In the world of sports, wisdom, and life lessons often transcend the boundaries of the field or the ring, offering profound insights into the human condition. One such piece of wisdom comes from the legendary boxer, Mike Tyson, who once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” This seemingly simple statement carries a profound message about life, resilience, and the nature of planning.
“I thought Zhilei went in with the wrong strategy and mind frame,” said George, who watched the Games back home in New Jersey. “Zhilei listens to whatever his coaches tell him to do. So he went in there looking for the KO.”
As an amateur, he was highly regarded by American promoters by 2009 after winning a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics and bronze medals at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships. His career stalled from 2009 to 2019, however, by a combination of his belated release from the Chinese boxing authorities to turn professional, the managerial and legal fiasco of two successive fringe promotional companies, and his visa problems. He could not line up high-profile matches until he signed Matchroom Sport in 2020 at 37 years of age. Zhang considered his fight with Jerry Forrest in 2021 to be the landmark moment of his career until that point.
Going to the Olympic Team, he was one of the most highly regarded American Olympic boxers. Of all the U.S. 1988 Olympians, Angelo Dundee, a legendary trainer, chose Ray Mercer and Andrew Maynard, as the most likely to develop into world champions after they would have turned into professionals: “Mercer’s 27, but that’s not too old. The maturity is there. And the punch. Give him 10 fights as a pro and he’d be ready to start moving up,” Dundee said on Mercer’s potential as a pro. According to Kelvin Richardson of the ’88 All-Army Team, Mercer was such a hard puncher, that even 16-ounce gloves weren’t of much help for his sparring partners from being knocked off the ring, and his superheavyweight Olympic teammate, Riddick Bowe, didn’t want to spar with Mercer for that reason.
Mercer had planned to attempt a dabble in mixed martial arts as early as 2003; he was scheduled to Kazuyuki Fujita, who was 9-4 in the sport, in Kobe, Japan as the main event of the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye. The fight was to be in a MMA ring. However the bout was cancelled after Mercer missed his flight to the country.
A lot of people assume that Muhammad Ali was my favorite boxer. But I have to say it was Roberto Duran. I always looked at Ali as being handsome and articulate. And I was short and ugly and I had a speech impediment. When I saw Duran fight, he was just a street guy. He’d say stuff to his opponents like, “Suck my fucking dick, you motherfucker. Next time you’re going to the fucking morgue.” After he beat Sugar Ray Leonard in that first fight, he went over to where Wilfred Benitez was sitting and he said, “Fuck you. You don’t have the heart or the balls to fight me.”
Wilder comes from a family of Alabama preachers, namely his father and grandmother. He has three sisters and one younger brother. His brother Marsellos Wilder, is also a professional boxer; Marsellos currently fights in the cruiserweight division and has a 5–3 record. As a youngster, Wilder attended church every week. He has referred to his belief in Christianity, saying that “God is very important in my life.”
Born and raised at Jacksons Track in Victoria as well as the town of Warragul, Rose grew up in hardship and learned to box from his father, Roy, who was a skilled fighter at local house shows. Rose was of the Gunditjmara (Dhauwurd Wurrung) people.
In another Memphis fight on February 22, 2003, Tyson beat fringe contender Clifford Etienne 49 seconds into round one. The pre-fight was marred by rumors of Tyson’s lack of fitness. Some said that he took time out from training to party in Las Vegas and get a new facial tattoo. This eventually proved to be Tyson’s final professional victory in the ring.
Frank Warren (born 28 February 1952) is an English boxing manager and promoter. Warren and his son George own and run Queensberry Promotions. Warren was also a founder of the British lightweight boxing division boxers television channel BoxNation which ran for over 11 years from 2012.
The following July, Tyson outpointed Tony Tucker to become the first undisputed world heavyweight champion since 1978. In 1988, he stopped Holmes in four rounds, before disposing of Michael Spinks, another former champion, in one. Bruno followed in 1989, before it all came crashing down.
Tyson regained one belt by easily winning the WBC title against Frank Bruno in March 1996. It was the second fight between the two, and Tyson knocked out Bruno in the third round. In 1996, Lennox Lewis turned down a $13.5 million guarantee to fight Tyson. This would’ve been Lewis’s highest fight purse to date. Lewis then accepted $4 million from Don King to step aside and allow Tyson to fight Bruce Seldon for an expected $30 million instead with the intention that if Tyson defeated Seldon, he would fight Lewis next. Tyson added the WBA belt by defeating champion Seldon in the first round in September that year. Seldon was severely criticized and mocked in the popular press for seemingly collapsing to innocuous punches from Tyson.