BoxRec

It's interesting to me that there are three Asian heavyweights rated in the top 15 of the division, but we hear very little about them. Two of them named Zhang from China. With Zhilei "Big Bang" Zhang being the most known quantity of the three as he was the Olympic silver medalist in the 2008 games & fights out of Las Vegas. But, I haven't seen him fight since he made his pro debut against one of the most inept fighters I've ever had the misfortune of witnessing ply his trade in one Curtis Lee Tate, who went down & out from a grazing blow to his shoulder.
Zhang has added 13 more victories to his resume, the latest being a one round blow out of former kickboxer Peter Graham for the WBO's Oriental Heavyweight Championship. A victory that I'm assuming is responsible for his being rated at #15 as all the rest of his wins have been in scheduled 4 & 6 round contests.
Then there's "The Dragon King" Jun-Long Zhang, who I assume is no relation to Zhileir. He's 16-0 with all of his victories coming via KO. His opposition has been a bit better than his countryman's however as he's beaten journeymen such a Jason Gavern & George Arias in bouts for various Asia, Pacific & Oceana belts. And, he's been fighting in 10 & 12 round bouts since his fifth pro fight. Though it's difficult to tell if he can fight at all because there's very little footage of him available.
Finally, there's Japan's Kyotaro Fujimoto who sports a 16-1 record with his lone loss coming via 5 round KO to big punching Aussie Solomon Haumono in 2012. Fujimoto is the Japanese & OPBF Heavyweight Champion & has beaten some fair opposition in the like of Chauncy Welliver, Peter Okello & Nobuhiro Ishida, but again, as with his fellow Asian heavies, there's little to no footage of his fights so it's difficult to ascertain his skill level. He's been a staple of the WBC's rating for years now however & I've been expecting to see his name pop up as a possible title challenger for a while now, but it hasn't happened as yet.
I imagine that we'll eventually see one of these men emerge as a title challenger sooner rather than later, especially with China becoming a viable marketplace for boxing. Though it would be nice to see one of them step up their level of opposition & at least fight someone of the caliber of a Derric Rossy, Nagy Aquilera or Eddie Chambers beforehand.

I've watched Fujimoto san and been distinctly unimpressed so far. I'll continue to look out for all their results though as I do all Hwt prospects. That Jun-Long though , they aren't kidding about the "Long" part- e's a big lad inne?

Anyone who has lost to Solomon Haumono is never going to be a world title contender. Well, not a credible one. Given enough money behind him of course, anything can happen.

I'm inclined to agree but you could probably say the same about Ross Purrity couldn't you?

candyslim wrote:I'm inclined to agree but you could probably say the same about Ross Purrity couldn't you?

True.

The 16-0 Zhang raises my suspicion as a fraud, and I don't just mean in the sense of being a mediocre fighter who has cherry-picked his way to a nice looking record. There's hardly any footage available, and despite him looking thoroughly unimpressive the opponents go down very easily.

I think the WBC mentioned having doubts about the legitimacy of his fights too, although abrilliant mind on this forum tells me that Wilder is running scared of him

I don't know about "a brilliant mind" but whoever that is sure must be "an original thinker"

What happened to Taishan Dong? He seems to have disappeared.

clopixolacuphase wrote:What happened to Taishan Dong? He seems to have disappeared.

Released from GBP contract in November, last seen as a sparring partner for some kick boxer.

Kyotaro is the most proven, and it's worth noting that his loss was in his Solomon Haumono in what was his 6th bout... exactly 1 year after his debut. A big step up in class, and not too many had a win over a fighter of that level that early in their career...sadly though he's not impressed since then and really did struggle in both fights against Ishida. Though he looked good against Nasio, nice skills and a decent knockdown, but he still looks very much like a fighter lacking durability and real physicality.

Zhang Zhilei looks to be improving, but is certainly being ligghtly matches Gogita Gorgiladze and Peter Graham both looked for a reason to fall over in their bouts. He's going to be 34 soon and has shown little to suggest he can get into the mix at a higher level.

Zhang Junlong is beating some notable names, but the feeling is that he's beating poor names. And it's worth seeing some of his fights, his last opponent, Farah, looked like he was happy to go down from a single big body shot. The WBA accused him of having a record that was faked, yet had their own supervisors at his WBA Oceania bouts, like WTF folks! Apparently it was two conflicting WBA regional orgs saying different things, WBA Asia Vs WBA Oceania or something...

