Zhilei Zhang suffered his third defeat after a grueling body shot from Agit Kabayel left him unable to continue.
Zhilei Zhang‘s record is now 27-3-1 with his three losses coming at the hands of Agit Kabayel, who stopped Zhang for the first time in his career, Joseph Parker, who had to get off the canvas to win on points, and Filip Hrgovic, whose win over Zhang was highly controversial.
Zhang became well-known after his brutal victories over Joe Joyce, in which he showcased his deceptively quick hands and solid chin.
Though his chin is solid, Zhang was dropped by Anthony Joshua in the Olympics, and was dropped in his sixth professional fight, by an unknown journeyman.
American journeyman was the only man to drop Zhilei Zhang for 10 years
Zhang’s professional career began well, with a silver medal in his Beijing Olympics outing, and got off to a good start with three knockout wins in his first five fights.
In his sixth fight, Zhang faced 6-2 Juan Goode, whose opponents thus far had a combined record of 53-58. Goode had not beaten anyone with a winning record when he faced Zhang.
And yet, despite losing the fight by unanimous decision, Goode had a moment of success when he dropped Zhang in the fourth and final round of their contest.
Goode last fought in 2017 and finished his boxing career with a record of 8-8.
Zhilei Zhang almost died the night he fought to a draw
In 2021 Zhang fought 26-4 Jerry Forrest. He dropped Forrest three times, once a round for the first three rounds and yet after the tenth round two judges had the fight even, and another scored in favor of Forrest.
Zhang revealed to Daily Mail Sport the reason behind his poor performance was due to a dramatic health issue that reared its head following the final bell.
Zhang, who trained alongside LL Cool J ahead of his clash with Kabayel, said: “The fight happened during COVID so we were put in the bubble. There were three to four days where I was put in the hotel room without access to the outside world, so I didn’t train[…] or drink any water.”
He explained that after the fight he knew he needed medical attention: “Something was not right. In the last couple rounds I didn’t know what happened, I lost my memory. […] My heart wasn’t right and nothing was right.”
“In the hospital, I was diagnosed with acute kidney failure and liver function escalate. That was a very dangerous moment.”
Zhang said: “I thought I was dying, and I didn’t know if my life would stop at that moment in time.”