Zou Shiming
Born18 May 1981 (1981-05-18) (age 42)
Zunyi, China
Statistics
Weight(s)Flyweight
Height5 ft 4+1⁄2 in (164 cm)
Reach64+1⁄2 in (164 cm)
Boxing record
Total fights11
Wins9
Wins by KO2
Losses2
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Light flyweight
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Light flyweight
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Light flyweight
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2005 Mianyang Light flyweight
Gold medal – first place 2007 Chicago Light flyweight
Gold medal – first place 2011 Baku Light flyweight
Silver medal – second place 2003 Bangkok Light flyweight
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 Doha Light flyweight
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guangzhou Light flyweight
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 2004 Puerto Princesa Light flyweight
Silver medal – second place 2007 Ulan Bator Light flyweight
University Championships
Gold medal – first place 2004 Antalya Light flyweight

Zou Shiming (simplified Chinese: 邹市明; traditional Chinese: 鄒市明; pinyin: Zōu Shìmíng; born 18 May 1981) is a Chinese former professional boxer who competed from 2013 to 2017 and held the WBO flyweight title from 2016 to 2017. As an amateur, Zou is China's most successful boxer of all time. In the light-flyweight division, he won three consecutive Olympic medals (bronze in 2004 and gold in 2008 and 2012), as well as three World Amateur Boxing Championships gold medals in 2005, 2007 and 2011.

He is also a teacher.

Amateur career

Zou Shiming competed in his first amateur boxing competition at the 2004 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships and won silver, losing in the final to Pakistan's Noman Karim but qualifying for the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, he won his first match by beating Rau'shee Warren in the round of 32. He lost to eventual champion Yan Bartelemí in the semi-finals and ended up winning bronze. Zou won the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships by beating Pál Bedák in the final, becoming the first ever Chinese boxer to win the tournament. At the 2006 Asian Games, Zou won gold by beating Suban Pannon 21–1 in the final match.[1] He repeated his triumph from 2005 at the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships, beating David Ayrapetyan early in the tournament and Harry Tanamor in the final; however, Zou had to settle for silver at the 2007 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships, losing in the final against Pürevdorjiin Serdamba.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Zou won China's 50th gold medal of the tournament by winning the final of the light flyweight event, winning China's first ever gold medal in Olympic boxing. During the final, Serdamba, his opponent from the final of the 2007 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships, was forced to retire due to a shoulder injury.[2] After Serdamba was not able to continue, Zou burst into tears in compassion for his fellow boxer's injury. Zou did not compete in the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships, but he came back to win gold at the 2010 Asian Games. He also won his third straight gold at the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships. Zou won gold again at the 2012 Summer Olympics by beating Kaeo Pongprayoon 13–10, but several critics regarded his victory as controversial.[3]

After the 2012 Summer Olympics, Zou decided to make the switch from amateur boxing to professional boxing.

Olympic Games results

Beijing - 2008

London - 2012

World Amateur Championships results

2003

2005

2007

2011

Asian Games results

2006

2010

Professional career

Early fights

After winning gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Zou decided to turn professional. On 23 January 2013, he signed a contract with boxing promotion company Top Rank and was subsequently trained by Freddie Roach. Zou debuted on 6 April 2013, beating Eleazar Valenzuela by unanimous decision. Zou's professional debut generated an estimated 300 million viewers in China.[4] After a win over Jesus Ortega,[5] Zou fought on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios on 23 November 2013, beating Juan Tozcano.[6][7] He recorded his first knockout win of his professional career on 22 February 2014, beating Yokthong Kokietgym in the seventh round.[8]

World title pursuit

Zou vs. de la Rosa

On 19 July 2014, Zou beat Luis de la Rosa by unanimous decision with scores of 97–93, 99-91 & 99–91 at the Cotai Arena in Macau, to win his first ever professional title, the WBO International flyweight title. The fight was on the undercard of the world super-bantamweight championship fight between Guillermo Rigondeaux and Sod Kokietgym.[9][10][11]

