Zou braces for first pro fight today
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, April 6, 2013
Two-time Olympic champion Zou Shiming makes his professional debut today in Macau, embarking on what he and his ambitious United States promoters hope will be a fast track to a world title.
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Zou Shiming gearing up first professional debut. |
A household name in his homeland, the three-time amateur world champion from China faces the little-known Mexican Eleazar Valenzuela in a four-round non-title showdown that tops the bill.
It ought to be a formality for Zou and anything but a resounding victory, preferably by way of knockout, would be a shock result.
"It's always been a dream of mine to become a professional boxer. Now that I have this opportunity, I want to see if I can become a world champion, that is the goal that I hope to achieve," Zou said last month.
Zou's trainer, the highly respected Freddie Roach, has predicted big things for his new charge. Turning professional at the relatively late age of 31, Zou and Roach know that there is little time to waste.
Standing at 1.65 meters, Zou, who is from Guizhou in southwestern China, appears to have impressed Roach, who has worked with some of the best in the business.
"He picks things up very quickly and I think he'll be champion in a short time. I told Bob (Arum) that within a year this guy will be the world champion," Roach has said.
Zou has signed with Arum's Las Vegas-based Top Rank promotions, with the hugely successful Arum eyeing the untapped Chinese market and the country's 1.3 billion population as a new frontier.
The highly anticipated Zou debut takes place at the "Fists of Gold" event, held at the 15,000-seat CotaiArena which is part of Sands China's The Venetian resort-hotel.
It will also see Brian Viloria, the WBO/WBA flyweight champion, defend his title against tough Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada. Viloria is a potential future opponent for Zou.
The event is also a chance for the casino enclave of Macau to put itself on the map as a major host of top-class boxing.
Philippine icon Manny Pacquiao - another Arum-Roach protege with a huge Asian following - may fight there this year.
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