Dong Jianjun (; born 18 May 1988), known by his ring name Taishan Dong, is a Chinese undefeated

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who fights at heavyweight.

Amateur career

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

Professional boxing career

After arriving to the US 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. 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. In July, Dong fought his professional debut against Alex Rozman (2-6-0), which Dong won in a second-round technical knockout. His next fight came in November, knocking out Tommy Washington Jr. (3-6-0) in just over two and a half first round minutes. In February 2015, Dong defeated Rory McCrary (3-2-0) in a unanimous decision over four rounds. Judges scored the fight 40-34, 40-34 and 39-35 in Dong's favor. 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". He is currently signed to

Golden Boy Promotions Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is an American boxing promotional firm based in Los Angeles, California. The company was established in 2002 by eight-time world champion (in six divisions) Oscar De La Hoya, borrowing his nickname "Golden Boy." Histo ...

and trains with

Buddy McGirt James Walter "Buddy" McGirt (born January 17, 1964) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1997, and has since worked as a boxing trainer. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF junior w ...

. Dong was offered a contract with

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

, 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 the US. On Oct 14, 2017, Dong took part in a three-day talent tryout at the

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE ...

in Orlando, FL. On July 17, 2018, Dong was announced as part of the latest class of

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

recruits. On December 15 2018, it was announced that he had left WWE voluntarily.

Professional boxing record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="8" , 6 Wins (3 knockouts, 3 decisions), 0 Losses, 0 Draws , - style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;" , style="border-style:none none solid solid;" , Res. , style="border-style:none none solid solid;" , Record , style="border-style:none none solid solid;" , Opponent , style="border-style:none none solid solid;" , Type , style="border-style:none none solid solid;" , Rd., Time , style="border-style:none none solid solid;" , Date , style="border-style:none none solid solid;" , Location , style="border-style:none none solid solid;" , Notes , - align=center , Win , 6–0 , align=left , Daniel Arambula , , , , , align=left , , align=left , , - align=center , Win , 5–0 , align=left , Lance Gauch , , , , , align=left , , align=left , , - align=center , Win , 4–0 , align=left , Jamal Woods , , , , , align=left , , align=left , , - align=center , Win , 3–0 , align=left , Roy McCrary , , , , , align=left , , align=left , , - align=center , Win , 2–0 , align=left , Tommy Washington Jr. , , , , , align=left , , align=left , , - align=center , Win , 1–0 , align=left , Alex Rozman , , , , , align=left , , align=left , , - align=center

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dong, Taishan Living people 1988 births Heavyweight boxers Chinese male boxers People from Lanzhou