After winning third place in the unlimited weight class in boxing in the 2001 National Games of China, he was called in as a sparring partner for the Chinese national boxing team in 2002. In 2003, he lost 22:8 in the first round of the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships to Grzegorz Kiełsa. At the 2004 World University Boxing Championships, he lost in the final to Rustam Saidov. Zhang enrolled at Zhengzhou University in 2005 and graduated in 2009 majoring in sports training. At the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships in China, he beat Vugar Alekperov 20:11 before losing to eventual champion Odlanier Solis (17:7).
WALSALL, UNITED KINGDOM – NOVEMBER 18: Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson meets up with a pigeon fancier Horace Potts (L), of Bloxwich, Walsall, West Midlands on November 18, 2005 in Walsall, England. Tyson who is well known for his love of pigeons dropped box in yahoo.com to the home of pigeon fancier Horace Watts whilst on route to Birmingham, England, for a hotel dinner boxing event. (Photo by Stringer/Getty Images)
The tattoo drew significant attention before the fight. Tyson took time off of training to get it, which trainer Jeff Fenech would later say was a contributing factor to the fight being rescheduled by a week. Some questioned Tyson’s physical and mental fitness to fight. Experts including dermatologist Robert A. Weiss expressed concerns about Tyson boxing while the tattoo healed; Etienne said that he would not go after the tattoo. (Tyson ultimately knocked out Etienne in under a minute. ) The work—which Tyson and others have referred to as his “warrior tattoo”—was also met with criticism from the outset by Māori activists who saw it as cultural appropriation. In 2006, tā moko artist Mark Kopua in a statement to the Waitangi Tribunal called for “a law that would prevent a Mike Tyson or a Robbie Williams or large non-Māori companies from wearing and exploiting the moko”.
The match was originally slated for July 20 but was delayed after Tyson suffered an ulcer flareup during a flight from Miami to Los Angeles on May 26. A representative for the Hall of Fame boxer previously told CNN that Tyson “became nauseous and dizzy” 30 minutes before landing.
But the Chinese fighter had his shorter and lighter opponent in trouble from early on as Joyce provided a static target for Zhang’s booming left hand and plenty of work for his corner as cuts opened up.
“Talk about a great pairing of nicknames — “The Bronze Bomber” versus “Big Bang” Zhang. This is a fight that demands a knockout ending, and according to the oddsmakers who have Zhang a slight favorite, one has the right to assume they’re most swayed by the difference in punch resistance that favors Zhang as well as Wilder’s dismal performance against common conqueror Joseph Parker, a man Zhang floored twice before losing on points. If Zhang lands his lethal left cross on Wilder’s chin, especially early, there will be no opportunity for Wilder to exploit Zhang’s biggest weakness, stamina. That’s what happened in the Joe Joyce rematch and the pick is that Zhang’s “Big Bang” will be enough to take out the “Bronze Bomber.”
The decision to get the face tattoo would be emblematic of this ultimately troubled period of Tyson’s life, and reflect on his future choices. In the years since Tyson retired, he’s more or less rehabilitated his public image as a troubled brute by being open in interviews, with self-deprecating humor, and getting involved in some cheesy B-movies, such as 2017’s legendarily cringetastic China Salesmen (prepare to facepalm your way through the fight with Stephen Seagal, viewable on YouTube). Tyson has started his own weed empire, Tyson Holistic, which, according to the Sun, earns more than $675,000 a month. Tyson himself reportedly cuts into his profit margins quite a bit by consuming (with his friends) $40,000’s worth every month at his Tyson Ranch in Mojave Desert, as Marketwatch says. He’s also talked about building a cannabis-themed resort.
“There’s no one that I think is really a big threat to Valentina in her category right now,” Hinger told Fruiting Body. “I think Weili is the only one who can go up and actually give a good fight to Valentina.
Of course, Paul brought up the “Gotcha Hat” tattoo. When his brother Logan fought Floyd Mayweather, Jake stole Mayweather’s hat, leading to a wild brawl. Paul infamously yelled, “gotcha hat” and immediately got a tattoo.
The first object that caught my eye in Tyson’s double-storied, sparely furnished living room was a plush, purple Disney child’s car seat, perched on a chair near the screen doors that led out to a swimming pool. There was also a child-size table and chairs, and a cluster of Mylar balloons tied to a bar stool in celebration of the birth of the Tysons’ week-old son, Morocco, who had a touch of jaundice as well as his father’s narrow eyes. The white stucco house is located in a gated community called Seven Hills, which has the hushed, slightly vacant aura of gated communities everywhere. The entanceway features a koi pond under Plexiglas, and the expansive, open interior is decorated in a style that could be described as utilitarian (the color scheme is plum, beige and brown) with rococo touches — there is a huge contemporary chandelier as well as two gilded brass mirrors over a glassed-in fireplace that match the ironwork frieze on the front doors.