Chinese heavyweight boxer headed to US (6'6")

NEW YORK (AP) -- A 6-foot-6 Chinese super heavyweight who won the Olympic silver medal in 2008 is the first fighter to join Dino Duva's promotion company. Zhang Zhilei will continue his pro career with Dynasty Boxing. Duva is partners in the group with Tommy and Terry Lane, sons of Hall of Fame referee Mills Lane. Duva is the son of Hall of Fame trainer-manager Lou Duva. He has worked with heavyweight champions Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Michael Moorer, George Foreman and Riddick Bowe. Zhang says while growing up he watched broadcasts of bouts featuring Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Foreman, Holyfield and the Klitschko brothers. ''I hope that I can win a golden belt someday, too,'' Zhang said. ''Amateur boxing has fewer rounds, and the points determine the winner. You will fight a couple of different fights in a competition period to win the whole (amateur) tournament. Professional boxing has more rounds. It's very important to be in top shape.'' The 31-year-old boxer was stopped by Italy's Roberto Cammarelle in the gold medal bout at the Beijing Games. He lost in the quarterfinals at the London Olympics to Anthony Joshua of Britain. He won two bronze medals in the world championships. View galleryChinese heavyweight boxer headed to US Chinese Boxer Zhang Zhilei, a 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medalist, listens during his introduction … Zhang believes the way fighters train in the United States is superior to how they work out back home. ''It was hard to get used to at first, just like when I first started boxing,'' Zhang said. ''But things went smoother after about the first week. I felt comfortable and I believe that I can go the distance. You have to do much (more) than anybody else if you want to be the one.'' Duva believes Zhang is the one for the future in the heavyweight division, even though the Chinese boxer is getting a late start in the pros. Duva said Dynasty will concentrate on fighters from China. ''It's a sincere pleasure to get back into the promotion business, especially with these unique and special Chinese boxers being a major part of it,'' he said. ''Of course, we will be looking to promote other great boxers from across the country and world as we go forward. But our major focus right now will be developing the Chinese boxers and market. ''Zhang will be the most important heavyweight to come along since the Klitschkos.'' http://sports.yahoo.com/news/chinese-heavyweight-boxer-headed-us-182555292--box.html

Comments (20)

This thread has taken an ugly turn.

12y ago

SNPER

chinese dont do well in boxing LOL especially in the higher weights. their body is just not built like these other heavy weights. when u look at mma for example, asian fighters does well in the lower weights but once u look at the heavy weights the asian fighter gets destroyed 9 times out of 10 and thats because their weight might be up there but their body and power is nowhere near the same as the other heavy weight fighters of different race. Racist post of the week award

12y ago

Evol

I named an asian heavyweight that was able to compete at the elite level in his sport. no u name 1 win from that fighter, how is that being able to compete with the elite?? i gave u a few names of who i consider is elite. u know the guys who goes out there and perform consistently, not just 1 win and after that u dont u ever hear about him anymore. LOL

12y ago

Light_Speed

how ami i moving the goal post, so 1 win is consider elite to u?? i guess ur standards is pretty low then lmao!! I named an asian heavyweight that was able to compete at the elite level in his sport.

12y ago

Evol

"name a top heavy weight that can compete in the elite level against other heavy weight fighters" "ur naming 1 noticeable win that these guys got LOL. thats not consider elite" Keep moving the goal post lol. those guys that KO pac in the early years, does those guys have the same skills set as manny just because they KO him once and was never able to repeat that again in their next fight? LOL

12y ago

Evol

"name a top heavy weight that can compete in the elite level against other heavy weight fighters" "ur naming 1 noticeable win that these guys got LOL. thats not consider elite" Keep moving the goal post lol. how ami i moving the goal post, so 1 win is consider elite to u?? i guess ur standards is pretty low then lmao!!

12y ago

Light_Speed

give it up bro, there is no top elite asian heavy weights. ur naming 1 noticeable win that these guys got LOL. thats not consider elite. im talking guys like dos santos, cain, etc. now these guys are elite. "name a top heavy weight that can compete in the elite level against other heavy weight fighters" "ur naming 1 noticeable win that these guys got LOL. thats not consider elite" Keep moving the goal post lol.

12y ago

Evol

Heayyweight kickboxer Hong Man Choi defeated highly decorated heavyweight kickboxer Semmy Schilt. give it up bro, there is no top elite asian heavy weights. ur naming 1 noticeable win that these guys got LOL. thats not consider elite. im talking guys like dos santos, cain, etc. now these guys are elite.

12y ago

Evol

Who was that Asian MMA guy that had the giant birthmark thing on his back? He was a pretty big guy and did fairly decent in the late 90's-early 2000's IIRC. idk who ur talking about but i do remember the only japanese heavy weight in pride (mma) that was tough is this dude they called iron head or something lol. that guy would take extreme punishment but he always loses though LOL.

