Taishan Dong

Taishan Dong 董建军
Statistics
Real name	Dong Jianjun
Nickname(s)	The Great Wall
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	7 ft (2.1 m)[1]
Reach	84 in (213 cm) (2.1 m)
Nationality	Chinese
Born	18 May 1988 Lanzhou, Gansu, China
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	5
Wins	5
Wins by KO	3
Losses	0

Dong Jianjun (Chinese: 董建军; pinyin: Dǒng Jiànjūn; born 18 May 1988), known by his ring name Taishan Dong, is a Chinese professional boxer who fights at heavyweight.

Amateur career

Dong initially started out in basketball and kickboxing, taking the ring name Taishan after the mountain of the same name.^[2] In February 2013, he floored Bob Sapp in a kickboxing fight held in Tokyo.^[3] Dong met with boxing promotor Liu Gang who persuaded him to take up professional boxing.^[4]

Professional career

After arriving in America at the start of 2014 with ambitions to become a professional boxer, Dong met with attorney George Gallegos. Gallegos, who would later become his manager, introduced him to boxing trainer John Bray.^[5] Dong did not understand English at the time and Bray was unable to speak Chinese but the pair bonded over their shared interest in boxing.^[2] In July, Dong fought his professional debut against Alex Rozman (2-6-0), which Dong won in a second round technical knockout.^[6] His next fight came in November, knocking out Tommy Washington Jr. (3-6-0) in just over two and a half first round minutes.^[4] In February 2015, Dong defeated Rory McCrary (3-2-0) in a unanimous decision over four rounds.^[7] Judges scored the fight 40-34, 40-34 and 39-35 in Dong's favor.^[8] His next fight came on the Canelo vs Kirkland undercard where he faced Jamal woods, Dong won the contest over 4 rounds in a majority decision win with the judges scoring the bout 40-36, 39-37 and one judge scoring it even at 38-38.

Dong's height has seen him being promoted as the "Yao Ming of boxing".^[6][9] He is currently signed to Golden Boy Promotions and trains with Buddy McGirt.^[10] Dong was offered a contract with Top Rank, who wanted to focus on expanding his reputation in Asia, but chose to sign with Golden Boy because they offered to develop him first in America.^[11]

Professional boxing record

References

1. "Taishan Dong". Boxrec. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
2. Rott, Nathan (26 August 2014). "China's 'Great Wall' Takes A Hit At U.S. Heavyweight Boxing". NPR. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
3. Martin, Brian (16 July 2014). "Taishan Dong, a 6-11 Chinese heavyweight, could be boxing’s next big thing". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
4. Yue, Chuan (19 November 2014). "2米13中国巨人KO美国壮汉 获封"拳坛姚明"" (in Chinese). China News Service. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
5. O'Sulivan, Mike (17 July 2014). "Chinese Heavyweight Boxers Make US Debut". Voice of America. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
6. Lian, Zi (21 July 2014). "The 'Yao Ming' of boxing debuts with KO". China Daily. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
7. Furlan, Marcelo (23 February 2015). "Taishan Dong: Perks of being the Great Wall of China". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
8. Zucker, Joseph (27 February 2015). "Taishan Dong vs. Roy McCrary: Winner, Scorecard and Reaction". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
9. Matuszak, Sascha (3 September 2014). "The Yao Ming of Boxing". VICE. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
10. Campbell, Brian (17 February 2015). "The sky is the limit for Taishan". ESPN. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
11. Ginn, Leighton (13 November 2014). "At 6-foot-11, boxer Taishan Dong has people looking up". The Desert Sun. Retrieved 2 March 2015.

External links

• Professional boxing record for Taishan Dong from BoxRec