Star Chinese boxer Zou to make pro debut in Macau
LOS ANGELES: Zou Shiming works the speed bag at the Wild Card Gym with the skill of a veteran pro fighter, popping it back and forth with dozens of precise punches. Watching from a near corner,...
April 05, 2013
"When he came to the US, he didn't even know what a speed bag was," Roach says. "Now it's his favorite thing to do."
Zou isn't a product of the Western boxing world, but he's aiming to conquer it. The greatest amateur boxer in Chinese history is making his pro debut this weekend in Macau, and the 112-pound dynamo intends to fight for a world title in the next year.
After winning China's first Olympic boxing gold medal in Beijing and adding another in London last year, Zou has moved into the pro ranks with the backing of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.
"I'm just a man who wants to make my dream come true, and that's why I'm here," Zou said through a translator.
Roach, the mastermind behind Manny Pacquiao and many more world champions, has been hired to shepherd the pro development of an unorthodox, slippery boxer who baffled his opponents at the last two Olympics. Zou is attempting a remarkable move for a fighter from a nation that banned boxing until the 1980s — particularly a fighter who learned his basic movement skills as a pre-teen by studying wushu, a Chinese variation of martial arts.(AP)
