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Zhang Zhilei’s journey in the world of boxing has not only made him a national hero in China but also ignited a passion for the sport among young Chinese athletes. His success and determination continue to inspire future generations of fighters.

In 2000 Tyson dismissed everyone who was working for him and enlisted new accountants, who prepared a statement showing he started the year $3.3 million in debt but earned $65.7 million. In August 2007, Tyson pleaded guilty to drug possession and driving under the influence in an Arizona court, which stemmed from an arrest in December where authorities said Tyson, who has a long history of legal contentions, admitted to using cocaine that day and to being addicted to the drug.

In March 2024, it was announced that Tyson would be making his ring return against Jake Paul in a heavyweight bout on July 20, 2024, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. On April 29, 2024, it was announced that the fight would be sanctioned as a professional boxing match by Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations (TDLR). On May 26, 2024, Tyson suffered an ulcer flare aboard a plane. On May 31, 2024, it was announced that the fight was postponed per medical advice from Tyson’s doctor, allowing him to recover from his ulcer flareup. On June 7, 2024, it was announced that the fight will take place at the same arena on November 15, 2024.

Despite the weight disadvantage, Wilder will hold a 1-inch height advantage at 6-foot-7. Wilder weighed 1 pound more than he did against Parker but came in far lighter than his career heaviest of 238 in the trilogy bout with Tyson Fury.

From 1992 to 1995, while see in yahoo.com prison for the rape of Desiree Washington, Tyson read a large number of books, including works by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong. Spike Lee sent Tyson a copy of tennis player Arthur Ashe’s deathbed memoir, Days of Grace. Tyson was moved by the book and respected Ashe’s ability to be nonconfrontational and admired his political views and his success as a black athlete in a white-dominated world. Tyson got prison tattoos of both men on his biceps: A portrait of Mao, captioned with “Mao” in all-caps, on the left; a portrait of Ashe beneath the words “Days of Grace” on the right. Gerald Early views the Mao and Ashe tattoos as together “symboliz both newfound self-control and his revision of black cool”, with Mao representing strength and authority. Clifton Brown in The New York Times describes the Ashe tattoo as “a contradiction” with Tyson’s “fits of rage”. Early and biographer Richard Hoffer cast the two bicep tattoos as an unusual combination of, in Hoffer’s words, “alternate icons”.

From afar, George had cringed at how Zhang was being developed. There was no plan, he says. No visible signs of improvement. The only objective seemed to be to lard Zhang’s record with enough warm bodies until one of the top heavyweights would pay a premium to face him. “Do you remember Nikolai Valuev?” asks George, referencing the 7-foot Russian who briefly held a heavyweight title. “That’s how everyone was looking at Zhilei. Like a gimmick.”

In September, Zhang returned to China for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerned that no one would recognize him, Li hired a dozen actors to greet him. When Zhang exited the Hangzhou Railway Station, hundreds of fans were waiting for him. “No one was paying attention to me when I first turned pro,” says Zhang. “But with my recent fights and the recent noise I’m making, it’s significant. The recognition of boxing in China now is tremendous.”

Tyson knows that people are describing his decision to take the fight as the aging boxer’s version of a midlife crisis. He gets sensitive when reporters ask if he’s still got it, or when skeptics suggest the bout is a gimmick event that isn’t real. He simmers down a little when he reminds himself that most of those who question him have never stepped into the ring themselves. Still, his inability to say no to a fight—a mindset D’Amato instilled in him that has stayed with the kid from Brooklyn—has even surprised Kiki, he admits.

“Zhang did an excellent job beating Joe Joyce twice. When I fought Joyce it was totally different from the fight I have now,” said Parker, who was knocked out by Joyce in the 11th round of a WBO interim title bout in September 2022.

It was in the lead-up to the bout that ‘Iron’ Mike decided to get his now signature Māori warrior tattoo. Reportedly done by celebrated tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill from Las Vegas, the story goes that Tyson originally wanted hearts on his face. However, Whitmill refused to go with the concept. Given that he has himself led the life of a warrior, the former heavyweight champion liked it when Whitmill introduced the Māori ‘tā moko’, a permanent ink decking the faces of Māori tribesmen from New Zealand.

After Tyson was released from prison, his fans noticed that now, on the boxer’s right shoulder, instead of a tattoo with his name, there is an image of Communist China’s leader Mao Zedong with the signature in crude, sprawling script “MAO.”