Xiong Chaozhong or Xiong Zhaozhong (born October 3, 1982) is a Chinese professional boxer. He is the first Chinese/Hmong to win a boxing world title, having held the

WBC WBC may stand for: Business *Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS *Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company *Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...

mini-flyweight title from 2012 to 2014.

Early life

Xiong was born in rural Wénshān to two Hmong farmers. He was the second child. Xiong grew up in poverty and after one year in high school, he dropped out to find work to support his family. Xiong ended up working in coal mines and in a banana plantation. Xiong used to scrap often in his youth and one of his cousins eventually convinced him to try boxing professionally, so Xiong moved to

Kunming Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...

Professional career

Xiong debuted as a pro shortly after arriving in Kunming, with a points draw against Yu Ling Feng on August 15, 2006. Xiong won his next 11 fights, eight of them by stoppage, and claimed the WBC-ABCO Continental light-flyweight title. However, he would drop the title in his first defense, losing a unanimous decision to Filipino journeyman Julius Alcos. On May 26, 2009, Xiong challenged

Daisuke Naito is a former professional boxer from Japan. He is the former WBC and lineal flyweight champion, and former Japanese and OPBF flyweight champion. Professional career Naito made his professional debut in October, 1996. He compiled an undefeat ...

for the

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

title in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Xiong had a considerable size disadvantage, but he was able to drop Naito in round 6. Per WBC rules, Xiong had two points deducted for accidental headbutts which opened cuts on Naito. Naito also had a point deduction after an accidental headbutt cut Xiong in round 10. Naito retained his title with a close unanimous decision (114-110, 114–111, 113–111) win. Over the next three years, Xiong suffered two more losses in Japan, dropping decisions to Takuya Kogawa and Shin Ono. Xiong defeated Javier Martínez Resendiz for the vacant

mini-flyweight title. This made him the first Chinese boxer to ever win a world title. The fight took place in Kunming. Xiong cut Martínez in the third round and outboxed him for most of the fight, winning a unanimous decision (116-114, 116-112 and 119–110). Xiong's next fight took place in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, where he faced Denver Cuello in a

mandatory defense In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...

. Xiong was dropped in the first round. However, Cuello was unable to use his right hand because of a

torn rotator cuff A rotator cuff tear is an injury where one or more of the tendons or muscles of the rotator cuff of the shoulder get torn. Symptoms may include shoulder pain, which is often worse with movement, limited range of motion, or weakness. This may limi ...

. Nevertheless, the fight remained close and Xiong won a narrow

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on which ...

(113-113, 113–110, 115–112). After a further defense, Xiong faced Oswaldo Novoa in February 2014. Xiong was stopped by

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in round 5, losing his world title on his third defense. On October 25, 2014, Xiong attempted to regain a world title, facing WBA mini-flyweight champion

Hekkie Budler Hector "Hekkie" Budler (born 18 May 1988) is a South African professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBO and WBA minimumweight titles between 2011 and 2016 and the unified WBA (Super), IBF, and ''Ring'' magazine ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. Budler and Xiong traded knockdowns in rounds 2 and 3. The rest of the fight remained close, but Budler retained with a unanimous decision win (114-112, 114–112, 118–108). Xiong's final title challenge took place in 2018, when he faced WBA mini-flyweight champion

Knockout CP Freshmart Thammanoon Niyomtrong ( th, ธรรมนูญ นิยมตรง, born 20 September 1990), known by his ring name Knockout CP Freshmart, is a Thai professional boxer and former Muay Thai fighter who has held the WBA (Super) mini-flyweig ...

. Knockout outpointed Xiong to take a wide unanimous decision win (118-110, 118–110, 116–112). Xiong announced his retirement after the fight.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Interview with Xiong Chao Zhong
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xiong, Chaozhong Mini-flyweight boxers 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Yunnan People from Wenshan Chinese male boxers Hmong people