Zou vs. Ruenroeng

After retaining the title against Prasitsak Phaprom on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri, Zou fought IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng at the Cotai Arena in Macau on March 7, 2015. This marked the seventh straight fight Zou would fight at the venue since turning professional. Like Zou, Ruenroeng also fought at the Olympics, and lost to Zou at the 2010 Asian Games. Ruenroeng shattered Zou's dreams of becoming world champion and gifted him his first professional loss when he scored a unanimous decision win after 12 rounds and retained his title in the process. Roenroeng won the bout comfortably with all three judges scoring it (116-111 x3), despite being controversially knocked down in round 2 as he lost his balance. Each time Zou tried to get on the inside, Ruenroeng used his jab and counterpunch to keep control of the fight. Following the loss, Zou was ranked #7 by the IBF and WBO and #9 by the WBC.[12]

WBO flyweight champion

Zou vs. Phaprom II

After Zou beat Brazilian boxer Natan Santana Coutinho by technical knockout to win back the WBO International flyweight title,[13] and retained the title at Madison Square Garden in New York City against contender Jozsef Ajtai, he was ranked as the classified contender for the vacant WBO world title vacated by Juan Francisco Estrada, who decided to move up to super flyweight.[14]

On November 5, 2016, in a rematch from November 2014, Zou defeated Prasitsak Phaprom (39-1-2, 24 KOs) via a unanimous decision to win the vacant WBO flyweight title on the Vargas-Pacquiao undercard at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Zou consistently landed quick and effective combinations from the opening bell and used his footwork to avoid punches. A knockdown was recorded in round 2 after Phaprom's gloves touched the canvas after being hit with a hard right. The three judges at ringside scored the fight 120–107, 120-107 and 119-108 all in favour of Zou.[15]

Zou vs. Kimura

On June 27, 2017, it was announced that Zou would make a voluntary defence of his WBO title against Japanese underdog and WBO #7 Sho Kimura (14-1-2, 7 KOs) on July 28 at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China.[16] Zou parted ways with promoter Top Rank and decided to promote the fight himself. He decided not to train with his hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach. In a shocking upset, Kimura, who was behind on two scorecards at the start of round 11, knocked Zou out to win the WBO flyweight title. Two judges had the fight 96–94, 97-93 for Zou, whilst the third judge had it 96-94 for Kimura.[17] Zou used his movement throughout the fight which had Kimura chasing him trying to land shots. He landed a right hook then followed by a combination. Zou dropped to the ground after a flurry of punches. He failed to get up, but referee didn't count him out, calling off the fight.[18][19]

Professional boxing record

11 fights 9 wins 2 losses
By knockout 2 1
By decision 7 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
11 Loss 9–2 Sho Kimura TKO 11 (12), 2:28 28 Jul 2017 Oriental Sports Center, Shanghai, China Lost WBO flyweight title
10 Win 9–1 Prasitsak Phaprom UD 12 5 Nov 2016 Thomas & Mack Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Won vacant WBO flyweight title
9 Win 8–1 Jozsef Ajtai UD 10 11 Jun 2016 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. Retained WBO International flyweight title
8 Win 7–1 Natan Santana Coutinho TKO 8 (12), 2:17 30 Jan 2016 Oriental Sports Center, Shanghai, China Won vacant WBO International flyweight title
7 Loss 6–1 Amnat Ruenroeng UD 12 7 Mar 2015 Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR For IBF flyweight title
6 Win 6–0 Prasitsak Phaprom UD 12 22 Nov 2014 Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR Retained WBO International flyweight title
5 Win 5–0 Luis de la Rosa UD 10 19 Jul 2014 Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR Won vacant WBO International flyweight title
4 Win 4–0 Yokthong Kokietgym KO 7 (8), 2:09 22 Feb 2014 Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR
3 Win 3–0 Juan Tozcano UD 6 23 Nov 2013 Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR
2 Win 2–0 Jesus Ortega UD 6 27 Jul 2013 Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR
1 Win 1–0 Eleazar Valenzuela UD 4 6 Apr 2013 Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR

