Taishan Dong

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

Taishan Dong
董建军
Statistics
Real nameDong Jianjun
Nickname(s)The Great Wall
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height7 ft (213 cm)[1]
Reach84 in (213 cm)
NationalityChinese
Born (1988-05-18) 18 May 1988
Lanzhou, Gansu, China
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights6
Wins6
Wins by KO3
Losses0

Amateur career

Dong initially started out in basketball, hockey 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 promoter Liu Gang who persuaded him to take up professional boxing.[4]

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.[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 the US.[11]

On Oct 14, 2017, Dong took part in a three-day talent tryout at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL. On July 17, 2018, Dong was announced as part of the latest class of WWE recruits. On December 15 2018, it was announced that he had left WWE voluntarily.[12]

Professional boxing record
6 Wins (3 knockouts, 3 decisions), 0 Losses, 0 Draws[1]
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
Win 6–0 Daniel Arambula UD4 2015-12-18 Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California
Win 5–0 Lance Gauch KO1 (4), 2:32 2015-05-22 Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California
Win 4–0 Jamal Woods MD4 2015-05-09 Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
Win 3–0 Roy McCrary UD4 2015-02-27 Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California
Win 2–0 Tommy Washington Jr. KO1 (4), 2:35 2014-11-13 Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California
Win 1–0 Alex Rozman TKO2 (4), 1:58 2014-07-18 Longshoremen's Hall, San Francisco, California Professional debut

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.
  12. Richards, Alex (2018-12-14). "NXT Releases Nick Miller and Tucker, Taishan Dong Quits". Last Word on Pro Wrestling. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
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