Zhilei Zhang (; born May 2, 1983) is a Chinese professional boxer who has held the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

title since April 2023. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, he won bronze medals at the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and 2009 World Championships, and a silver medal at the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

, all in the super-heavyweight division. As of May 2023, Zhang is ranked as the world's fourth-best active heavyweight by ''The Ring''.

Amateur career

In 2003, the

southpaw Southpaw is another name for a left-handed individual, particularly in sports. Southpaw may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''The Southpaw'', a 1952 novel by Mark Harris * Southpaw (comics), a fictional character in the Marvel comic ''Sh ...

lost 22:8 in the first round of the World Championship to fellow southpaw Grzegorz Kiełsa of Poland. At the

2004 World University Boxing Championship The 2004 World University Boxing Championships took place in Antalya, Turkey between November 22 and 29 2004. 129 boxers from 27 countries participated at the inaugural tournament. Participating nations Results Bronze medals are awarded to both ...

s, he lost the final to

Rustam Saidov Rustam Saidov (Рустам Саидов; born 6 February 1978) is a boxer from Uzbekistan, who competed in the Super Heavyweight (+91 kg) at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won the bronze medal. Career In Athens at the 2004 Summer Olympics, h ...

. In 2005 in the World Championships in his home country, he beat

Vugar Alekperov Vugar Mursal Alakbarov ( az, Vüqar Mursal Ələkbərov; born 5 January 1981) is an Azerbaijani boxer. Alakbarov competed in the middleweight class (−75 kg) at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won the bronze medal. At the 2004 Summer Olympic ...

20:11 before losing to eventual winner Odlanier Solis (17:7). Zhang lost at the

2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Chicago, United States from October 23, 2007 to November 3, 2007. It was held at the UIC Pavilion. It was the biggest World Championships in AIBA history. The competition is under the super ...

to Ukrainian

Vyacheslav Glazkov Vyacheslav Valeriyovych Glazkov ( uk, В'ячеслав Валерійович Глазков, born 15 October 1984) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2016. He challenged once for the vacant International Boxing F ...

in the semifinals but qualified for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. There he settled for silver, losing the final by KO to Italy's

Roberto Cammarelle Roberto Cammarelle (born 22 March 1980) is an Italian amateur boxing, amateur boxer, best known for winning the World Amateur Boxing Championships in 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships, 2007 (Chicago) and 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championshi ...

. At the

2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2009 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Milan, Italy, from September 1, 2009 to September 12, 2009, in the Mediolanum Forum. It was the biggest World Championships in AIBA history. The competition was under the supervision of the ...

, he again lost the semi to a Ukrainian in Roman Kapitanenko 2:5. He qualified for the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

but was defeated on points by future unified heavyweight world champion,

Anthony Joshua Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles twice between 2016 and 2021. At r ...

of the United Kingdom in the quarterfinals.

Olympic Games results

2008 (as a Super heavyweight) *Defeated

Mohamed Amanissi Mohamed Amanissi (born July 29, 1981) is a Moroccan boxer who qualified for the 2008 Olympics at Super Heavyweight. At the 2005 World Championships he lost against Mike Wilson 20:27, in 2007 he lost to Czech Vladimir Prusa 16:22. At the first ...

(Morocco) 15-0 *Defeated

Ruslan Myrsatayev Ruslan Myrsatayev (born May 7, 1985) is a Kazakh boxer best known for qualifying in the Super Heavyweight division(+91 kg) at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Kazakhstan chose to send Ruslan over veteran Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov and big-punching ...

(Kazakhstan) 12-2 *Defeated

(Ukraine) walk-over *Lost to

(Italy) RSCO 2012 (as a Super heavyweight) *Defeated

Johan Linde Johan (JT) Linde (born 27 June 1983 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian amateur boxer of Estonian descent. He represented Australia at the 2012 London Olympic Games in the super heavyweight division and was Australian team captain ...

(Australia) RSCO *Lost to

(Great Britain) 11-15

World Championships results

2003 (as a Super heavyweight) *Lost to

Grzegorz Kiełsa Grzegorz Kielsa (born 26 May 1979) is a Canada-based Poland, Polish professional boxer. Amateur career He fought at both the 2000 European Amateur Boxing Championships, 2000 and 2002 European Amateur Boxing Championships, 2002 European Boxing Ch ...

(Poland) 8-22 2005 (as a Super heavyweight) *Defeated

(Azerbaijan) 20-11 *Lost to Odlanier Solis (Cuba) 7-17 2007 (as a Super heavyweight) *Defeated Nurpais Torobekov (Kyrgyzstan) RSCO *Defeated Rustam Rygebayev (Kazakhstan) 20-10 *Defeated

Daniel Beahan Daniel Beahan (born 5 April 1984 in Bundaberg, Queensland) is an Australian amateur boxer best known to qualify for the Olympics 2008 at super heavyweight. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.Vyacheslav Glazkov Vyacheslav Valeriyovych Glazkov ( uk, В'ячеслав Валерійович Глазков, born 15 October 1984) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2016. He challenged once for the vacant International Boxing F ...

