Zhang was highly regarded by American promoters by 2009 but his career stalled between 2009 and 2019 owing to a combination of his duties to Chinese national boxing obligations, mismanagement and accompanying legal issues, and his visa problems. Until Zhang signed with Matchroom Sport USA in 2020 at 37 years of age, he was excluded from boxing's top ranks.

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.

Britain's Tyson Fury, left, and Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk trade blows during their undisputed heavyweight world championship boxing fight at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, May 19, 2024.

As a sophomore in 2023, Zhang won a staggering 8-of-10 events, becoming only the fourth woman to sweep through the postseason with record-setting Pac-12 and NCAA Regional crowns and an unprecedented NCAA title defense. Zhang's eight single-season wins tied her for the most in women's collegiate golf history and matched Tiger Woods (1995-96) for the most in school history.

In 2014, Zhang starred in John Woo's romantic epic The Crossing, based on the true story of the Taiping steamer collision and follows six characters and their intertwining love stories in Taiwan and Shanghai during the 1930s. Zhang plays a poor illiterate woman waiting for her soldier lover in 1930's Shanghai.

Best known for his victory over Canelo Alvarez in 2022, Bivol knocked down Zinad in the first round. But his performance looked more methodical than spectacular before he unleashed a flurry of punches that prompted the referee to stop the fight in the sixth round.

"The best sport stems from the greatest rivalries. And on June 1, I am confident Matchroom will reign supreme over Queensberry," Hearn said in a press release. "... With the brilliant Dmitry Bivol challenging for the undisputed light-heavyweight championship, this is without doubt one of the best boxing cards of all-time."

"This is what we're here for, we're professional fighters. We came to entertain the crowd and we did it. I hope everyone enjoyed my performance. Thank you to everyone who came here today and witnessed my greatness in front of Chinese social media."

zhang record Zhilei aims to become the first Chinese Heavyweight champion in history. Boxing is not regarded as the top sport in China, and he wants to be an inspiration for any Chinese who wants to make a career in boxing.

The interim belt which Zhang now possesses puts him in a pivotal position in a heavyweight division that is at the precipice of great change. THE RING champion Oleksandr Usyk, who also holds the WBO, IBF and WBA titles, will finally meet WBC titleholder Tyson Fury on May 18, and with so many mandatory challenges left to fulfill, there remains a good chance that the belts will immediately splinter after they are unified.

In front of a hometown crowd of 12,346, Wilder won by TKO in round five. Washington started off strong with power punches as Wilder moved around with jabs. Midway through the fifth, Wilder got Washington against the ropes and landed a combination of power shots, the last shot being a left to the head of Washington, dropping him backwards against the ropes. Washington recovered quickly on unsteady legs. The fight resumed, and Wilder unloaded heavy blows to Washington's head, eventually leading referee Michael Griffin to halt the fight at 1 minute and 45 seconds of the round. Wilder credited his patience in the post-fight interview, "I knew he was going to come in excited to fight for a world title. I just kept calm and found my rhythm. I knew he was going to tire out, and when he did, I took advantage. It was all about timing. I'm very smart in the ring when it comes to using different tactics." At the time of stoppage, one judge had the fight 39–37 for Wilder, whilst the remaining two judges had the fight 38–38 after four rounds. Washington earned $250,000 from the fight while Wilder earned $900,000. CompuBox Stats showed that Wilder landed 33 of 113 punches thrown (29%) and Washington connected with 30 of his 98 thrown (31%). The fight was televised on Fox in the US and was watched by an average audience of 1.76 million viewers, peaking at 1.86 million. The bout was the most watched boxing match in the United States for 2017, until the Thurman-Garcia unification fight drew 3.74 million on March 4.