BoxRec

That was a truly horrible break. I'm not really into MMA/UFC and first heard of Tyrone Spong as a boxing prospect. l went on to you-tube to see if there was any footage of him. Even prior to his injury his style seemed to me to be better suited to boxing than to kick-boxing, as he seemed to me to be more disposed to using his fists.

I doubt he needs to answer any questions about his fortitude and his experience of top-level MMA should be helpful in his future as a boxer. He certainly shouldn't be phased by moving up to face tougher opposition when the time comes.

I wish him well in his career.

Truth be told 'slim, I tend to agree with you.
If I were to be forced to place a bet on whether Spong would or would not be somewhat successful in boxing, I place my marker on him enjoying some success. But, how much remains to be seen.
Some kickboxer just can't make the adjustment like Mo Saligia. Even though he was never that effective as a kicker & did the vast majority of his damage with his punches, he seemed a wee bit helpless in the boxing ring when forced to navigate the distance between himself & his opponents without being able to use his kicks as range finders. In his lone loss/last fight as a boxer he was simply reduced to lunging in with his blows & was easily outboxed.
Do I expect Spong to experience the same fate?
No, because he's a much better athlete than was "Mighty" Mo.
But, he'll soon need to prove it against some live bodies should he really want to continue with his boxing career. These KO1s over horribly inept 0-14 fighters has got to stop. They're just time wasters.

Yes sadly he's in very good company (Heavyweights with potential wasting their time blasting out stiffs)

I figured this must be an orphaned sumo thread

candyslim wrote:Yes sadly he's in very good company (Heavyweights with potential wasting their time blasting out stiffs)

Just out of curiosity 'slim, are there any heavies that you'd like to suggest for Spong to fight at this stage of his career?
It's really rather difficult to say because thus far his opposition has been so bad that we have no clue where he's really at or who he's ready for.
But, just for shits & giggles, I'll list this a few opponents who I think would give him some decent work & build him up toward world class.

Raphael Zumbano Love - Say what you will about this guys skills ( or lack thereof ), but he's a durable SOB & he'll be able to soak up plenty of punishment before folding up his tent for the night with only the biggest of punchers like Eric Molina & Anthony Joshua being able to KO him.I'll give Spong the benefit of the doubt here & say that rather than getting taken the distance by this workhorse that he'll stop him in five or six rounds.

Ray Austin - Sure, he's an old, very badly faded former contender, but he's big, he can probably soak up whatever Spong can dish out for three or four rounds & he's got some tricks that he can pull out & display for a bit.

Jason Bergman - Another big strapping guy who may be able to extend Spong & give him some rounds of work. On the slow side though, so Spong may belt him out early.

Jamal Woods - maybe the first opponent to take Spong the distance were they to meet.

Joey Abell - Have to throw in a chin checker for him & Abell can punch with 31 KOs in 33 wins.

Dillon Carmen - Tall, rangy Canadian Heavyweight champ with 12-2 mark.

Joey Dawejko - short, stocky, tough as nails. Extensive amateur career, solid beard. 17-4-3. Could be too much too soon for Spong.

Kyotaro Fujimoto - Another former K-1 star. World rated.

sweetviolenturge wrote:

lillywhite14 wrote:

asdfjkl wrote:From Jun Long Zhang, I've always said he's most likely a top contender, top 10 ish, and I already said that years ago. Just like I said Billy Wright is probably rank 30 ish at the time and had a fair chance to beat Deontay Wilder back then.
I said the same about Tyrone Spong, rank 20 ish, who only had 1 victory back then, now he got 7 fights, 7 wins, 7 KO's, and the top contenders simply ignore him.
There are more hidden giants, people just don't see them.

Just because someone is over 6'8 and has muscles, doesn't mean they can box.
Spong top 20? Who's he beat? He's a prospect at best right now.