(Ukraine) 11-21 2009 (as a Super heavyweight) *Defeated Primislav Dimovski (Macedonia) 6-2 *Lost to Roman Kapitanenko (Ukraine) 2-5

Professional career

On March 10, 2014, in New York City, Zhilei Zhang announced that he would be turning pro. Zhang signed a promotional agreement with Dynasty Boxing, which is a promotional firm that specializes in the Chinese market. Zhang knocked out Curtis Tate in the first 17 seconds of round one in his pro debut in Fallon, Nevada, on August 8, 2014. Zhang compiled a perfect record of 20–0 before fighting Andriy Rudenko in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

on 30 November 2019. He dominated the Ukrainian veteran and secured a convincing unanimous decision win, winning on all three scorecards, 99–91, 98–92 and 97–93. In his next fight on 7 November 2020, Zhang fought

Devin Vargas Devin Vargas (born December 25, 1981) is an American professional boxer. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games and competed at the 2004 Olympics, both in the heavyweight division. Amateur career Vargas had a s ...

on the undercard of the

WBC WBC may stand for: Business *Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS *Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company *Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

title fight between Devin Haney and

Yuriorkis Gamboa Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano (born 23 December 1981) is a Cuban professional boxer. He is a former unified featherweight world champion, having held the WBA and IBF titles between 2009 and 2011, as well as the WBA interim championship in both th ...

. In his debut as a Matchroom Boxing fighter. Zhang dropped and stopped his opponent in the fourth round. He returned to the ring on 27 February 2021, to fight journeyman Jerry Forrest on the undercard of the

super-middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

title fight between Canelo Álvarez and

Avni Yıldırım Avni Yıldırım (born 5 August 1991) is a Turkish professional boxer. He challenged for the IBO super-middleweight title in 2017, the WBC super-middleweight title in 2019, and the WBA (Super), WBC, and ''Ring'' magazine super-middleweight ti ...

. Although Zhang started strong, scoring three knockdowns in the opening three rounds of the bout, 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. It was revealed that after the fight, Zhang was hospitalised and later diagnosed with "

anemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...

, high

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

levels, and low-level

renal failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

that may have been caused by severe

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...

". On 27 November 2021, Zhang faced Craig Lewis on the undercard of

Teófimo López vs. George Kambosos Jr. Teófimo López vs. George Kambosos Jr. was a lightweight professional boxing match between unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and '' The Ring'' lightweight champion Teófimo López, and IBF mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. The fight took ...

Zhang started the fight off slowly, but dropped Lewis twice in round two, leading Lewis' corner to throw in the towel, giving Zhang a TKO win. Zhang was scheduled to fight

Filip Hrgović Filip Hrgović (born 4 June 1992) is a Croatian professional boxer who has held the WBC International title in 2018 and the IBF International title in 2020. As an amateur he won the gold medal at the 2015 European Amateur Boxing Championships a ...

in an IBF title eliminator on 7 May 2022. However, Hrgović pulled out of the fight on 2 May, stating that he had not been able to focus during his training camp due to the death of his father. Scott Alexander was chosen as the replacement fight on the

Canelo Álvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol Canelo Álvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol, billed as ''Legacy is Earned'', was a professional boxing match between 4-division world champion, Canelo Álvarez, and defending WBA (Super) light heavyweight champion, Dmitry Bivol. The fight took place on ...

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 Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of

Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua II Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua II, billed as ''Rage on the Red Sea'', was a heavyweight professional boxing match between WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and International Boxing Organization, IBO heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, and former heavy ...

. On that night, Zhang knocked down Hrgović in the first round with a right hand shot. After a close-fought battle over twelve rounds, the judges awarded the fight to Hrgović with scores of 115–112 twice and 114–113, in what was described as a "generous" decision by broadcaster

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

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

, England on 15 April, against undefeated

champion Joe Joyce. On 15 April 2023, Zhang defeated Joe Joyce and secured the WBO interim heavyweight title.

Personal life

As of March 2021, Zhang was residing in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Zhilei Zhang - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
*
Results (amateur-boxing.strefa.pl)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Zhilei 1983 births Living people Chinese male boxers People from Zhoukou Sportspeople from Henan Boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for China Olympic silver medalists for China Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Southpaw boxers Heavyweight boxers Super-heavyweight boxers Asian Games medalists in boxing Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Boxers at the 2010 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China