But there was something about the simplicity of it. The focus needed to hit a small target. The repetition required to get good at it. “Soothing,” is how Zhang describes it. So a couple of times a month Zhang drives to the range and fires a box of bullets at paper targets hanging 25 feet away.
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 zhilei boxrec 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.
Zhang first met Kurt Li (李茂沛), his English translator (2012–) and his co-manager (2021–) when Li was a staff member 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.
Am 20. August 2022 verlor er nach Punkten gegen den ebenfalls ungeschlagenen Kroaten Filip Hrgović, welcher dadurch zum IBF-Pflichtherausforderer aufstieg. Sein bis dahin größter Erfolg gelang ihm rund acht Monate später, am 15. April 2023 in London, als ihm ein TKO-Sieg in Runde 6 gegen den ebenfalls unbesiegten britischen WBO-Interimsweltmeister Joseph Joyce gelang. Referee Howard Foster beendete den Kampf aufgrund einer starken Schwellung des rechten Auges bei Joyce, nachdem er diese zuvor zweimal durch den Ringarzt hatte untersuchen lassen.
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).
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.
On 7 December 2019, on the undercard of Ruiz Jr. vs. Joshua II, Hrgović, then ranked #9 by the WBA and IBF, and #11 by the WBC, had what is perhaps his most notable win to date, a third-round knockout against Éric Molina. He dominated the fight from the first bell, dropping Molina twice; once in the first round and again in the second, before finally closing out with a third knockdown in the third round, from which Molina wasn’t able to get up. Hrgović was expected to next face Ondřej Pála in the co-main event of the Dina Thorslund vs Nina Radovanovic title fight, held on September 26, 2020, at the Struer Energi Park in Struer, Denmark. Three days before the fight, Pála withdrew for an undisclosed reason, and was replaced on short notice by Alexandre Kartozia. Hrgović justified his role as the betting favorite, pressuring Kartozia throughout the fight, and knocking him out with a left-right combination at the 1:07 minute mark.
Zhang Zhilei verlor im Achtelfinale der Weltmeisterschaft 2003 in Bangkok gegen Grzegorz Kiełsa , gewann jedoch 2004 eine Bronzemedaille bei der Asienmeisterschaft in Puerto Princesa und die Silbermedaille bei der World University Championship in Antalya, nachdem er jeweils gegen Rustam Saidov unterlegen war. Bei der Weltmeisterschaft 2005 in Mianyang schlug er Vüqar Ələkbərov, schied jedoch im Viertelfinale gegen Odlanier Solís aus.
During an appearance at the Ariel Helwani, Saudi adviser at the Royal Court under the rank of Minister Turki Al-Sheikh made a public offer to Hrgović to fight one of six possible opponents: Daniel Dubois, Martin Bakole, Frank Sanchez, Jarrell Miller, Agit Kabayel and Jared Anderson. On April 15, 2024 it was confirmed that Hrgović would face former world title challenger Daniel Dubois in a title eliminator on the undercard of the undisputed light heavyweight bout between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Hrgović lost the fight via eighth-round TKO, doctor’s stoppage due to cuts caused by punches.
A few months after Zhang’s debut, Dynasty Boxing went bust. “We ran out of money,” says Terry. The Lanes exited the business. Duva pivoted Zhang to Roc Nation, with Duva joining as an executive. Roc Nation—like many new promoters—entered boxing with a bunch of money and no plan. Zhang continued to fight but often at low-profile shows. When he did get opportunities he stumbled. In 2015, Zhang, fighting on the undercard of Miguel Cotto’s middleweight title defense against Canelo Álvarez, faced Juan Goode. Zhang was knocked down in the fourth round, narrowly squeezing out a decision. “He looked like s—,” says Duva. “His training, his diet, his living habits, they were all bad.” The next year George returned and addressed it, laying out a structured schedule and enlisting nutritionists.
