stalled between 2009 and 2019 owing to a combination of his duties to Chinese national boxing obligations, mismanagement and accompanying legal issues, and his visa problems. Until Zhang signed with Matchroom Sport USA in 2020 at 37 years of age, he was excluded from boxing's top ranks.

Zhang considered turning professional at 25 years of age after the 2008 Olympics, but could not until 2014. Dino Duva and Don King were the first promoters to approach Zhang. In August 2009, Duva and King arranged for Zhang to train at the Poconos. In September 2010, Duva arranged for Zhang to train in the Poconos to prepare him for the 2010 Asian Games. The highlight of that training were 11 bouts between the Chinese and American national boxing teams in Manhattan promoted as "Empires Collide", which Zhang defeated Danny Kelly Jr 16:8 in the main fight. Zhang dominated in all domestic amateur heavyweight competitions from 2005 until 2013. He was finally released by the Henan Provincial Combat and Weightlifting Center after he competed in the 2012 Olympics and won the gold medal for 2013 National Games of China.

Before 2014, Zhang was a typical product of the Chinese state-centric sports development policy known as juguo tizhi (举国体制), with all his training schedule, coaching, insurance, housing, and meals arranged and paid for by the Henan Provincial Combat and Weightlifting Center. Hence, few Chinese boxers turn pro. The Henan Provincial Department of Sports secured public institution positions for athletes like Zhang should they retire in China.

When he moved to the United States on March 8, 2014, he had to manage and self-finance aspects of his life which had previously been handled by the Henan Provincial Combat and Weightlifting Center. Cooking for himself was the biggest challenge of his early days in the US. In his first few months as a professional, he spent more time learning how to properly cook noodles than he did working in the ring.

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.

Zhang trained in Nutley, New Jersey. At his first training, he embarrassed himself by introducing himself as the 2008 Olympic silver medalist, which was met with silence and not appreciated.

Promotional companies' debacle (2014–2019)
Zhang's slow rise to prominence was also contributed to the debacle that saw his first and second promotional companies go out of business in 2014 and 2020 respectively and the legal chaos that followed.

After the 2008 Olympics, Dino Duva built relationships with the National Boxing and Taekwondo Center of the Department of Sports of China and obtained exclusive rights to market all Chinese boxers. As a result, Chinese boxers had little freedom to choose an alternative promoter. On March 10, 2014, the 31-year-old Zhang signed a four-year contract with Dynasty Boxing, a company 50% owned by Duva. Zhang was Dynasty's first signing and Zhang had only one fight under Dynasty Boxing. Dynasty went bankrupt and closed down in December 2014.

In 2015, Zhang was signed to Roc Nation Sports, which Dino Duva also joined as an employee and boxing executive. Roc Nation, a music promoter, entered the boxing market in August 2014 with money but no plan. David Itskowitch, Roc Nation's founding chief operating officer of boxing, abruptly resigned in July 2016 and Duva's influence grew after. Roc Nation's boxing division was in quick decline from 2018, all but ceased working in 2019 and closed down in 2020.

Zhang's commercialization was also hampered when CSI Entertainment, the broadcaster that signed an agreement in 2014 with Dynasty Boxing before the latter went bankrupt, disputed Roc Nation's broadcasting rights in Asia. Roc Nation was temporarily restrained from broadcasting in Asia from June 2015. The New York Supreme Court only called off the temporary restraining order two years later in June 2017. The court also denied Duva's motion to dismiss CSI Entertainment’s complaint.

In 2019, a year before the official closure of Roc Nation’s boxing division, the Lane brothers negotiated Zhang’s release with Matchroom Boxing USA, which Duva, again, had cut a deal with. In 2024, Zhang’s co-manager recalled his promoter tried to stop him leaving by intimidation, dragging him into legal battles and refusing to line him up in fights. Brothers Tommy and Terry Lane, sons of boxing referee Mills Lane, joined Zhang as advisers and helped guide him out of trouble. It was not clear whether this incident was referring to Zhang's termination of contract in November 2014 or in 2019.