I'd certainly like to know who all these heavyweights are that are supposedly ducking Spong. Seeing as how he's just a year removed from his last 4 round bout, I somehow doubt whether his people are willing to put him in with contenders just yet. And if so, whom? Who has turned down a fight with Spong? And, "everyone" is definitely not a legitimate answer.
So, name some names asdfjkl. Give me the names of any heavyweights that have turned down an offer to fight Spong.
Hell, I'm making it sound like I'm not a fan of Spong, but I am. But, like I said, as a kickboxer & as an MMA fighter. I have yet to see enough of him as a boxer to be able to tell how his skills will translate into the boxing ring because punching power & ferocity simply aren't enough. If it were, then the aforementioned "Mighty" Mo would surely be a champion by now. But, obviously, he's not because he got shut out by a clubfighter named Lamar Stephens that just so happened to have enough ring generalship & a jab to befuddle him for six one-sided rounds.
Until Spong proves otherwise by moving up in competition & facing someone who will take him rounds & test him there's no way to tell if the same fate doesn't await him.

You do know that Tyrone is the 10 times champion of the world in 6 different weightclasses including heavyweight in kickboxing? Also, who's 6ft8?

Tanzio wrote:I figured this must be an orphaned sumo thread

Brilliant ... although it took a second or two for the penny to drop

sweetviolenturge wrote:
uote="candyslim"]Yes sadly he's in very good company (Heavyweights with potential wasting their time blasting out stiffs)

Just out of curiosity 'slim, are there any heavies that you'd like to suggest for Spong to fight at this stage of his career?

That's a far harder question to answer in relation to Spong than it would be most prospects in view of his top level MMA experience making him a novice but not a novice if that doesn't sound like a bad line from a Bruce Lee film.

I don't much rate Zumbano love but Joey Daweko is nobody's pushover nor is Joey Abell, and I appreciate the thinking as regards Ray Austin.

My first pick would be Avery Gibson who is always good value and tends to lose against useful prospects, but not before giving them a useful test. You mentioned Carmen but an opponent of his Eric Martel Bahoeli might be a decent shout. How about Joshua Tufte, Nick Asberry, Franklin Lawrence, Ed Latimore, Fred Kassi, Daniel Martz, Jeremiah Karpency, Mike Mollo, Donovan Dennis, Mario Heredia, Travis Walker, Jerry Forrest ...

A few of these might be a little amitious at this stage but try him with a Gibson or a Bahoeli and re-evaluate from there. Like I said he's not your common or garden seven fight novice.

Spong isn't 6' 8" ... I thought he was six two, six three tops. Might you be having a little trouble with your metric imperial conversion Asdfjki ?

candyslim wrote:Spong isn't 6' 8" ... I thought he was six two, six three tops. Might you be having a little trouble with your metric imperial conversion Asdfjki ?

Yeah, Spong is just 6'2". I don't know where the 6'*" thing came into play. Possibly as a miscommunication while also discussing one of the heavies from China?

candyslim wrote:

Tanzio wrote:I figured this must be an orphaned sumo thread

Brilliant ... although it took a second or two for the penny to drop

sweetviolenturge wrote:
uote="candyslim"]Yes sadly he's in very good company (Heavyweights with potential wasting their time blasting out stiffs)

Just out of curiosity 'slim, are there any heavies that you'd like to suggest for Spong to fight at this stage of his career?

That's a far harder question to answer in relation to Spong than it would be most prospects in view of his top level MMA experience making him a novice but not a novice if that doesn't sound like a bad line from a Bruce Lee film.

I don't much rate Zumbano love but Joey Daweko is nobody's pushover nor is Joey Abell, and I appreciate the thinking as regards Ray Austin.

My first pick would be Avery Gibson who is always good value and tends to lose against useful prospects, but not before giving them a useful test. You mentioned Carmen but an opponent of his Eric Martel Bahoeli might be a decent shout. How about Joshua Tufte, Nick Asberry, Franklin Lawrence, Ed Latimore, Fred Kassi, Daniel Martz, Jeremiah Karpency, Mike Mollo, Donovan Dennis, Mario Heredia, Travis Walker, Jerry Forrest ...

A few of these might be a little amitious at this stage but try him with a Gibson or a Bahoeli and re-evaluate from there. Like I said he's not your common or garden seven fight novice.

