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Chinese professional boxer Zhang Zhilei has made new history for professional boxing in China and Asia, becoming the most accomplished Oriental yellow man in heavyweight boxing to date.
However, his success did not come easily. Since turning professional boxing for 9 years, Zhang Zhilei has experienced countless hardships and heartaches.
According to people familiar with the matter, Zhang Zhilei's first 6 years in the professional boxing scene were basically wasted. He was fooled by the promotion company, resulting in a huge regret that in these 6 years, he was confused and did not achieve the desired results.
However, Zhang Zhilei's career began to pick up after signing British promoter Eddie Hearn in 2020. After many hardships, he got rid of the shackles of his previous promotion company and cooperated with Herne.
That's good news for Chinese fans, especially considering that then-heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua was also under Hern. Zhang Zhilei's challenge to Joshua is not out of reach.
However, in the years of cooperation with Hern, although Zhang Zhilei has made certain breakthroughs, he has not been able to reach the height of expectations.
He completed 5 matches with a 3-1-1 draw record.
Although he made two appearances in the Mexican boxing star Carneiro Alvarez's mat bouts and earned enough eyeballs, he was far from reaching the heights he has today. There has been speculation about Zhang Zhilei's connection with British promoter Frank Warren.
Although Zhang Zhilei's co-agent Terry Lane said that the reason for leaving Hearn was simple, that is, the contract expired, Zhang Zhilei himself has not responded publicly. Recently, Zhang Zhilei returned to the motherland and accepted an exclusive interview with a well-known media person "Brewing Wine", revealing the inside story of leaving Herne.
Zhang said he moved from Herne to Warren because his contract with Herne expired. Hearn's contract extension was not interested, and he felt that after his defeat to Filip Hergovich, Zhang Zhilei was not attractive to him.
At that time, Warren sent Zhang Zhilei an invitation to confront Joe Joyce, and Zhang Zhilei was willing to accept the challenge. The cooperation model between Zhang Zhilei and Warren is similar to the promotion strategy of Don Jin 1+2 or 1+3 in those years, that is, after winning the first game, they will cooperate for another 2-3 games.
At present, Zhang Zhilei has 2 games left with Warren, and he is expected to attack the world championship in these 2 matches.
The whole process clearly shows that Warren provided Zhang Zhilei with a new opportunity, and Zhang Zhilei did not live up to this opportunity.
This is undoubtedly a huge regret for Hern, who let Zhang Zhilei walk away smoothly from under his nose, and now he is probably sitting on the boss's chair sighing. However, there are no regret pills to sell in this world.
Summary: Chinese professional boxer Zhang Zhilei has endured a difficult career, but there is no loss brought to him by the wasted 6 years. After switching to British promoter Warren, Zhang Zhilei has improved, and through his partnership with Joe Joyce, he is expected to attack the world championship.