Thanks for your replies gentlemen.

Regarding Zhang Junlong, yeah, I've had the opportunity to watch some of his "fights" on Youtube since making my original post & there's definitely the sense that his bouts are of the "exhibition" variety & nothing more. With a couple of them clearly being a farce.The fact that the WBA actually rates him in their top 15 is absolutely hysterical as I doubt if the big tub of goo could legitimately beat clubfighters like Travis Fulton or Dominique Alexander on neutral ground.
Whoever is backing him must be doling out some serious cash in order for fighters like Jason Gavern to go over to China & find a soft spot on the canvas to lie down in. What their ultimate goals are I have no idea because skills wise I don't see enough talent there to even lace up a legit heavies boots.
And, Zhang Zhilei is a legit heavyweight. He's actually got some decent skills.
Not enough to be a legitimate top 15 contender yet, but if he keeps progressing I could see him becoming an actual top 20 level heavyweight that could potentially use his skills, size & southpaw style to beat some solid journeymen & perhaps eventually parlay that into an eventual title shot.

That's right it was Tai Shan Dong who's the 7' bloke. I was confusing him with the Dragon King who may or may not breathe fire (I suspect not) but is certainly of more conventional dimensions.

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.

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.

Some of us DO follow the Asian scene, quite intently, and do chase up the bouts of fighters loke Zhang Junlong. He's not very good. The footage of his fights isn't impressive, and although he gets quite a bit of press in China he's really not very impressive.

Kyotaro could be a cruiserweight?

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.

Hidden giants?!!
C'mon now, that's just silly.
Zhang Junlong top 10ish based on what? Watch what's available of him & he's a joke.
Sure, he's apparently quite popular in his homeland, but the opponents that they've brought in for him are clearly not putting forth any sort of effort at all. And while a handful of them appear to be live bodies based on their records, they've been a collection of blown up cruiserweights in their 40s & obese jokes from boxing hotbeds like Bolivia.
I guarantee you that the best fighter that Zhang Junlong has fought has been journeyman Jason Gavern who merely showed up for the paycheck & didn't attempt to win at all.
If Zhang Junlong had any credibility at all he & his people would make a strong push for him to face their countryman Zhang Zhilei to settle who's the legitimate world class heavyweight from China. But, they've done no such thing because Zhilei has legitimate boxing skills & would badly expose "The Dragon King".

As for Tyrone Spong, he's a tremendous kickboxer & a prospect in MMA, but he has a long way to go before we can judge how well he might do in boxing. Sure, he's looked like a young Tyson while blasting out the likes of his last opponent Carlos Rodriguez, but then, I dare say that pretty much anyone with any skill/power at all would look awesome against an 0-14 opponent.
Top 20ish? Give me a break. Spong is only a couple of fights away from fighting 4 rounders. He has a long way to go before he can even be labeled a legitimate prospect, much less a top 20 contender. Yes, he has a hell of a lot of power that may carry over into some success in boxing, but then, so did "Mighty" Mo Siliga & he was exposed badly by the first opponent that had even some rudimentary boxing skills & was a bust.
If they want to move Spong along properly then they should begin to find some live bodies for him to face who might actually take him out of the first round in bouts in which he may learn something & gain valuable experience. And I don't mean against no names with glossy records like the unbeaten Georgian who sported a 12-0 mark either. He'll learn nothing by blowing out men whose own records are littered with others making their pro debuts & 1-12 scrubs.
I think that at this stage Spong should be mixing with the likes of Kevin Johnson, Jeremiah Karpency & Joey Dawejko. Men who will take him some rounds & test him a bit in 6 & 8 round affairs After which we'll be able to tell if he belongs in the top 40 or 50.

sweetviolenturge 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.

Hidden giants?!!
C'mon now, that's just silly.
Zhang Junlong top 10ish based on what? Watch what's available of him & he's a joke.
Sure, he's apparently quite popular in his homeland, but the opponents that they've brought in for him are clearly not putting forth any sort of effort at all. And while a handful of them appear to be live bodies based on their records, they've been a collection of blown up cruiserweights in their 40s & obese jokes from boxing hotbeds like Bolivia.
I guarantee you that the best fighter that Zhang Junlong has fought has been journeyman Jason Gavern who merely showed up for the paycheck & didn't attempt to win at all.
If Zhang Junlong had any credibility at all he & his people would make a strong push for him to face their countryman Zhang Zhilei to settle who's the legitimate world class heavyweight from China. But, they've done no such thing because Zhilei has legitimate boxing skills & would badly expose "The Dragon King".

