Zhang Fangyong (right) competed in the Fourth Sino-Japan Boxing Event in Shanghai, China, on March 30, 2019. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
A Chinese boxer was recently nominated for this year's Laureus Sporting Moment, along with five other candidates from around the world. The nomination turned the spotlight on the boxer, who once worked as a food delivery driver to pay the bills while he pursued his boxing career.
Since its inception in 2000, Laureus — a charitable company registered in England and Wales — has helped to improve the lives of more than 6 million children and young adults by supporting more than 250 sports-based community programs around the world, fulfilling the visionary words of its patron Nelson Mandela: "Sport has the power to change the world."
Voting for this year's Laureus Sporting Moment opened on Friday with six candidates and will last until April 30. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on May 6.
The nominee from China, Zhang Fangyong, was born to a poor family in Yunyang county of Chongqing in 1993. He dropped out of school early and worked at his family's noodle shop.
When he was 15, Zhang was enrolled at a local sports school for wrestling.
"I was strong enough to carry rice and flour bags weighing 50 kilograms at age 12," Zhang said. "So I was offered admission even though I was a bit old to start studying wrestling."
Despite COVID-19, Zhang Fangyong (right) competed in the M23 International Charity Match in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 8 last year. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
When he became frustrated with the sport, in which he had difficulty standing out, he happened to see the 2008 Beijing Olympics live on TV and heard the rags-to-riches story of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao. That inspired him to pursue a new dream. Zhang left the wrestling team at age 17 to pursue a boxing career.
For more than 10 years after that, Zhang has lived a double life, boxing and doing menial jobs — kitchen porter, security guard,street vendor and food deliveryman — in Xi'an, Kunming and Beijing to keep his boxing dream alive.
In China, boxing is a niche sport, and few professionals can earn a living in the ring.
In 2015, Zhang worked as a food deliveryman to make ends meet while training in a boxing club in Kunming. And that's where he began to shine. He won the WBA Youth China Bantamweight Championship in 2017, China's first WBA champion in this weight category. According to Boxrec.com, the 27-year-old bantamweight is has a 15-4-1 boxing record.
Zhang Fangyong has been living a double life for more than 10 years, boxing and doing menial jobs — kitchen porter, security guard,street vendor and food deliveryman — in Xi’an, Kunming and Beijing to keep his boxing dream alive. In China, boxing is a niche sport, and few professionals can earn a living in the ring. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
In 2019, Zhang joined the M23 Boxing Club in Beijing, home to WBA featherweight world champion Xu Can. From then until now, he has kept his part-time food delivery job.
"I was very surprised to be nominated," he said. "I'm just too ordinary to be named with other finalists. I thought it was telecom fraud when I first got the notification email from the Laureus World Sports Academy."
Eager to win an Asian or world championship, Zhang has felt a loss this past year. There has been no big international boxing match because of the pandemic at the moment when he was in his prime. "But I'll stick to everyday training in the country's best professional boxing club to stay in shape and wait for the moment to come," he said.
Last year in the global online poll for the Laureus award, dubbed the Oscar of the sporting world, Chinese climber Xia Boyu, the world's second double amputee to have reached the summit of Mount Qomolangma (Everest) and the first to reach it from the Nepalese side, won the Laureus Sporting Moment of the Year award at age 69.
Despite COVID-19, Zhang Fangyong (left) competed in the M23 International Charity Match in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 8 last year. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Chinese boxer Zhang Fangyong was nominated with five other candidates from around the world for the 2021 Laureus Sporting Moment of the Year award, which created a sensation at home. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Chinese boxer Zhang Fangyong was nominated with five other candidates from around the world for the 2021 Laureus Sporting Moment of the Year award, which created a sensation at home. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
