This week, WBO interim heavyweight champion Zhang Zhilei "The Big Bang" won another award, becoming the first Chinese professional boxer to be featured in the prestigious Sports Illustrated magazine.
Zhang Zhilei posted a very interesting video titled - The goods are very hard, they are significant, and it is another milestone in my life.
The interesting thing about the video is that Zhang Zhilei's team deliberately created a mysterious atmosphere, only to see Zhang Zhilei in the smoke, asking twice into the phone - "Did you get the goods?" He said: "If it doesn't work, let the Thais take it, don't make a noise about it, the goods are tight, pay attention to safety." ”
The subsequent scene is that someone rang the doorbell, and a mysterious delivery man appeared in the dark, and Zhang Zhilei, who opened the door, asked vigilantly: "Are you alone?
Seeing this, many viewers felt that Zhang Zhilei was participating in some things, but then the style of painting changed abruptly, only to see the delivery man put a paper bag on the table, Zhang Zhilei took out several brand-new magazines from it, and at this time the background music became cheerful, Zhang Zhilei held the magazine and said to the camera: "This is the largest circulation magazine in the United States - Sports Illustrated, I am honored to be featured in the February 2024 issue, which gave me 8 pages (report)." ”
Subsequently, Zhang Zhilei said: "However, "Sports Illustrated" has declared bankruptcy and the staff has been disbanded, this may be the last issue of "Sports Illustrated" and become out of print, which means a lot to me personally, and it is also of great significance to Chinese sports, this magazine is worth collecting, I feel very honored." ”
Sports Illustrated has considerable influence in the United States, since it was first published in August 1954, it has a circulation of more than millions, the magazine mainly focuses on covering baseball, basketball, boxing events, the famous Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather have all appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, of which Ali has appeared on the cover of the magazine the most professional boxer, reaching 40 times, second only to the number one basketball superstar Michael Jordan, Jordan has appeared on the "" Cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.
In 2018, the Arena Group, where Sports Illustrated is located, cooperated with ABG, a well-known brand management company, but in January this year, due to the failure of Arena Group to pay quarterly licensing fees, ABG terminated the license and fired the staff of the magazine, which is the "bankruptcy" mentioned by Zhang Zhilei.
In recent years, Zhang Zhilei's popularity in professional boxing has skyrocketed, especially in 2023 when he defeated Joe Joyce in a row, and he set a new record for Chinese and Asian heavyweight boxing. In November last year, Zhang Zhilei became the first Chinese boxer to appear on ESPN as a guest, and now he has appeared in Sports Illustrated, for which fans have left messages. One fan wrote: Brother Lei, come on, you can make a bigger breakthrough. Another fan wrote: Brother Lei, can you give me a collection? Another fan wrote: You can make Sports Illustrated lively!
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On March 8, Zhang Zhilei will appear in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, against former WBO champion Joseph Parker, this battle will not be too easy for Zhang Zhilei, but if he defeats Parker, it will lead China and Asian professional boxing to a new peak, I wish Zhang Zhilei a victory!