Tyson himself has spoken about the meaning behind his tattoo, noting that he appreciates the cultural significance of tribal tattoos, and has embraced elements of this art form to create his own distinctive design. In particular, Tyson has noted that his tattoo was inspired by the ancient art of Māori tā moko, which is a sacred and symbolic form of body art used by the indigenous people of New Zealand to tell stories and convey important messages.
“He had good handspeed, that was one of his biggest assets. He had power and handspeed and that was hard to beat. He knew how to get in real fast, that was one of his strengths too. He’d slide up on you real quick and get in the punches. He was very strong, I don’t know what made him so strong. Mike Tyson was most definitely the biggest puncher I ever fought. Larry Holmes was undefeated . Tyson had to be the best because he beat Larry Holmes and me.”
“This is a great win,” Parker said. “I feel like we’re on the up now. Zhang is a tough man. He knocked me down twice but when I came back to the corner Andy was, ‘Keep your composure; keep boxing and follow the plan’.
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.
The 2008 Olympic silver medalist from China, began his career later than most, turning professional at 31. He steadily worked his way up the heavyweight division until securing a fight with Filip Hrgovic, who features on the undercard, in 2022.
Tyson went on to become the youngest heavyweight champion of the world when he was 20 years old. He won 12 of his first 19 fights by knockout in the first round. He was powerful and ferocious. Tyson struck fear into his opponents and wound up winning 50 professional fights. He won 44 of them by knockout.
Almost two decades on from when ‘Iron Mike’ last stepped into the ring in a professional bout, a defeat to Kevin McBride in 2005, the legendary heavyweight makes his return in an event that will draw attention from the world of sport and beyond.
Like ‘Iron Mike’, Etienne was viewed as a dangerous puncher. Having learned to box while in prison for attempted armed robbery, he had built a 24-1-1 pro record – scoring 17 KOs along the way, including 11 in the first round.
Back when Mike Tyson first showed up in public in 2003 with his now-instantly recognizable tribal face tattoo, the first reaction of many folks was, “huh?” followed by, “why?” followed by, “seriously though, why?” But let’s be honest: was anyone going to make fun of him to his face and risk getting detonated by one of Iron Mike’s fists? No, sir. Not only was Tyson still the #1 dude who you did not want to get into a brawl with (and also the man with the most disproportionate “intimidating presence: intimidating voice” ratio), he had bitten off a bit of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a boxing match back in 1997. Tyson was considered volatile, as well as loose, cannon.
Zhang also became the WBO’s mandatory challenger for one of Oleksandr Usyk’s titles by beating Joyce. Ukraine’s Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) has mandatory defenses due first, however, against England’s Daniel Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs), who owns the WBA secondary championship, and Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic (15-0, 12 KOs), who is the IBF’s number one contender.
George, a retired light heavyweight from Brooklyn, has trained Zhilei to stop Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs) inside the distance again. No matter how much the 2016 Olympic silver medalist has tried to change his habits while working with respected Cuban trainer Ismael Salas, George expects the 6-foot-6, 278-pound Zhilei to encounter a similar, defensively flawed fighter Saturday night to the one he beat five months ago.
Hrgovic gave Zhang his first career loss, but not without some controversy as many boxing fans believed Zhang deserved to win the closely-contested bout. Zhang didn’t let the loss define him, instead coming back and getting a career-best win over then undefeated British heavyweight Joe Joyce in his next fight.
There’s no doubt that the 27-year-old’s move to get the tattoo was ballsy, but even ‘The Problem Child’ could not risk getting the real tattoo. In the post from Overtime, they mentioned that the tattoo was fake and the entire thing was a promotional stunt. They wrote, “Definitely fake, but this one hell of a promo video.” And as it so happens, that’s not the only promotion Jake Paul did, taunting Tyson even more.
Round 6: Doctor checks the badly damaged eye to start the round. It continues for now. Joyce has to know he’s on thin ice here, but I’m not sure he can do enough about it in quick enough time. Zhang battering Joyce with a combination about 75 seconds into the round. Doctor’s gonna check the eye again. That’s bad news for Joyce. He’s answering the questions, but they’re whispering, Howard Foster waves it off! Zhang TKO-6.