‘I really thought it was the end’ – Zhilei Zhang reveals moment he nearly died after deteriorating in dressing room

ZHILEI ZHANG has revealed he thought he was going to die after almost passing out in the dressing room.

The Chinese heavyweight, 41, is set to fight Agit Kabayel on the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 undercard in Saudi Arabia this Saturday.

Zhang has a record of 27-2-1 (wins-losses-draws) after beating Deontay Wilder in his last fight in June.

But the 6ft 6in southpaw has opened up on when he felt like he was “dying” in his locker room.

In 2021, Big Bang started better than his rival Jerry Forrest, decking him in rounds one, two, and three in Miami.

However, plucky Forrest managed to power through the assault before the tables began to turn as Zhang’s stamina waned.

When the final bell went, Zhang was spared the ignominy of defeat by slugging out a majority draw, with the other judge ruling in Forrest’s favour.

Speaking about that fight, Zhang revealed that from round five he felt like his body was “cut off” and even blacked out before being rushed to hospital after his condition worsened in the dressing room.

He told the Daily Mail: “In the locker room after the fight, I felt like I was dying. I didn’t know if my life would stop at that moment. That’s how serious it was.

“But in the fifth round, I felt like my body was cut off. Something wasn’t right. In the last couple rounds, I didn’t know what happened. I lost my memory. I blacked out.

“I really thought it was the end of not just my career but my life.

“Then the doctors told me it was acute, which means it was reversible. I stayed in the hospital for four days. After that, my body felt normal again.

“I told my team, in a Chinese phrase, ‘This is putting the tiger back in the wild’.”

Zhang’s team called an ambulance following the fight, with an unnerving diagnosis to follow; acute kidney failure and dangerously high liver function levels.

That fight changed the way Zhang looked at nutrition.

He said: “I ate what I wanted, I drank what I wanted. There was no plan.

“After that fight, I hired a nutritionist. I started following a real diet. Now, I feel better than ever.”

The year of that fight also saw Zhang experience the “lowest moment” of his life and he pondered quitting boxing, though it was a decision which had nothing to do with fighting.

Zhang had returned to China in 2021 to attend his mother’s funeral but had ended up being stuck in limbo after finding out his US visa had been put on hold.

It led to him being stuck in China for six months and unsure if he would ever return.

He said: “I had just lost my mother, and now I was stuck, unable to be with my family, unable to continue my career.

“That was the closest I ever came to quitting. I was ready to tell my team, sell my car, get rid of my house. I can’t come back.

“That was the lowest moment of my life.”

Then by some stroke of luck, his visa application finally came through.

He said: “I was ready to put a tag on my car at the dealer. Then I got the call. I told my team, get my car back— I’m coming back.”

Zhang has the chance to win the interim WBC heavyweight title tomorrow.

He previously held the interim WBO heavyweight title from 2023 to 24.

Beterbiev vs Bivol 2: Start time, TV channel, full card – everything you need to know for MASSIVE Saudi rematch

Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk