Benefiting from Knight school

Former trainer of Lennox Lewis now mentoring Chinese fighters

In boxing, there's a big difference between being a trainer and being a teacher.

Anyone with a stopwatch and a set of hand wraps can be the former, but only a guy who has hit and been hit can become the latter.

Just ask Harold Knight.

Better yet, watch him work.

As a teenager, the native of Plainfield, New Jersey, compiled an amateur record of 103-13, with 50 knockouts. By the time he turned pro at age 20, he had won five state Golden Gloves titles and two national Police Athletic League championships.

A fleet-footed super featherweight with dynamite in both fists, the man nicknamed 'The Shadow' was 19-0 and the No 1 challenger to world champion Rocky Lockridge (42-5) when they met on April 4, 1988 in Atlantic City. The champ retained his title via a unanimous 15-round decision - and Knight never fought again.

A couple of months later, while he was preparing for a bout in New York, Knight's brain scan revealed a benign cyst lesion. At age 25 he hung up his gloves and eventually became a correctional officer at a Pennsylvania prison - but the lure of the ring never left him.

After Knight quit boxing, his former trainer, John Davenport, started working with heavyweight prospect Lennox Lewis. In 1990 Davenport asked Knight to join him and Emanuel Steward on Lewis' training team.

"I was in Lennox's corner from 1990 to 2003, and through all his years as world champion," the personable Knight said this week while preparing Xiong Chaozhong for his May 25 IBF light flyweight title elimination bout at Diamond Stadium in Beijing's National Olympic Park.

"John and Emanuel took me under their wings and mentored me ... they taught me how to teach. I watched and listened and soaked up everything they said and did, and now it's my turn to use that knowledge to help these Chinese kids."

Knight recently agreed to work with Xiong, the pint-sized slugger from Kunming, Yunnan province, who became China's first professional world champion by winning the WBC strawweight (105 lbs) belt in 2013.

Xiong's record of 26-6-1 includes 14 knockouts, and he has won four of five since being dethroned by Mexico's Oswaldo Novoa in 2014.

Now ranked No 3 in the world, Xiong will face No 6 Jose Jimenez of Colombia in a 12-rounder on the May 25 card headlined by IBF world flyweight champ Amnat Ruenroeng of Thailand defending his title in a rematch against No 1 contender Johnriel Casimero of the Philippines.

The card is being held in conjunction with the IBF's 33rd annual convention in China's capital from May 23-27.

Besides Xiong, Knight is working with super bantamweight Qiu Xiaojun (20-2) and featherweight Xu Que (8-1-1) - and he sees a lot of potential in all of them.

"First thing I did was give 'em nicknames because I couldn't pronounce their Chinese names," the 53-year-old Knight chuckled during a break at a Beijing gym. "Xiong is the 'X-Man', Qiu is 'Sugar Ray' and Xu is 'The Hitman'.

"Next, I'm trying to impress on them that boxing isn't just about hitting and getting hit; it's also about intelligence, patience and perseverance. Those are qualities that make champions. And those are things I think I can teach them."

During spirited sparring that saw all three fighters square off with each other, Knight was right in the mix. Instead of barking instructions from the safe side of the ropes, he hovers on the periphery of the punching and isn't shy about stepping in to impart instant advice.

"These young men are doing something that most athletes could never even imagine, and I'm privileged to help them try to fulfill their dreams," Knight said. "I had the same dreams myself."

Now he's a teacher first, a trainer second. And though it's only been a few weeks, his Chinese charges are already proving to be attentive pupils.

murraygreig@chinadaily.com.cn

Joshua eyeing Bird's Nest

Britain's Anthony Joshua is considering the possibility of defending his International Boxing Federation world heavyweight title at Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium, promoter Barry Hearn said on Monday.

Hearn said he was talking to Chinese officials about a contest involving the 26-year-old Joshua, who won his version of the heavyweight crown when he dethroned Charles Martin in London last month.

"When you plan someone's career like Joshua you tend to plan in advance and I think we're still two years away from saying we can sell out the Bird's Nest in China," said Hearn.

"I think Joshua's going to be a global figure, and therefore I've got to give him a global platform. I was in Shanghai last week and we were talking. As soon as you show people pictures of Joshua knocking someone out, they get excited."

Joshua, who won gold for Britain at the 2012 London Olympics, will make his first title defense against American Dominic Breazeale in London next month.

A win would put Joshua on course for a unification fight with fellow British world champion Tyson Fury.

Hearn said that if everything goes according to his schedule, Joshua could fight China's 2008 Olympic silver medallist Zhang Zhilei in Beijing.

Zhang is unbeaten in eight professional contests since basing himself in Las Vegas. "They are big heavyweights and we could do it with a pay-per-view audience of tens of millions of Chinese watching," Hearn said. "Sometimes these things don't happen because fighters get beaten, but our job is about creating these kinds of moments."

AFP