As for Tyrone Spong, he's a tremendous kickboxer & a prospect in MMA, but he has a long way to go before we can judge how well he might do in boxing. Sure, he's looked like a young Tyson while blasting out the likes of his last opponent Carlos Rodriguez, but then, I dare say that pretty much anyone with any skill/power at all would look awesome against an 0-14 opponent.
Top 20ish? Give me a break. Spong is only a couple of fights away from fighting 4 rounders. He has a long way to go before he can even be labeled a legitimate prospect, much less a top 20 contender. Yes, he has a hell of a lot of power that may carry over into some success in boxing, but then, so did "Mighty" Mo Siliga & he was exposed badly by the first opponent that had even some rudimentary boxing skills & was a bust.
If they want to move Spong along properly then they should begin to find some live bodies for him to face who might actually take him out of the first round in bouts in which he may learn something & gain valuable experience. And I don't mean against no names with glossy records like the unbeaten Georgian who sported a 12-0 mark either. He'll learn nothing by blowing out men whose own records are littered with others making their pro debuts & 1-12 scrubs.
I think that at this stage Spong should be mixing with the likes of Kevin Johnson, Jeremiah Karpency & Joey Dawejko. Men who will take him some rounds & test him a bit in 6 & 8 round affairs After which we'll be able to tell if he belongs in the top 40 or 50.

Jun long Zhang has in fact challenged him lol.
And for Tyrone, those guys simply don't show up, that's the main problem he has.
Also, have you seen Deontay Wilder for example vs that same journeymen? It was embarrassing for Wilder lol.

Yeah, I saw Wilder's bout vs Gavern. What about it?
How was it embarrassing for him? No, Deontay didn't look like a world beater that day because he basically used Gavern as a sparring partner in order to get a few rounds of work out of him as he warmed up for his title fight vs Stiverne. So, he toyed with him, dropped him a few times & beat him up until he could no longer continue. It wasn't meant to be an impressive performance, just a workman-like effort to get some rounds in as he was coming off of a series of first round KO wins.
Gavern pretty much repeated the same performance against an Anthony Joshua who was looking to get rid of him ASAP & only managed to do so one round earlier than Wilder was able to.
As for Gavern's 3rd round KO loss that was sandwiched between his losses to Wilder & Joshua, who can say what sort of an effort he put forth? As no footage exists of it, one can only guess by looking at the footage of Zhang Junlong's other fights. Which, again, appear for all intents to be exhibition matches at best & dives at worst. With Zhang barely touching his opposition with blows that his foes respond to with almost comic overreactions.
Now, usually, Gavern is able to give an honest effort & account of himself, but he's also a longtime veteran of the game that was likely given a very good payday in order to go over & meet "The Dragon King" in front of tens of thousands of Zhang's adoring fans. So, he knew what was expected of him & how much of an effort to put forth. Which, I'd hazard to guess, wasn't much. So, he had a choice of either showing up to make Zhang look bad by extending him & inevitably losing anyhow while pissing everyone off & maybe having his check bounce for his efforts or finding a nice soft spot to land for the night after going a couple/three rounds. And, obviously he chose the latter option.
Which, contrary to what most fans think, there's no real shame in for an individual like Gavern at this late stage of his career. Some nights, when the circumstances are right & the risk/reward ratio is in his favor, a veteran opponent like Gavern can still show up to fight & upset the applecart a bit, such as when he beat James Toney & another fighter in the Prizefighter tourney. Which, he was able to get some mileage out of & it increased his demand somewhat as an opponent. Then, on other nights, the odds are stacked so far against him that it's not worth taking a beating for & he'll "find that soft spot" like he likely did in China.
It's all a part of the business.

