Winter in Liaocheng is cold enough to crack bones. Sixteen-year-old Xiang Yunsheng crouched in the corridor of the mining district hospital, clutching his father's CT report: stage-three silicosis.
The mine lamps had gone out. Now he had to keep the family afloat.
With no martial arts training and only a body that could take a beating, the boy entered an underground boxing club to earn his first medical bill. From amateur bouts in a rundown mining-district auditorium to the provincial team, national championships, and an intercontinental title belt, he kept knocking opponents down, only to be knocked down by life and get back up again.
Just when everyone thought he would settle for the boxing champion's throne, he made a wild decision: to cross over into MMA.
“Boxing says I'm a sideshow, and MMA says I've betrayed them. All I know is that a fist is a fist, no matter the rules.”
