It was enough, however, to restore Parker’s confidence as he cleanly outboxed Zhang through most of the middle rounds. Parker maintained control to the point where Shaun George, Zhang’s head trainer and a former light heavyweight contender, urged his charge to apply more pressure. The insistence in the corner was that Parker could not handle the come-forward aggression, though it required a higher output.
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 site here 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 Zhilei was born in Zhoukou, Henan, China on May 2, 1983. He made his professional debut at the age of 31 years on August 8, 2014 against Curtis Lee Tate. Zhilei defeated Tate via 1st round TKO, making a successful beginning of his pro career.
Zhang Zhizhen has made history at the Mutua Madrid Open, winning a nail-biter against Taylor Fritz in the fourth round on Tuesday, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8), to become the first Chinese player ever to reach the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 event.
By the 6th round, Joe’s right eye was a wreck and the doctors had to take a look at it. Zhang took advantage of Joe’s wrecked eye and unleashed a series of punches. Officials had to stop the bout again with doctors coming in.
Madrimov connected on a bundle of power shots, but none better than an fully-extended overhand right that landed flush. Kurbanov was laying on the ropes when he ate the shot and covered up. As the Russian dipped and appeared close to crumbling, referee Steve Gray halted the contest with 40 seconds left in Round 5.
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.
Kurbanov (25-1, 13 KOs) entered the bout on the heels of a career-best win, a split-decision over Michel Soro. The 27-year-old Kurbanov also owns wins over former titleholders Liam Smith and Patrick Teixeira. Kurbanov is ESPN’s No. 7 junior middleweight.
OHHHH! Wilder gets caught!! Not even sure what got him but Wilder is now stumbling with his back turned! Zhang jumps on him and levels Wilder with a right hook!! Wilder is trying to beat the count. He looks in bad shape though. Wilder gets up at 8 but the ref has seen enough! Clean sweep for Queensberry!!!
On January 3, 2022, the IBF sent an invitation to Hrgović and Luis Ortiz to enter talks for a final title eliminator. Hrgović immediately accepted the offer, with his promoters stating: “Challenge accepted by Filip Hrgovic, days and counting for Luis Ortiz to accept”. Ortiz refused, citing inability to compete due to injury. The IBF then invited the next highest ranked heavyweight contender, Joseph Parker, to enter talks for a title eliminator bout. Parker refused to enter talks as well, due to recovering from injuries. On January 10, the same invitation was extended to Tony Yoka. Yoka accepted the offer on January 13. The fight was supposed to be a rematch of their 2016 Summer Olympics semi-final bout, which Yoka narrowly won on points. The IBF later ruled Yoka ineligible to enter an agreement with any opponent other than Martin Bakole, as the two had already signed contracts to face each other. On January 26, both Andy Ruiz Jr. and Murat Gassiev received invitations to enter into negotiations with Hrgović, which they refused five days later, citing lingering injuries as the reason for refusal. On February 7, it was revealed that the #13 ranked Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang had accepted the invitation to enter into negotiations with Hrgović.
A few minutes later in round three, Joyce was dropped face first for the full count of ten by Zhilei Zhang. The grim observation, the way he walked with his eyes as blank as rock on the way to the ring, was right.
Parker lost his next fight, too, a decision setback to Dillian Whyte that seemed to end any hope of a future title shot. But now, Parker is well-positioned while the trio of top heavyweights settle bragging rights as he looks toward another bout with Zhang.
Wilder, who has now lost four out of his last five trips to the ring, came into this fight with the idea of retirement already on his mind. That’s never good for any boxer, especially one in the heavyweight division matched up against a proven killer like Zhang. Unfortunately for Wilder, Saturday night didn’t result in the swan song he had hoped.