Four years ago, one teenager’s title dream ended in the final minute of a five-round war. On July 17, he gets it back.
Zhang Peimian challenges Jonathan Di Bella for the ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title in the main event of The Inner Circle 22 on Friday, July 17. The rematch streams live for members from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Their first meeting at ONE 162 in October 2022 was a genuine war, with Zhang matching the Canadian-Italian southpaw blow for blow until a fifth-round head kick knockdown proved decisive. Looking back now, Zhang has something to tell the 19-year-old who walked into that fight.
“I would tell him that there is no winning before the final bell rings. Give everything you have before that last second,” the 22-year-old reflected.
“My weapons are sharpened, and my mind is stronger. He was taunting me during the whole fight, and I fell for it in the moment. It won’t happen again,” he said.
Zhang Peimian has grown far beyond the ring
Zhang Peimian’s four years away from gold reshaped him as a person as much as a fighter. A prolonged stretch of public criticism during a losing streak tested him in ways competition never had.
Zhang has since found peace with a chapter of his career that once threatened to break him.
“When I first got to the top five at ONE Championship, people loved me like crazy. I couldn’t eat on my own because people were lining up to have dinner with me. Then, I was falling into a losing streak, and the amount of hate [I received on] social media was unbelievable,” “Fighting Rooster” offered.
“It lasted for two years. I was angry at first, and then I tried to understand, but eventually, I just enjoyed it. Now that I got a winning streak, and I got the title shot, more and more people started to show me love, but I just don’t get emotional anymore. I think I changed a lot mentally since the last time we fought.”