Sure, any of those fighters you've listed would make for a vast improvement over anything that Spong's faced thus far. Although, I don't know that Walker is still active anymore & Mike Mollo has supposedly hung 'em up for good following his KO loss in Poland a week or two back. But, then isn't it funny how fluid your typical heavyweight's retirement plans become with the status of their bank accounts? LOL.

Moving back to the subject of the Asian heavyweights, a lot of those potential opponents that we've bandied about as possibilities for Spong would also be suitable for Zhang Zhilei & Kyotaro as well. Though, I'm not much sold on the latter's chances against anyone in the top 30 or so after his big struggles vs a blown up light-middleweight in Ishida.
Zhang Zhilei's shows some promise as any Olympic silver medalist should. He displays some good athleticism & lets his hands go often & in flurries. But, as he's already in his mid-30s I think it's time that they take the next step toward facing world class opposition.

Zhang Zhilei is the best of the lot in my opinion but I am not sure he could beat a top 15 ranked heavy at this point.

marvelous marv wrote:Sprongs fighting career maybe be over due to issues with his right leg. The same issues that forced him to stop kick boxing and switch to conventional boxing. No one is avoiding him.

Some backround on Gavern vs Wilder, they had both been in the same training camp prior to their fight. Wilder and Gavern were friendly outside the ring and Wilder pushed to get him a payday when his other fight fell apart. They kind of treated the match like a four round sparring session.

He already said his leg is perfectly fine and showed it, but simply wants to move on to boxing, he has nothing to prove left in the kickboxing world and there's less money in that world as well.

candyslim wrote:Spong isn't 6' 8" ... I thought he was six two, six three tops. Might you be having a little trouble with your metric imperial conversion Asdfjki ?

Maybe you should read what I wrote?

How very true (retirement plan fluidity)

As for moving him up, I understand their caution because a crushing defeat could set back interest in boxing in China. If you'll permit me to mangle a saying : Sometimes it's better to travel in hope than to suddenly hit the buffers at the end of your journey.

At the same time he's not getting any younger and letting him end his career untested would be very zhilei indeed ... sorry about that, I'll get my coat. So the predicament is to match him with someone relevant who isn't too big a risk. So who fits these two conflicting requirements?

The name Alexander Ustinov refuses to fade away despite his not fighting since 2015. His inactivity might make him vulnerable yet he's a big enough name that kudos would attach to beating him. Chris Arreola might be too big a jump, maybe Ray Austin as a less ambitious stepping-stone?

Or maybe forget about progression toward world level and think instead about Asia. How much interest could be generated in the far-east by a well promoted highly publicized clash for the Asian Heavyweight title fight between Zhang and Fujimoto?

asdfjkl wrote:

candyslim wrote:Spong isn't 6' 8" ... I thought he was six two, six three tops. Might you be having a little trouble with your metric imperial conversion Asdfjki ?

Maybe you should read what I wrote?

It seems I wasn't the only one who misunderstood you asdfjki, not that I would ever criticize your English, especially since I don't speak a word of your mother tongue, or at most a few words anyway depending on what tongue that is.

candyslim wrote:

asdfjkl wrote:

candyslim wrote:Spong isn't 6' 8" ... I thought he was six two, six three tops. Might you be having a little trouble with your metric imperial conversion Asdfjki ?

Maybe you should read what I wrote?

It seems I wasn't the only one who misunderstood you asdfjki, not that I would ever criticize your English, especially since I don't speak a word of your mother tongue, or at most a few words anyway depending on what tongue that is.

Please, at least write my name correct

Maybe appreciate that I do you the honour of using it. Now I know that's an "l" not an "i" this mistake won't occur again. My eyesight isn't that great anymore.

candyslim wrote:How very true (retirement plan fluidity)

As for moving him up, I understand their caution because a crushing defeat could set back interest in boxing in China. If you'll permit me to mangle a saying : Sometimes it's better to travel in hope than to suddenly hit the buffers at the end of your journey.