Television viewership

China

Date Fight Network Viewership (est.) Source(s)
6 April 2013
 Zou Shiming vs. Eleazar Valenzuela
CCTV-5
300,000,000
 [20][4][21]
Total viewership 300,000,000

Personal life

Zou graduated with a master's degree from the Shanghai University of Sport. He has been married to Ran Yingying since 2011 and they have three sons. In 2018, he was hired by East China Normal University as a teacher.

In 2014, Zou made his first acting appearance in the movie Transformers: Age of Extinction.[22]

References

  1. ^ Light flyweight final results[dead link]
  2. ^ Leslie Hook (June 9, 2012). "The Olympians: Zou Shiming, China". Financial Times Magazine.
  3. ^ Phil Lutton (2012-03-14). "Zou Shiming Wins | Controversial Decision | Boxing | London Olympics". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  4. ^ a b "Zou Shiming's pro debut draws reported 300 million TV viewers in China". Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  5. ^ Unus Alladin (29 July 2013). "Golden moment for China's Zou Shiming in second professional victory in Macau". South China Morning Post.
  6. ^ "Knockout experts heading to Macau". The Standard (Hong Kong). 26 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
  7. ^ "Pacquiao vs Rios results: Zou Shiming wins third pro bout with wide decision win". SBNation.com. 23 November 2013. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  8. ^ "Boxing: China's Zou Shiming stops Yokthong in Macau". Rappler. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  9. ^ Christ, Scott (2014-07-13). "Boxing TV schedule: July 16–19". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  10. ^ "Zou Shiming Can't Help His Nature VS Luis De La Rosa". basementgymboxing.blogspot.co.uk. 19 July 2014. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  11. ^ "Zou Shiming Methodically Dismantles Luis De La Rosa At Champions Of Gold Boxing Event At Venetian Macao - Ringside Boxing Event". Ringside Boxing Event. 2014-07-21. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  12. ^ "Zou loses to Amnat in IBF flyweight title bout". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  13. ^ "Zou Shiming stops Natan Coutinho Santana - Boxing News". Boxing News 24. 2016-01-30. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  14. ^ "Juan Francisco Estrada to make 115 pound debut on Saturday - The Ring". The Ring. 2016-10-07. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  15. ^ "Zou Shiming Drops, Decisions Mini-Pacquiao For WBO Gold - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  16. ^ "Kimura gets first WBO flyweight title shot against Zou". The Japan Times Online. 2017-06-27. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
  17. ^ "Zou Shiming stunned by Sho Kimura in China - Boxing News". Boxing News. 2017-07-28. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
  18. ^ "Sho Kimura Blasts Zou Shiming in Shocker To Win WBO Title - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
  19. ^ "Sho Kimura knocks out Zou Shiming". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
  20. ^ "Why Zou Shiming Is the Real Star of the Manny Pacquiao Pay-Per-View Card". Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  21. ^ "China is the future for boxing, Bob Arum claims". Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  22. ^ Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) - IMDb, retrieved 2021-03-28

External links

Sporting positions Regional boxing titles VacantTitle last held byMilan Melindo WBO International flyweight champion 19 July 2014 – February 2015Vacated VacantTitle next held byHimself VacantTitle last held byHimself WBO International flyweight champion 30 January 2016 – 5 November 2016Won world title VacantTitle next held byWenfeng Ge World boxing titles VacantTitle last held byJuan Francisco Estrada WBO flyweight champion 5 November 2016 – 28 July 2017 Succeeded bySho Kimura
Olympic boxing champions – men's light flyweight
World amateur boxing champions – men's light flyweight
Asian Games Boxing Champions in Men's Light Flyweight
Xinhua News Agency's Top Ten Chinese Athletes of the Year
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