zhang zhilei boxrec article164
Le puissant puncher américain Deontay Wilder combattra peut-être pour la dernière fois de sa carrière s’il perd ce week-end. Wilder, 38 ans, affrontera le géant chinois Zhilei Zhang ce samedi 1er juin à Riyad en Arabie Saoudite. Actuellement sur 3 défaites lors de ses 4 derniers combats, “The Bronze Bomber”…
“Fights happen once or twice a year at this kind of stage. I’m just happy to be where I’m at but I’m also pushing to where I want to be. Zhang is standing in the way. I need to beat him to move forward.”
Aufgrund seines äußerst unsportlichen Verhaltens im letzten Kampf gegen Holyfield wurde Tyson Anfang Juli auf Beschluss der Sportkommission des US-Bundesstaates Nevada die Box-Lizenz auf unbestimmte Zeit entzogen. Zudem musste er drei Millionen Dollar Strafe zahlen. Das Berufsverbot bedeutete für Tyson das vorläufige Ende seiner großen Zahltage. Unmittelbar nach Bekanntwerden des Urteils kündigte das MGM-Grand Hotel den Vertrag mit Tyson, da dieser bis dato erst fünf der vereinbarten sechs Kämpfe im MGM absolviert hatte. Obwohl der Stichtermin erst im Juli 1998 veranschlagt war, stand schon jetzt fest, dass Tyson seine Seite des Vertrages nicht mehr erfüllen konnte, da er frühestens zu diesem Zeitpunkt erst eine neue Lizenz beantragen durfte.
“I learned about life from my losses. I’ve learned that as I get older and I lose my friends, my children, my teeth, my hair—and eventually, I’m going to lose my life—life is all about loss,” he says. “We’re going to be old one day. We’re going to lose our teeth, lose our eyesight, lose our hair, lose our dick, lose everything we thought made us who we were. We’re going to lose our identity. In the end, we’ll be grateful if someone has a picture of us on the family wall, if they even put up a picture of us.”
Joyce was considered by enthusiasts as the 7 division champion in boxing‘s most avoided contender, a man with the capabilities of dethroning champion Oleksandr Usyk and who would have the beating of Anthony Joshua if the two met.
Over-rated, one-dimensional and too slow were just some of the critiques hurled towards the 6ft 6in Londoner after he lost his WBO ‘interim’ title and number-one challenger spot for unified champion Usyk.
Perhaps Mike Tyson’s most notable tattoo, the one that covers the left side of his face, requires the first explanation. Mike Tyson has Maori tribal art that covers one half of his face, but he originally wanted his whole face to be covered in tattoos.
“I blocked a few punches, but hell yeah, he punches hard,” Zhang, speaking through an interpreter, said of Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs), who is regarded as one of the most powerful punchers in heavyweight history.
“Styles indeed make fights, and with his attributes, Zhang has the right style to beat Joe Joyce 10 times out of 10 fights. The Big Bang thrives off of opponents who stand right in front of him, and where he can see the punches coming from a mile away, slipping and then countering effectively.”
An unusual training technique? Sure, but Zhang is not your usual fighter. Like, what is a two-time Chinese Olympic heavyweight doing in suburban Jersey? For that you have to go to Terry and Tommy Lane, cofounders of Lane Brothers Boxing. In 2009 the Chinese national boxing team began making sporadic trips to the U.S. for training camps. Eventually the Lanes, then small-time promoters in Nevada, began hearing chatter about some of the talent, including Zhang, who punched his way to a silver medal at the ’08 Beijing Games. The Lanes linked up with Dino Duva, a veteran U.S. promoter who had built some relationships in China. Together, the trio formed Dynasty Boxing, negotiating with the Chinese government to turn a handful of fighters pro, including Zhang, and bring them to the United States. Duva, the former president of Main Events, was based in New Jersey. So, in ’14, Zhang went there.
Before 2014, Zhang was a typical product of the Chinese state-centric sports development policy known as juguo tizhi (举国体制), with all his training schedule, coaching, insurance, housing, and meals arranged and paid for by the Henan Provincial Combat and Weightlifting Center. Hence, few Chinese boxers turn pro. The Henan Provincial Department of Sports secured public institution positions for athletes like Zhang should they retire in China.
“I waited around, and two days later, he called and said, ‘Mike, I’ve got some tribal stuff.’ I said, ‘Woah, put another one over there’. I was like, ‘This is cool, I like this’. So he did it,” he added.
Zhang used that size advantage to bully Wilder and smother him on the ropes. A southpaw, Zhang was able to connect with right hooks that scored time and again as Wilder cocked his vaunted right hand back but rarely let it go.
Der Gefängnisaufenthalt hatte bei Tyson sichtbare Spuren hinterlassen. Er hatte zwanzig Kilo abgenommen, darüber hinaus war er zum Islam konvertiert und hatte sich den Namen „Abdul Aziz” gegeben. Auch wenn dieser Name schon bald wieder aus dem öffentlichen Bewusstsein verschwand, war Tysons Umfeld bestrebt, einen grundlegenden Imagewandel des Boxers zu vollziehen, da sich so ungeahnte Möglichkeiten der Vermarktung ergaben. Viele Boxmanager, die seit seiner Haftentlassung um die Gunst Tysons buhlten, beteuerten wiederholt seinen Wandel zum „besseren Menschen”. Tyson selbst begab sich noch vor seiner ersten Pressekonferenz in Anwesenheit seiner vielen Unterstützer – unter denen auch Muhammad Ali war – in die Moschee in der Nähe des Indiana Youth Centers in Indianapolis, um dort zu beten. Auch Teile der Medien waren bemüht, den Ruf Tysons als verurteilten Vergewaltiger vergessen zu machen. So veröffentlichte die Tageszeitung Dayton Daily News einen Artikel, in welchem fünf Geschworene des damaligen Vergewaltigungsprozesses ihre mittlerweile aufgekommenen Zweifel an Tysons Schuld äußerten.