Zhang was scheduled to fight Filip Hrgović in an IBF title eliminator on 7 May 2022. However, Hrgović pulled out of the fight on 2 May, after his father died and his training suffered. Scott Alexander was chosen as the replacement on the Canelo Álvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol undercard, with the fight being dropped from the co-main to the undercard. Zhang won the bout via first-round knockout. His fight against Hrgović was rescheduled for 20 August 2022, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua II. On that night, Zhang knocked Hrgović down in the first round with a big right. After a close-fought battle over twelve rounds, the judges awarded the fight to Hrgović with two scores of 115–112 and one of 114–113, in what was described as a “generous” decision by broadcaster Sky Sports after a “bizarre” performance by Hrgović.

They reunited in October of 2017 when Zhang switched back to George after a stint with trainer Diego Rosario. Their first fight together in July, Zhang’s first in 10 months, resulted in Zhang’s sixth straight first-round knockout win. That’s more an indication of the level of competition he’s been fighting, but Zhang had been near an opponent befitting his aspirations a few days prior when he posed for photos next to Joshua at a press conference for the DAZN streaming app.

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.

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 see in bing.com 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.

The former boxer later shared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that he really wanted to raise hell when he rushed to the hospital upon hearing the news. “Once I got and saw other people there with either children who already died or were dying, they were handling it with dignity and I didn’t want to be the psycho parent up there. I wanted to handle it with dignity, as well,” he told the talk show host.

Participating now as a cruiserweight, Paul (9-1) has a loss on his ledger via a decision defeat by Tyson Fury’s brother Tommy, but he’s rallied to score first-round knockouts of the obscure pro boxers Andre August and Ryan Bourland, whom he disposed of with a barrage of power punches Saturday night in Puerto Rico on a DAZN-streamed card.

In another Memphis fight on February 22, 2003, Tyson beat fringe contender Clifford Etienne 49 seconds into round one. The pre-fight was marred by rumors of Tyson’s lack of fitness. Some said that he took time out from training to party in Las Vegas and get a new facial tattoo. This eventually proved to be Tyson’s final professional victory in the ring.

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.

In 1995, Zhang was called up to the Shenqiu County canoe sprinting team by coach Li Guofeng. When Zhang injured his leg during a tryout for the provincial canoe sprinting team, he was referred to the provincial boxing coach Gu Ganqing. In 1998, Gu signed him to the Combat and Weightlifting Center in the Henan Provincial Department of Sports, headed by center chief Li Yan in Shangjie. From 1998 until he was released from his sporting obligations, he was coached by Gu. This was the first time Zhang had lived away from his family.

“Mike Tyson has been an open book now for 30 years, but in those mid-80s days, he was never jokey or ironic. Some days he would be in a pissy mood and ignore you, and there could be an air of menace to it,” says Layden. “I wasted more than one trip to Las Vegas, but when he wanted to really sit down and talk, usually about the boxing history he reveres so much, we would have engaging intellectual discussions. … When I was covering him, my wife and I started our family, and Mike would ask after my kids. I’ve been doing this a long time, and that never happens.”