Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang 22-0-1 (17) has been hospitalised following his 10-round majority draw against Jerry ‘Slugger’ Forrest 26-4-1 (20) on the undercard of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez versus Avni Yildirim at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on Saturday.
The 37-year-old Chinese southpaw had Forrest on the deck in each of the first three rounds before the 32-year-old American, also a southpaw, took control in fifth and swept the later rounds. Zhang was repeatedly warned for holding by referee Frank Gentile, eventually losing a point for the infraction in round nine.
After the fight Zhang showed some worrying signs in the dressing room, prompting a trip to hospital for assessment.
“Wow. What a roller coaster of a night. Zhilei Zhang started off better than we could have hoped with three knockdowns in the first three rounds,” Zhang’s manager Terry Lane of Lane Brothers Management.
“But credit and respect to the game Jerry Forrest who battled back for a ten-round draw. We are unhappy that a referee’s point deduction changed the outcome of the fight from a Zhang win to a draw, but we have bigger immediate issues as it was apparent to us that Zhang was not himself in the second half of the fight.
“He had a good training camp that included several good sparring sessions. But in the locker room afterward, we noticed some concerning symptoms and took Zhang to the hospital, where he will spend a couple of nights. The good news is that all of his neurological scans are clear.
“However, he is suffering from anemia, high enzyme levels, and low-level renal failure, which may have been caused by severe dehydration. We will address these issues and Zhang Zhilei will be back.
“We want to thank everyone for their concern and kind words of support that our team has received. We also want to send a special thank you to Matchroom for providing such wonderful support at this time.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn said he was pleased with the fight and would like to see the two big men do it again.
“You got to respect Jerry Forrest. He was gone-zo,” the Matchroom Boxing boss said to iFL TV. “Zhilei Zhang looked really good for four rounds, counter-punching with great, great power, and then he completely gassed because Forrest was working the body and working him over.
“But I thought Zhang would get the fight. When I looked back at the fight, it was 10-8 in three rounds, and one point deducted [from Zhang in round nine].
“I suppose I gave Forrest the other six rounds. It’s an interesting one. I think I’d like to do a rematch with Jerry Forrest. If it were a 12-round fight, Zhang was in big trouble.
“So I think that Zhang has got to do better and show more, but I know he can fight, and he was impressive like I said for four or five rounds. But big respect to Jerry Forrest.”