sweetviolenturge wrote:Yeah, I saw Wilder's bout vs Gavern. What about it?
How was it embarrassing for him? No, Deontay didn't look like a world beater that day because he basically used Gavern as a sparring partner in order to get a few rounds of work out of him as he warmed up for his title fight vs Stiverne. So, he toyed with him, dropped him a few times & beat him up until he could no longer continue. It wasn't meant to be an impressive performance, just a workman-like effort to get some rounds in as he was coming off of a series of first round KO wins.
Gavern pretty much repeated the same performance against an Anthony Joshua who was looking to get rid of him ASAP & only managed to do so one round earlier than Wilder was able to.
As for Gavern's 3rd round KO loss that was sandwiched between his losses to Wilder & Joshua, who can say what sort of an effort he put forth? As no footage exists of it, one can only guess by looking at the footage of Zhang Junlong's other fights. Which, again, appear for all intents to be exhibition matches at best & dives at worst. With Zhang barely touching his opposition with blows that his foes respond to with almost comic overreactions.
Now, usually, Gavern is able to give an honest effort & account of himself, but he's also a longtime veteran of the game that was likely given a very good payday in order to go over & meet "The Dragon King" in front of tens of thousands of Zhang's adoring fans. So, he knew what was expected of him & how much of an effort to put forth. Which, I'd hazard to guess, wasn't much. So, he had a choice of either showing up to make Zhang look bad by extending him & inevitably losing anyhow while pissing everyone off & maybe having his check bounce for his efforts or finding a nice soft spot to land for the night after going a couple/three rounds. And, obviously he chose the latter option.
Which, contrary to what most fans think, there's no real shame in for an individual like Gavern at this late stage of his career. Some nights, when the circumstances are right & the risk/reward ratio is in his favor, a veteran opponent like Gavern can still show up to fight & upset the applecart a bit, such as when he beat James Toney & another fighter in the Prizefighter tourney. Which, he was able to get some mileage out of & it increased his demand somewhat as an opponent. Then, on other nights, the odds are stacked so far against him that it's not worth taking a beating for & he'll "find that soft spot" like he likely did in China.
It's all a part of the business.

Now back to reality, Gavern himself said he was completely out of shape and planned to stop after a few rounds against Wilder, this is also very easely visable in all footage, he even received the fight on 6 days notice! If Gavern had to, he probably could let the fight go to distance and perhaps even win in top shape. Against AJ on the other hand he was in top shape and ready to fight the fight of his life. Somehow AJ is simply a much better fighter and Jason himself even fully admitted that. I have never heard Jason talking about Jun Long Zhang, but by looking at the result and also about Jun Long Zhang his other results, he's simply pretty good.

"Perhaps even win in top shape"?!!
Now, who's operating outside of reality? Come on now, that's just ridiculous. During the very best stretch of Gavern's career he was a somewhat durable, tricky, fringe top 30 heavy in 2010. Maybe at that time, he'd have taken Wilder in the round 6 or 7, but that's it. Beyond that point is when he began taking numerous payday fights overseas & most often getting stopped in the middle rounds by hometown fighters. This was when he still believed himself able to pull the upset & as a result soaked up some beatings until the wheels came off. After which he began to get belted out in quicker fashion when he met punchers.
I followed his career extensively during this period & was friends with him on Facebook. So, I have insight as to what & how he was thinking. At around the time of his KO by 1 to Amir Mansour is when he realized that there were easier ways to make a living. In other words, there was no reason to take beatings anymore.
However, even though he took the bout with Wilder on last minute notice, he decided to see if he could give his career one last shot in the arm, but as we saw, he just wasn't up to the task & had Wilder not been looking to get some rounds in it's highly doubtful whether he'd have heard the bell for round three.

And, again with this wild speculation about Zhang Junlong being "simply pretty good". Where does this assertion come from? Obviously, you're just being a contrarian. Because nothing in his 16-0 record ( other than the Gavern fight ) indicates that he is. George Arias used to be a bit useful as a tune-up opponent for actual world class heavies, but is in his mid-40s now & shot. Dos Santos & Rossi are aged blown up cruiserweights with records that are better than they actually are. While Farah is a morbidly obese fighter who's only managed to build up his 64-22-3 record by fighting in his native Bolivia against a seemingly endless supply of opponents with 1-10, 1-4, 1-5 records.
And, even as bad as Junlong's opponents actually are, by the time they faced him, judging by the fight footage available, they've entirely forgotten how to fight or take even the mildest of blows. LOL.
As for "The Dragon King" supposedly calling out his fellow Chinese heavyweight, I'm sure he's done so in press releases, but I sincerely doubt whether they ever intend to actually fight Zhilei unless the $$$ becomes so big that they don't care about the loss that would surely follow.

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.

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.

I have to say SVU you've said a lot on this thread and I don't think I could take issue with any of it.

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.

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.

Exactly.
Spot on for remembering that & sharing.