Underpromoted, low-quality opponents (2014–2019)
Zhang could not access high profile matches to make himself known under Roc Nation until they parted ways in 2019. Zhang won 19 back-to-back low-profile fights under the Roc Nation banner. Zhang wanted better-known, tougher opponents with bigger payouts, but Dino Duva didn't do it. Zhang was particularly upset once when his promoter organized a match at a high school basketball court with a portable dressing room which spectators could see into. Zhang felt he was not taken seriously by his promoter. He was paid around $7,000 for his pro debut, and some of his earlier pro fights were paid $2000 and $5000. When Shawn George became Zhang's head coach in 2017, George was upset by how the promoters saw Zhang as a novelty act along the lines of Nikolai Valuev. Dynasty Boxing's minority owners, brothers Tommy and Terry Lane, believed Zhang would become "the Yao Ming of boxing" and clashed with Duva over his lackluster promotion of Zhang.

In his pro debut on August 8, 2014, the original opponent dropped out out a week before the bout. Zhang knocked out his replacement, Curtis Tate, in the opening 17 seconds of round one. Roc Nation's boxing division was so quiet in 2019 that Zhang's last match under Roc Nation on November 30 that year with Andriy Rudenko was in fact promoted by Matchroom Sport USA, which went on to sign Zhang the next year. The fight had originally been scheduled for November 2018 by Matchroom Sport but Zhang missed out because of visa problems.

Visa and travel problems (2014–)
Apart from the belated release from the Chinese boxing authorities and the promotional companies' fiasco, Zhang's peak years were also squandered because of visa troubles as a Chinese citizen which led to the cancellation of several bouts. While he stuck outside the U.S., his form dropped as he could not train as he usually did.

After moving to the United States in 2014, Zhang rarely visited China to see his parents, wife and son (born 2010 ) because he had to reapply for single-entry working visa every time. After a fight in China, he failed to get a visa and was stuck there for ten months between October 2018 and July 2019, missing a fight with Andriy Rudenko scheduled for November 2018 in Monaco. He was stuck for too long and asked his manager to terminate his housing lease and sell his car in New Jersey. He missed another fight scheduled in March 2020 in the United States after attending his father's funeral. His flight scheduled for February 3, 2020, was two days after the United States implemented a COVID-19 travel ban on Chinese citizens. The 37-year-old Zhang had to wait another eight months for his next bout on November 7, 2020 with Devin Vargas on the undercard of the WBC lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Nutritional disaster and Zhang vs. Forrest (2021)
Zhang's majority draw with journeyman Jerry Forrest on February 27, 2021 was a landmark moment in his career not because it was the first fight he did not win (22–0–1), but because it finally highlighted how poor his nutrition was. After the fight he was hospitalized. When he woke up in the ambulance, he had no recollections from the sixth round onwards and his first words were asking whether he won or lost the fight. He was diagnosed with iron-deficiency anemia, high enzyme levels, low-level renal failure, electrolyte disorder, liver dysfunction and severe dehydration.

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.

Zhang's fight with Jerry Forrest was on the undercard of the super-middleweight title fight between Canelo Álvarez and Avni Yıldırım. Although Zhang started strongly, scoring three knockdowns in the opening three rounds, Zhang completely gassed out from the fourth round and Forrest was able to battle his way back to earn a majority draw. The final scorecards read 95–93 Forrest, 93–93, and 93–93, with the irregular scores owing to a point deduction against Zhang for excessive holding. Many fans thought Zhang vs. Forrest was a better fight than the main bout.

Transition to high-profile bouts (2021–2022)
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 was scheduled to fight Filip Hrgović in an IBF title eliminator on 7 May 2022. However, Hrgović pulled out of the fight on 2 May, after his father died and his training suffered. Scott Alexander was chosen as the replacement on the Canelo Álvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol undercard, with the fight being dropped from the co-main to the undercard. Zhang won the bout via first-round knockout. His fight against Hrgović was rescheduled for 20 August 2022, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua II. On that night, Zhang knocked Hrgović down in the first round with a big right. After a close-fought battle over twelve rounds, the judges awarded the fight to Hrgović with two scores of 115–112 and one of 114–113, in what was described as a "generous" decision by broadcaster Sky Sports after a "bizarre" performance by Hrgović.

