“Talent isn't everything” - Zhang Peimian says his hard work has led to world title opportunity

ONE strawweight kickboxer and China's youngest world title contender 'Fighting Rooster' Zhang Peimian is looking to make history at ONE 162. The 18-year old prodigy will face Jonathan Di Bella for the vacant ONE strawweight kickboxing world championship.

The bout announcement came off the heels of Sam-A Gaiyanghadao vacating the world title after announcing his retirement from professional fighting. With the belt up-for-grabs, two of the hungriest and most dangerous kickboxers in ONE Championship will slug it out to become the new world champion.

Zhang Peimian has been on an absolute tear since he debuted in ONE Championship. After stopping Josh Tonna with a thunderous body shot in his debut, Peimian followed it up with a decision win over Aslanbek Zikreev.

During the promotion's virtual press conference for ONE on Prime Video 3, 'Fighting Rooster' spoke about what it took to get him where he currently is:

"I believe that 90% of me is hard work and less than 10% is talent. Without the hard work, there would be no results. Talent isn't everything."

The Chinese dynamo concluded with a strong prediction:

"I predict a brutal knockout inside four rounds."

There's that old sports adage that goes: "Hardwork beats talent when talent stops working hard." Athletes like Peimian understand that there's no replacing the value of working hard and training to hone your skills.

It can even feel like an insult at times to some when people say they're talented or gifted. Most can acknowledge that God-given talent alone is not enough to get to the championship level. It requires, most importantly, hard work and sacrifice.

Watch Zhang Peimian's interview segment here:

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Zhang Peimian aims to become China's youngest world champion ever

If Zhang Peimian wins his world title bout against ONE newcomer Jonathan Di Bella at ONE 162, 'Fighting Rooster' Zhang Peimian will become China’s youngest world champion ever.

The young prodigy shared a clip of his ONE debut on Instagram with the powerful caption:

"Too fast. Too accurate. I will become China’s youngest World Champion. #ONE162 @onechampionship"

His opponent, Jonathan Di Bella, is a former GLORY Kickboxing standout who also won the ISKA featherweight title back in 2018. Di Bella recently clinched back-to-wins in 2022, fighting in boxing matches between June and July.

Not a lot is known about the ONE newcomer, but he will no doubt look to make the most of his world title opportunity. We've seen multiple fighters make their ONE debuts fighting for world titles before and come out successful.

There's nothing to say that Di Bella doesn't have the chance to become one of them.