Shi Yanzi vs Simon Marcus

[LFJ]

I'm surprised this news hasn't hit the board yet!

Shi Yanzi is set to face Simon Marcus on Jan. 3rd, 2014 at Hero Legends in Jinan, China.

Simon Marcus is a young undefeated (pro) Muay Thai fighter in excellent shape. His total fight record is 48(26 by KO)-2-2 and pro record 35-0-1.

I don't know what Shi Yanzi has been doing lately, but Marcus had 8 fights around the world last year, including other Sanda fights in China. This will also be Sanda rules. So it looks like Yanzi's up against some worthy competition.

This also puts current Shaolin's reputation on the line, doesn't it? Especially if he goes and pulls another "Yi Long" and gets KTFO. Wonder what the Abbot thinks. That's his guy.

WATCH LIVE ONLINE: 01/03 on CCTV-5 at 22:15

Should be viewable on one of the following sites:
http://tv.cntv.cn/live/cctv5/
http://live.olweb.tv/cctv-5

[Kellen Bassette]

This is exactly what Shaolin should be doing, instead of touring the world with Broadway plays.
Hopefully he has been putting the work in.

[LFJ]

Agreed. But most of those Broadway performers would not do much better than Yi Long, which is exactly why they should stick to the stage.

But Yanzi apparently has some old Sanda/MT experience, as I remember hearing years ago. Don't really know any concrete details on that. This is the head of the Shaolin Temple UK entering a serious fight though, so the outcome should be interesting, whichever way it goes!

I imagine if he loses this will be a huge blow to Shaolin's reputation, to the believers. They were able to shrug off Yi Long because he doesn't have a "Shi" name.

[Kellen Bassette]

I don't know much about Shi Yanzi, what kind of a record does he have? I read the bio on Marcus, it sounds like he is some very serious competition...does Yanzi have enough experience to be fighting someone with Marcus's credentials?

[Kellen Bassette]

Agreed. But most of those Broadway performers would not do much better than Yi Long, which is exactly why they should stick to the stage.

Too much pride from Shaolin. Their fighters should work their way up through amateur and lower level pro guys before putting them in high visibility fights with champions that have 5 or 6 times as many fights under their belts. There seems to be this absurd mentality that if it has Shaolin attached to it, it needs to be the best in the world...nothing wrong with working your way up.

[LFJ]

I don't know much about Shi Yanzi, what kind of a record does he have? I read the bio on Marcus, it sounds like he is some very serious competition...does Yanzi have enough experience to be fighting someone with Marcus's credentials?

The only thing I've heard about Yanzi's past fight experience was from years ago and just hearsay around Shaolin. I don't really know anything concrete at all. At least he looks conditioned and I have to give him respect for getting in there, given his name, reputation and all. But I guess we shall see!

On the Shaolin Temple UK's Facebook page they're all convinced Marcus is going to get an "awakening" and the master's going to "destroy this kid".

But again, we shall see!

[LFJ]

..........

[LFJ]

Just edited the original post with links to where the fight can be watched live online.

01/03 on CCTV-5 at 22:15
http://tv.cntv.cn/live/cctv5/
http://live.olweb.tv/cctv-5

[Pete]

what time zone is 22:15? looks worth a watch

edit: doh looks like it's chinese time if anyone else was wondering...silly me lol

[Kellen Bassette]

China is a big country, got to be a few different time zones there.

[pazman]

China is a big country, got to be a few different time zones there.

Funny you should mention that. China has only one time zone, actually.

[Kellen Bassette]

Funny you should mention that. China has only one time zone, actually.

And so it would seem, Commies changed it from 5 time zones to 1 in 1949...incredible to think you could be east of Seoul or west of Kathmandu and in the same time zone...madness...

[GeneChing]

Shi Yanzi used to answer a lot of challenges to Shaolin Temple back in the day. He is an excellent fighter. I'm not sure how well that will translate to Sanda rules however. He's also 41 (so one of my Shaolin monk friends tells me but that sounds about right). Marcus is 27.

I just saw Yanzi a few months ago at the Shaolin Festival. That was the second time we met face-to-face. I don't know him very well. We met fleetingly at Shaolin Temple many years ago.

[LFJ]

Basically, they decided their weight difference was too big (Yanzi 80kg, Marcus 82kg) so they won't be facing each other. Plus because they think the age difference (says he's 46) and the fact that he hasn't been fighting in over a decade makes them too unevenly matched.

So instead they're giving him some 38 year old guy from Thailand that used to be a boxer when he was young. His name is 阿顿-蓬查拉齐, but I don't know how that translates into Thai. Don't know anything else about him.

But needless to say, that's a disappointment. They said Yanzi was the one who wanted to challenge Marcus in the first place... Lame!

http://sports.sina.com.cn/o/2014-01-...86963212.shtml

在此次英雄传说前，释延孜曾经表示自己希望挑战马库斯，但是由于体重相差比较大，又调整为美丽死神季申科。 不过以46岁的年龄，10多年没有打过正式职业擂台的身手上擂台，显然差距太大了一些。英雄传说最后以科学 的态度为他找了一名泰国的泰拳师傅进行较量。

释延孜的对手阿顿今年38岁，年轻的时候是拳手，目前主要工作是一名职业靶师，这是一场不服老的比赛，也是 两个人寻找年轻岁月的一场角斗。

[GeneChing]

It was a poor bet to begin with. If Yanzi had fought some younger pro-fighter and lost, what message would that have sent?

BTW, thanks for launching this thread, LFJ. I haven't been tuned into Hero Legends lately.