Xiong Chaozhong – the coal miner turned pro boxer who became China’s first world champion
- ‘Pulling coal carts was about technique, not strength. Boxing is the same,’ recalls Xiong, who once laboured for just 10 yuan a day
- ‘Everything in my life changed. It took me six years to become world champion – not many people can do that’
Most boxers who turn professional have already spent years sharpening their skills on the amateur scene. Not China’s Xiong Chaozhong.
When Xiong turned pro at the age of 23, the only grind he had been doing was pushing carts out of the coal mines for 10 yuan a day, working 10-hour shifts. From the Miao (Hmong) ethnic minority, he started labouring at 17, having dropped out of school to help support his family who lived in the countryside of Wenshan, in the south of Yunnan province.
But it did teach him something that helped prepare him for the rigours of the ring.
“Pulling coal carts was about technique, not strength. Boxing is the same,” said Xiong, who stands exactly five feet (1.52 metres) tall, in the documentary From Coal Mine to Boxing Champion.
Indeed, Xiong was often found brawling with his fellow coal miners, and onlookers commented that he “did not rely on brute force” but used skill and proficiency.
