The more George watched, the more he liked. Zhang had size, sure. But he also had speed. Athleticism. Slashing power. After the meet, the Chinese coaches invited George to a camp in the Poconos. “They liked my philosophies,” says George. With the 2010 Asian Games around the corner, the coaches asked George to come to Beijing to work with their top prospects.
Mike Tyson takes meticulous care of his famous facial tattoo to keep it crisp and bright. Tattoo care includes regular moisturizing of the skin with special creams to prevent flaking and fading. Tyson also avoids prolonged sun exposure and uses sunscreen with a high degree of protection to protect the tattoo from UV rays that can damage the pigments. Regular visits to the tattoo artist for corrections and line updates help maintain the original look and brightness of the tattoo. This kind of care allows Tyson to keep his tattoo in perfect condition, making it an extension of his unique and recognizable image. Mike Tyson face tattoo removal has never been considered, as it has become an integral part of his personality and box a symbol of his transformation.
Tyson’s new, mellowed state has finally allowed him to get real about his decision to get the tattoo. It boils down to caprice that reflects his drug-addled period. In an interview from 2012, posted on YouTube, Tyson states that he was intending to get “a bunch of hearts and stuff” on his face because he wanted to be known as “The Man of Hearts.” Tyson’s tattoo artist, Victor Perez, straight-up refused, and instead drafted some tribal patterns. “I just thought it was so hot,” Tyson says. “I would be in these dens, these clubs and strip places sometimes and all the girls said ‘oh you are very exotic, where are you from?'”
From 1992 to 1995, while in 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”.
The tattoo drew significant attention before the fight. Tyson took time off of training to get it, which trainer Jeff Fenech would later say was a contributing factor to the fight being rescheduled by a week. Some questioned Tyson’s physical and mental fitness to fight. Experts including dermatologist Robert A. Weiss expressed concerns about Tyson boxing while the tattoo healed; Etienne said that he would not go after the tattoo. (Tyson ultimately knocked out Etienne in under a minute. ) The work—which Tyson and others have referred to as his “warrior tattoo”—was also met with criticism from the outset by Māori activists who saw it as cultural appropriation. In 2006, tā moko artist Mark Kopua in a statement to the Waitangi Tribunal called for “a law that would prevent a Mike Tyson or a Robbie Williams or large non-Māori companies from wearing and exploiting the moko”.
Chris Eubank: Boxing in the 1990s was the Golden Age of British middleweights, with multiple world class contenders duking it out with each other and crossing the sea to give their American and European competitors the odd bloody nose. Of this class of middleweights, the best was unquestionably Chris Eubank. As he was so often fond of saying, Eubank was “Simply the Best.” Reigned as WBO middleweight and super-middleweight champion.
“They said I looked like some tribesman or s***. I ran into some chicks that happened to be from the Maowi tribe and they said ‘hey, you’ve got some of my tribe on your face’ and the lady pulled her pants down and she has this tattoo on her butt.”
MT: No. A lot of stuff happened out of this tattoo, a lot of good stuff. Other young athletes come to me and said, It’s because of you they call it the Mike Tyson. People have to register their tattoos. You have to have the likeness of your tattoo.
Zhang was housemates with middleweight Meng Fanlong and lightweight Wang Zhimin in New Jersey when he first came to the US. Along with Zou Shiming, these four were the first wave of boxers ever released by the Chinese authorities to turn professional.
Zhilei Zhang’s training camp is known for its rigorous workouts and dedicated coaches. With a team of experienced trainers and support staff, Zhang is able to push himself to his limits and achieve his goals. His coaches provide personalized guidance and motivation to help him excel in the ring. The support team ensures that Zhang has everything he needs to succeed, from proper nutrition to recovery strategies. With this strong foundation, Zhang is able to train effectively and focus on his development as a boxer.