At the same time he's not getting any younger and letting him end his career untested would be very zhilei indeed ... sorry about that, I'll get my coat. So the predicament is to match him with someone relevant who isn't too big a risk. So who fits these two conflicting requirements?

The name Alexander Ustinov refuses to fade away despite his not fighting since 2015. His inactivity might make him vulnerable yet he's a big enough name that kudos would attach to beating him. Chris Arreola might be too big a jump, maybe Ray Austin as a less ambitious stepping-stone?

Or maybe forget about progression toward world level and think instead about Asia. How much interest could be generated in the far-east by a well promoted highly publicized clash for the Asian Heavyweight title fight between Zhang and Fujimoto?

Yeah, Zhang Zhilei is definitely due for a step up in competition.
Of course, I would imagine that the biggest match they could make would be with his countryman "The Dragon King" Zhang Junlong, but it would appear that the latter Zhang is only interested in facing more set ups sent in from overseas. Which is a shame because it would certainly be quite the spectacle. But, then, I'm sure that "The Dragon King's" people know that he wouldn't be able to compete with the Olympic silver medalist & would likely be embarrassed within a round or two judging by what I've seen of both.
That leaves Kyotaro as the most likely all Asia match up & I would imagine that once the money for such a match is right we'll likely see it with Fujimoto's OPBF on the line.
Should they want to build up his record a bit more at home then Ray Austin would be a good name for that type of cannon fodder as he's fought in China before when he stopped Andrew Golota there about a decade ago.
Then, down the line, once his people feel he's ready to make the big step up I can see them bringing in Joseph Parker. Especially if Parker still has his WBO title as Zhang Zhilei beat Parker twice in the amateur ranks.
Speaking of Parker, that brought reminded me of a recent KO victim of his in Dimitrenko. Who I thought was likely finished after Parker destroyed him in such short order, but he just returned a week or two back & knocked out the unbeaten Swedish heavy that so many were talking about. So, he might be an interesting step up in competition for Zhang Zhilei.

I would have said Parker was way too ambitious but I had no idea Zhang had beaten him (twice) as an amateur. That sounds like the target to aim at then.
Parker's demolition of Dimitrenko looks more impressive after that recent result, there again I wasn't getting too excited by the Swedish prospect, Adrian Granat - I still remember having high hopes for Anders Eklund, another Swedish giant who looked like he might be a lot better than he eventually turned out to be.

sweetviolenturge wrote:It's interesting to me that there are three Asian heavyweights rated in the top 15 of the division

#27, 44, and 46.

sweetviolenturge wrote:

candyslim wrote:How very true (retirement plan fluidity)

As for moving him up, I understand their caution because a crushing defeat could set back interest in boxing in China. If you'll permit me to mangle a saying : Sometimes it's better to travel in hope than to suddenly hit the buffers at the end of your journey.

At the same time he's not getting any younger and letting him end his career untested would be very zhilei indeed ... sorry about that, I'll get my coat. So the predicament is to match him with someone relevant who isn't too big a risk. So who fits these two conflicting requirements?

The name Alexander Ustinov refuses to fade away despite his not fighting since 2015. His inactivity might make him vulnerable yet he's a big enough name that kudos would attach to beating him. Chris Arreola might be too big a jump, maybe Ray Austin as a less ambitious stepping-stone?

Or maybe forget about progression toward world level and think instead about Asia. How much interest could be generated in the far-east by a well promoted highly publicized clash for the Asian Heavyweight title fight between Zhang and Fujimoto?

Yeah, Zhang Zhilei is definitely due for a step up in competition.
Of course, I would imagine that the biggest match they could make would be with his countryman "The Dragon King" Zhang Junlong, but it would appear that the latter Zhang is only interested in facing more set ups sent in from overseas. Which is a shame because it would certainly be quite the spectacle. But, then, I'm sure that "The Dragon King's" people know that he wouldn't be able to compete with the Olympic silver medalist & would likely be embarrassed within a round or two judging by what I've seen of both.
That leaves Kyotaro as the most likely all Asia match up & I would imagine that once the money for such a match is right we'll likely see it with Fujimoto's OPBF on the line.
Should they want to build up his record a bit more at home then Ray Austin would be a good name for that type of cannon fodder as he's fought in China before when he stopped Andrew Golota there about a decade ago.
Then, down the line, once his people feel he's ready to make the big step up I can see them bringing in Joseph Parker. Especially if Parker still has his WBO title as Zhang Zhilei beat Parker twice in the amateur ranks.
Speaking of Parker, that brought reminded me of a recent KO victim of his in Dimitrenko. Who I thought was likely finished after Parker destroyed him in such short order, but he just returned a week or two back & knocked out the unbeaten Swedish heavy that so many were talking about. So, he might be an interesting step up in competition for Zhang Zhilei.