12y ago

DeadLikeMe

Who was that Asian MMA guy that had the giant birthmark thing on his back? He was a pretty big guy and did fairly decent in the late 90's-early 2000's IIRC.

12y ago

Light_Speed

come on thats not even worth debating LOL. i said name a top heavy weight that can compete in the elite level against other heavy weight fighters and u posted that video of a heavy weight fighting royce and that heavy weight guy couldnt even finish royce LOL!! now lets flip the script, imagine guys like sergio martinez etc fighting guys like tyson, holyfield, lewis, martinez would get sparked out. Heayyweight kickboxer Hong Man Choi defeated highly decorated heavyweight kickboxer Semmy Schilt.

12y ago

Kuyukut

Does anyone have pics or video of ching chang chong?:boxing: I don't have a pic of him but I got a photo of you and your brotha together. http://www.funnypica.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Very-Funny-Ugly-People-570x572.jpg

12y ago

Accountoffline

Evol, The top and bottom of it is you're lack of respect for people from other ethnicities (Mainly east asian) shows a slight racist racist trait. No I can't name any top ASIAN heavyweight but its due to the lack of people taking part in the sport, I can goddamn near guarantee you that if some Afghan kids started training for the sport who would grow to above 6ft tall in height, you'd have some seriously strong fighters coming from that region. I've fought your average Afghans and take it from me, having amateur boxing experience, they can fight like anything! China just isn't a country that concentrates on sports like boxing as much as others do, its not part of their culture as of yet, but when it does become a part of it, you my friend will see some great talent come from that side of the world.

12y ago

Evol

so your not racist against all chinese people, just the tall and/or fat ones. Tsk, tsk, tsk! so saying the heavy weight chinese sucks is being racist? LOL i guess.

12y ago

The_Big_Dunn

what did i say that was so "racist" smart guy??? i never said they suck at boxing so u can stop bringing up the fact that china was just exposed to boxing not to long ago. i said the heavy weight guys of asian descent usually doesnt do too well against other heavy weights of different race. then i said occassionally u'll get a tall as chinese guy but that guy will most likely be all clumsy or doesnt have the stamina to compete at the elite level. why u so mad? so you're not racist against all chinese people, just the tall and/or fat ones. Tsk, tsk, tsk!

12y ago

Evol

Why are acting like your posts aren't on here for everyone to read? You said: chinese dont do well in boxing LOL especially in the higher weights. their body is just not built like these other heavy weights. when u look at mma for example, asian fighters does well in the lower weights but once u look at the heavy weights the asian fighter gets destroyed 9 times out of 10 and thats because their weight might be up there but their body and power is nowhere near the same as the other heavy weight fighters of different race. why didnt u bold the part right after that where i said especially in the higher weights??? so what i said is not true then? u still havent prove me wrong. i never said chinese sucks i said in the heavy weight division they have very little success.

12y ago

Tom_Cruise

Unfortunately it seems he's packing a somewhat ironic 'china' chin. He can bang a bit though but didn't seem all that skillful. Surprised Arum didn't get him, might've been good to have on these Shiming bills

12y ago

Evol

Which is like saying black people are stupid compared to whites and asians because they have fewer nobel laureate and score lower on SATs and GREs. Maybe there are other reasons for the lower scores ... poverty, poorer educational opportunites, cultural differences, etc.. The same holds true for asian boxers. Poverty (lack of protein) means you don't grow as tall and heavy as you otherwise would have. As diets improve so does the average height of the population. The biggest factor relating to boxing is poverty - especially thinking that the only way out is through sports. The second factor is starting young. As boxing increases in popularity in China the quality of their boxers will improve as well. wrong!! i didnt say ALL asians, i said the heavy weight guys of asian descent usually doesngt do too well as compre to the lower weight asian fighters. why are u guys turning this into a whole race thing?? i never said chinese sucks period!! i said the heavy weight division for asians usually sucks.

12y ago

Evol

Yao sucked and even when he was healthy he was slow and got pushed around by smaller guys. Yao was a circus act plain and simple thank u!! dont get me wrong, yao is a good player but compare to the elite guys, yao didnt come close, sure he has a few good games here and there but he was never consistent. like i said when u get these rare tall asians theres usually something wrong with them, like they wont be able to perform 100%.

12y ago

Wizardsh

you obivously never watched yao ming play. when he was healthy he was dominant. commanded double teams every time. hell, there aren't many Centers in todays NBA that has half the post moves and skill of Yao Ming But yeah, goofy and clumsy guys do stuff like this: http://www.gifsforum.com/images/gif/other/grand/Yao_Ming39s_Top_10_Plays_of_hi_f39fa39b3efe7aaf281735707fce226a.gif Yao sucked and even when he was healthy he was slow and got pushed around by smaller guys. Yao was a circus act plain and simple

12y ago