zhilei Zhang
'big bang'
Nation
Date of birth
may 2, 1983 (40 Years Old)
Height
6 ft 6 (198 cm)
Reach
n/a
Wins
26
Losses
2
draws
1
Ko's
21
zhilei zhang
'big bang'
Nation
DATE OF BIRTH
may 2, 1983 (40 Years Old)
Height
6 FT 6 (198 CM)
REACH
n/a
wins
26
Losses
2
draws
1
ko's
21
Notable Opponents
Titles Won
Titles Won
Background
Zhilei Zhang was an accomplished amateur; he marked his career with several quarter-final and semi-final appearances where he won the bronze and silver medals respectively. In 2009 he won the Asian Amateur Boxing Championships, and in 2010 he won the Guangzhou Asian Games, culminating in gold medals after his victories.
He also went far in the Olympics. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics held in his homecountry, Zhang reached the final where he lost to eventual winner Roberto Cammarelle. He also faced Anthony Joshua in the quarter-final of the 2012 London Olympics, but was defeated by the Brit who would go on to win the Olympics.
Accomplishments
Zhilei Zhang entered the professional ranks in 2014 as a Heavyweight. and he took little time to show himself to be a threat, picking up more than a dozen wins while remaining unbeaten. In 2017 he obtained the WBO Oriental Heavyweight title. He faced a minor setback against opponent Jerry Forrest on February 27 in 2021, falling to a majority draw in favor of Forrest.
Zhilei Zhang went on to impress in 2021 & 2021 with two stoppage victories within two rounds. On August 20th in 2022 he faced Filip Hrgović in a grueling battle that he ended up losing by unanimous decision, but he showed such good form in his fight to the point the decision was considered controversial by certain mainstream media [1].
In 2023, Zhang faced WBO Heavyweight interim world champion Joe Joyce for his title in a twelve-round bout. Zhilei Zhang came out the winner in a stupendous performance that saw him stopping Joyce in the sixth round of their April 15 bout. Zhang also won the WBO Heavyweight interim belt as a result of his win over the British Heavyweight.
On September 23rd in the same year, Zhang defended his WBO interim title for the first time against Joyce in a rematch. The Chinese heavyweight defeated Joyce even earlier this time around, managing to devastatingly knock out Joyce in the 3rd round to retain his interim world title.
Zhilei Zhang returned on March 8th against Joseph Parker, but found himself outpointed by Joseph Parker who ultimately won the match by majority decision, resulting in Zhang losing his title to Parker.
Boxing Style
Zhilei Zhang is generally proficient at every aspect of boxing and although he doesn’t seem to excel in one particular area, he has proven to be a finisher with a 80% KO-rate so far. Although he is a danger considering his 6’6 height, and he has the experience and skills, Zhilei Zhang‘s lack of credible opponents at this stage of his career has prevented him from truly gain a foothold in the division against top 15 or higher-ranked opponents.