Born and raised in Henna Province, China, but nowadays resident in New Jersey, USA, Zhilei Zhang owes his professional boxing career, in no small part, to the efforts of brothers Terry and Tommy Lane and Dino Duva. As co-founders of Dynasty Boxing, the trio negotiated with the Chinese authorities to take a few fighters, including Zhang, to the United States with a view to pursuing professional boxing careers.
A silver medallist in the super heavyweight division at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Zhang made his professional debut at the Churchill County Fairgrounds, Fallon, Nevada on August 8, 2014, stopping Curtis Lee Tate after just 0:17 of the opening round. However, despite compiling a 24-0-1 record, due to a variety of problems, none of which were entirely of his own making, he was unable to make much of an impact at global level until joining Matchroom Sport in 2020.
A majority-decision draw with Jerry Forrest at the Hard Rock Cafe, Miami Gardens was a step in the right direction, but Zhang would continue is unbeaten streak until he lost, by unanimous decision, to Filip Hrgovic in an IBF world heavyweight title eliminator at the Jeddah Superdome on August 20, 2022. However, he regained winning ways in his next fight, against Joe Joyce at the Copper Box Arena in Hackney Wick on April 15, 2024, to claim the WBO interim world heavyweight title and retained that title with a convincing third-round knockout in a rematch at Wembley Stadium the following September.
Zhang failed to defend his title, losing by majority decision, 114-112, 115-111, 113-113, to former WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker at the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh on March 8, 2024. Nevertheless, as WBO number three contender and the fifth highest-ranked heavyweight boxer in the world, according to ‘The Ring’ magazine, at the age of 41, he is at last receiving the international recognition he deserves.
