6-foot-6 Chinese boxer to make pro debut in Nevada
Chinese boxer Zhang Zhilei, left, posed with adviser Evander Holyfield, the former heavyweight champion, during a news conference Thursday, in New York. (AP Photo/Dynasty Boxing, Teddy Blackburn)
A 6-foot-6 Chinese boxer who won the super heavyweight silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics will make his professional debut in August.
Zhang Zhilei will fight in the heavyweight bout Aug. 8 in Fallon, Nevada, on a card televised by ESPN. His opponent has not been determined.
The Beijing Games also started Aug. 8. The number eight represents good luck in Chinese, and Zhang’s friends have asked if that’s the reason he’s making his pro debut then. Zhang laughs at that notion. He says it’s "just the luck of the schedule."
Zhang is promoted by Dino Duva’s Dynasty Boxing. He has former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield as an adviser. Says Holyfield: "I can’t make him a champion. He’s got to want to be a champion."
