He defeated Anthony Joshua, he was the only Romanian boxer who represented the country at the Olympics and aims for the supreme title in Tokyo in 2020. He is Mihai Nistor – A Moldovan strong as iron, hot as steel, and funny as Seinfeld with box gloves.
Mihai Nistor’s career could have been taken from Tupac Shakur album. When “Me Against the World” came out in March 1995, the Romanian boxer was no more than five years old and had no idea he would become, two decades later, AIBA heavyweight (+ 91 kg) world champion and only a year later, the sole representative of Romania at the Olympics in Rio.“Since I can remember, I was alone against the world. If one thing is fashionable, you’ll not see me pursue it. If everyone goes to the club, I’d rather stay home. In 26 years, I never went once in the club. Not once. “
A definition of champions, a great football coach said once–we’re talking about Arsene Wenger – says that the difference between champions and ordinary people is that where people simply stop, champions go ahead and test their limits.“I’m not talented, “says Mihai nonchalantly. “But I am working. Working non-stop. Continuously. And if I wake up from sleep, I’m ready to fight. I am ready for a match the next day.My daily schedule? I have no schedule. I work without stopping. Just work, work and work, for as long as I can remember. All I got so far, I got by sweating. “More precisely, 3 kg of sweat a day –that is the amount of weight Mihai loses after each workout. “I put it back quickly,” he assures me. “I consume plenty of fluids –plain water in particular.”
In his career he defeated Anthony Joshua (Olympic champion 2012) and Clemente Russo (double world champion and double Olympic vice champion)
For his “magic” recipe, he adds an iron will. “I impose goals and I keep them. If I have a goal, I fight for that goal with all my forces. By imposing, I conquered myself. Boxing is primarily a mental battle. If you win the fight with yourself, you have more chances against your opponent in the ring! Obviously, the reverse applies: you can have the best psychic, but if you are not physically strong, if you get hit hard in the liver, you won’t make it! ”
“I was told that I started boxing too late at 16 years old. In three months I was national champion! “
The man who defeated Anthony Joshua (future opponent of Wladimir Klitschko in April)in 2011, can be believed that he knows a thing or two about endurance and self-control. With over 30 career victories to his credit, many by TK (Technical knockout), he can add perhaps the most important triumph: against the people who doubted him. “Before I did boxing, I did a few months of bodybuilding in Iasi. But it was not much fun. I was just me with my muscles! I’m not the kind of guy to look in the mirror and admire how beautiful I am, “says Mihai. “It became boring, it was just ridiculous. I needed a challenge. Then along came boxing. I started at 16 years old and obviously I was told that I came too late. After three months, I was national champion! ” The doubt of others is a great energizer for the old kid from Podu Ilioaiei commune, who reached the highest stage of world sport at the Olympics.
“My idol,from retired boxers,is Mike Tyson. I also like,for his mentality, Anthony Joshua, that I beat at the World Championships in 2011 in Ankara “
When he says that, Mihai’s eyes shine like fire. At the time when we speak with him, our boxer trains for European Championships, scheduled in early summer (June 17 to 22) in Ukraine. The aim is only one: gold medal.
“If you want to participate, I’ll go on vacation, not a competition. For me there is only victory “
“I do not go to competitions for the atmosphere, just to participate. People say that it’s important to participate, the important thing is that I was in Brazil. If I want to participate, I’ll go on a holiday there. What do you get for participating? Nothing. For me there is only victory or a medal. “
Training conditions are not the best in Romania and quality sparring partners are rare. That’s why Mihai is forced to go to Italy (where his mother works, and in the past he was a member of Team Italia Thunder) to box and get used to competitions. “The lack of partners is indeed a major problem facing me, because I want to practice some techniques, tactics, and I need the partner to be a certain size. Fortunately, I can train in Italy. I have a relationship of trust with the people there. ”
I wonder from whom and what he learned most in boxing so far. “I’ve been doing this for 11 years. I liked Leonard Doroftei a lot, I saw all his professional matches. He was short and bad! Boxing gave me an education, discipline. I learned to respect a schedule, a training regime, aeating regime. Because, if you wish a lot to reach the pinnacle of performance, when you fail, you have a lot going through your mind: “What If I trained more? If I went to sleep earlier at night, I would’ve been more refreshed the next day, and I would have prepared a lot better! “So you get to self-educate.”
“Rocky movies are quite realistic,they reflect 75% of reality. Apart from certain pompous sequences, they are inspired by real life “
Mihai humorously tells what goes through his mind when he is between the ropes. “In the ring, too much doesn’t really go through your head. Maybe just some fists!”,Mihai laughs. “In there, the subconcious takes over, it works with what you learned during training. I can’t tell you what I was thinking during the last match at the Olympics. I was on «automaticpilot ».”
The ultimate goal – Tokyo 2020
The simple boy who walked timidly into the gym over a decade ago, has already come far, but still sees many challenges ahead. “I do not make plans,I take it step by step. The ultimate goal is to get to the Olympics in Tokyo. But until then, I have other goals. European Championship in the summer, and the World Cup in autumn. ”
“The first nice memory from boxing is when I became the senior national champion in 2010”, says Mihai. “The second when I became World champion in 2015.”
“I had a dream in boxing – to become the world champion, and I did it. And I have one more- to be Olympic champion. Other athletes, after the failure that I had myself, would quit for sure. “
“For Christmas, I went into the mountains with my future wife, my brother and his girlfriend, and I trained all the time. It is already commonplace, no longer a sacrifice “
Until he sees his dream come true, family and friends ensure his emotional wellbeing, needed for great performance: “If emotionally you’re not OK, you cannot concentrate on training, and if you have a match you are in big trouble. My girlfriend? Unlike her mother, she watches my games…”
Another important support comes from the Romanian public, for which MihaiNistoris a big name and a champion. “During the match I am very attentive to the corner, to the coach.But the supporters give me power. Among the most loving boxing spectators from Romania are the people from Brăila. At the National Championship finals last year it was a packed house in Braila. You don’t see that everyday. Incredible.”
We let Mihai return to training, impressed by the difference between the size of his heart and the modest training conditions available in the gym. Some ropes that work his forearms, a few trellises, some archaic devices, some mattresses. Mihai is immune because he won the fight where it is most important: the mind. He replies with humor, defeating the austerity environment by TK: “I started froma gym in Iasi, worse than what exists here. I come and do my job. These are the conditions. From the beginning I was taught by hardship, so for me there’s no problem. If I started at a luxury gym, I would probably never enter here.
https://www.facebook.com/mistoihai/videos/1900905920186228/
Calling card:
Date and place of birth: PoduIlioaiei (Iași), 5th November 1990
Height and weight: 1,83 m/100 kg
Category: Superheavy, +91 kg
Club: CSA SteauaBucurești
Coach: ValentinVrânceanu
6 times national champion 2010-2016
Vice champion World Combat Games 2010
Double bronze medal winner at the European Championship (Ankara 2011 and Samokov 2015)
World Club Champion in WSB with Astana Arlans (Kazahstan) in 2013
World Champion AIBA Pro Boxing in 2015 (win by technic KO in Hamburg against the German Erik Pfeifer)
The only Romanian boxer at the 2016 Olympics