Zhang vs. Joyce
On 2 February 2023, it was officially announced that Zhang would be returning to the ring at the Copper Box Arena in London, England on 15 April, against undefeated WBO interim champion Joe Joyce.

On 15 April 2023, Zhang defeated Joe Joyce by sixth-round technical knockout and secured the WBO interim heavyweight title.

Zhang vs. Joyce II
On 23 September 2023, Zhang beat Joyce by third-round knockout in a rematch.

Zhang vs. Parker
On 15 January 2024, it was announced that Zhang would be facing former WBO champion Joseph Parker, with the fight scheduled to occur on 8 March 2024 as the co-main event of the Knockout Chaos event, at Riyadh's Kingdom Arena. Zhang was defeated by Parker in a majority points decision, in which two judges had it for Parker, 114–112 and 115–111, and one judge had it even at 113–113.

Zhang vs. Wilder
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 rushed in and delivered the knockout.

Character
Zhang speaks the Henan variety of Central Plains Mandarin in most of his post-match interviews and on his social media Douyin and Weibo, which has become a signature characteristic of his, as those born before the mid-1980s are the last generation to speak Central Plains Mandarin fluently. It and other languages of China have been gradually replaced by Beijing Mandarin in the younger generation in Henan and provinces all over China.

Zhang first met Kurt Li (李茂沛), his English translator (2012– ) and his co-manager (2021– ) when Li was a staff handling application forms at the Department of Sports in the 2000s. Zhang asked Li for an application form and Li, a Sichuan Mandarin speaker, did not understand him.

Hobbies and Interests
Zhang drinks a lot of Longjing tea especially while training. This came to public awareness on February 27, 2021, after the fight with Jerry Forrest, when he was hospitalized and diagnozed with iron-deficiency anemia, high enzyme levels, low-level renal failure, electrolyte disorder, liver dysfunction and severe dehydration, which his heavy intake of tea was attributed to be one of the factors, along with his poor management of nutrition and fitness at hotel during COVID-19 quarantine in Miami. To distract himself from Chinese tea culture, he developed other hobbies, such as constructing cameras, barbecue grills and car washing equipment. He also skeet shoots in New Jersey.

Marriage and Family
Zhang's wife, Jiang Huanhuan (蒋欢欢), is a retired starting pitcher for the Henan provincial softball team. They met in 1998, started dating in 2000, and married in December 2006. They have a son, born 2010. Zhang rarely visits his wife and son in China due to problems re-entering the United States.

Amateur boxing record

 * Olympic Games
 * 2008 Olympics (as a Super heavyweight)
 * Defeated Mohamed Amanissi (Morocco) 15-0
 * Defeated Ruslan Myrsatayev (Kazakhstan) 12-2
 * Defeated Vyacheslav Glazkov (Ukraine) walk-over
 * Lost to Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) RSCO.
 * 2012 Olympics (as a Super heavyweight)
 * Defeated Johan Linde (Australia) RSCO
 * Lost to Anthony Joshua (Great Britain) 11-15


 * World Championships
 * 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships (as a Super heavyweight)
 * Lost to Grzegorz Kiełsa (Poland) 8-22.
 * 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships (as a Super heavyweight)
 * Defeated Vugar Alekperov (Azerbaijan) 20-11.
 * Lost to Odlanier Solis (Cuba) 7-17.
 * 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships (as a Super heavyweight)
 * Defeated Nurpais Torobekov (Kyrgyzstan) RSCO.
 * Defeated Rustam Rygebayev (Kazakhstan) 20-10.
 * Defeated Daniel Beahan (Australia) KO 2.
 * Lost to Vyacheslav Glazkov (Ukraine) 11-21.
 * 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships (as a Super heavyweight)
 * Defeated Primislav Dimovski (North Macedonia) 6-2.
 * Lost to Roman Kapitanenko (Ukraine) 2-5.