Now back to reality, Jun Long Zhang is doing everything he can to find more serious competition. Somehow he's like the Asian Ortiz, he now finally has a pasport to go out of China somehow.

Jun Long struggled to get a passport as he was enlisted in the army, and soldiers in China struggle to get passports.

Lackeos wrote:

sweetviolenturge wrote:It's interesting to me that there are three Asian heavyweights rated in the top 15 of the division

#27, 44, and 46.

Obviously, I was referring to their ratings in the top 15 of the various sanctioning bodies, not boxrec's ratings.

Zhang Junlong is rated #15 by the WBA

Zhang Zhilei is rated #15 by the WBO

Kyotaro is rated #15 by the WBC & #13 by the WBO

asdfjkl wrote:

sweetviolenturge wrote:

candyslim wrote:How very true (retirement plan fluidity)

As for moving him up, I understand their caution because a crushing defeat could set back interest in boxing in China. If you'll permit me to mangle a saying : Sometimes it's better to travel in hope than to suddenly hit the buffers at the end of your journey.

At the same time he's not getting any younger and letting him end his career untested would be very zhilei indeed ... sorry about that, I'll get my coat. So the predicament is to match him with someone relevant who isn't too big a risk. So who fits these two conflicting requirements?

The name Alexander Ustinov refuses to fade away despite his not fighting since 2015. His inactivity might make him vulnerable yet he's a big enough name that kudos would attach to beating him. Chris Arreola might be too big a jump, maybe Ray Austin as a less ambitious stepping-stone?

Or maybe forget about progression toward world level and think instead about Asia. How much interest could be generated in the far-east by a well promoted highly publicized clash for the Asian Heavyweight title fight between Zhang and Fujimoto?

Yeah, Zhang Zhilei is definitely due for a step up in competition.
Of course, I would imagine that the biggest match they could make would be with his countryman "The Dragon King" Zhang Junlong, but it would appear that the latter Zhang is only interested in facing more set ups sent in from overseas. Which is a shame because it would certainly be quite the spectacle. But, then, I'm sure that "The Dragon King's" people know that he wouldn't be able to compete with the Olympic silver medalist & would likely be embarrassed within a round or two judging by what I've seen of both.
That leaves Kyotaro as the most likely all Asia match up & I would imagine that once the money for such a match is right we'll likely see it with Fujimoto's OPBF on the line.
Should they want to build up his record a bit more at home then Ray Austin would be a good name for that type of cannon fodder as he's fought in China before when he stopped Andrew Golota there about a decade ago.
Then, down the line, once his people feel he's ready to make the big step up I can see them bringing in Joseph Parker. Especially if Parker still has his WBO title as Zhang Zhilei beat Parker twice in the amateur ranks.
Speaking of Parker, that brought reminded me of a recent KO victim of his in Dimitrenko. Who I thought was likely finished after Parker destroyed him in such short order, but he just returned a week or two back & knocked out the unbeaten Swedish heavy that so many were talking about. So, he might be an interesting step up in competition for Zhang Zhilei.

Now back to reality, Jun Long Zhang is doing everything he can to find more serious competition. Somehow he's like the Asian Ortiz, he now finally has a pasport to go out of China somehow.

If by Zhang Junlong being the "Asian Ortiz" you mean big, old & overrated then you're spot on. He has yet to fight a remotely live body unless, again, you're going to Jason Gavern who showed up in China looking for a paycheck & not a win.