Zou Shiming (; born 18 May 1981) is a Chinese former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 2013 to 2017 and held the WBO

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 from 2016 to 2017. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, Zou is China's most successful boxer of all time. In the

light-flyweight Light flyweight, also known as junior flyweight or super strawweight, is a Weight class (boxing), weight class in boxing. Professional boxing The weight limit at light flyweight in professional boxing is 108 pounds (49 kilograms). When New York (s ...

division, he won three consecutive Olympic medals (bronze in 2004 and gold in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

), as well as three

World Amateur Boxing Championships The IBA World Boxing Championships, and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships (previously known as AIBA), are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is the sport governing body. A ...

gold medals in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, 2007 and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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

Noman Karim Nauman Karim is a boxer from Pakistan. He won the bronze medal in the light flyweight (– 48 kg) division at the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Bangkok. He also competed at the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships Th ...

but qualifying for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, he won his first match by beating

Rau'shee Warren Rau'shee Warren (; born February 13, 1987) is an American professional boxer who held the WBA (Undisputed), and IBO bantamweight titles from 2016 to 2017. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 2007 World Championships, as well as bronze at t ...

in the round of 32. He lost to eventual champion

Yan Bartelemí Yan Barthelemy Varela (born March 5, 1980, Matanzas) is a Cuban-American amateur boxer, who won the gold medal in the light flyweight division (– 48 kg) at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Amateur career * 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens ...

in the semi-finals and ended up winning bronze. Zou won the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships by beating

Pál Bedák Pál Bedák (born September 8, 1985 in Budapest) is a Boxing, boxer from Hungary best known to win the silver medal at the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships, 2005 World Championships. His older brother Zsolt Bedák is a bantamweight boxer. ...

in the final, becoming the first ever Chinese boxer to win the tournament. At the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, Zou won gold by beating

Suban Pannon Suban Pannon ( th, สุบรรณ พันโนน; ; born May 10, 1978 in Khon Kaen) is a Thai amateur boxer who won a gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games. Career Pannon won the 1998 Asian Games in the men's light flyweight division. He cl ...

21–1 in the final match. He repeated his triumph from 2005 at the

2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Chicago, United States from October 23, 2007 to November 3, 2007. It was held at the UIC Pavilion. It was the biggest World Championships in AIBA history. The competition is under the super ...

, 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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, 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. 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 The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several events ...

. He also won his third straight gold at the

2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships was held at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Exhibition Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan from September 22 to October 10, 2011. The competition ran under the supervision of the world's governing body for amateur ...

. Zou won gold again at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

by beating Kaeo Pongprayoon 13–10, but several critics regarded his victory as controversial. After the 2012 Summer Olympics, Zou decided to make the switch from amateur boxing to professional boxing.

Olympic Games results

Beijing - 2008 * Round of 32: Defeated

Eduard Bermúdez Eduard Johan Bermúdez Salas (born August 21, 1984 in Maracaibo) is a Venezuelan light-flyweight amateur boxer who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He has his debut to local boxer Zou Shiming Zou Shiming (; born 18 May 1981) is a Chin ...

(Venezuela) on points, 11-2 * Round of 16: Defeated

Nordine Oubaali Nordine Oubaali (Arabic: نوردين أوبالي) (born 4 August 1986) is a Moroccan former professional boxer who competed from 2014 to 2021. He held the WBC bantamweight title from 2019 to 2021. As an amateur he won a bronze medal in the li ...

(France) on points, 3-3 * Quarterfinal: Defeated

Birzhan Zhakypov Birzhan Zhakypov (born July 7, 1984) is an amateur boxer from Kazakhstan, best known for winning the light flyweight gold medal at the 2013 World Amateur Boxing Championship. He qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he beat Pál B ...

(Kazakhstan) on points, 9-4 * Semifinal: Defeated Patrick Barnes (Ireland) on points, 15-0 * Final: Technical win against Pürevdorjiin Serdamba (Mongolia) 1-0 (won gold medal) London - 2012 * Round of 32: bye * Round of 16: Defeated Yosbany Veitia (Cuba) on points, 14-11 * Quarterfinal: Defeated

(Kazakhstan) on points, 13-10 * Semifinal: Defeated Patrick Barnes (Ireland) on points 15-15 * Final: Defeated Kaeo Pongprayoon (Thailand) on points 13-10 (won gold medal)

World Amateur Championships results

2003 *Defeated

(Cuba) 22-15 *Defeated Rudolf Dydi (Slovakia) 21-9 *Defeated Harry Tanamor (Philippines) 21-13 *Lost to Sergey Kazakov (Russia) 19-23 2005 *Defeated Łukasz Maszczyk (Poland) 18-10 *Defeated Salim Salimov (Bulgaria) 22-9 *Defeated

(Cuba) 12-10 *Defeated

Sherali Dostiev Sherali Dostiev (Шерали Достиев; born January 12, 1985, in Dushanbe, Region of Republican Subordination) is a male boxer from Tajikistan. He is competing in the Light Flyweight (– 48 kg) division, and won a bronze me ...

(Tajikistan) 18-13 *Defeated

(Hungary) 31-13 2007 *Defeated Constantin Paraschiv (Romania) 15-3 *Defeated

(Kazakhstan) 30-13 *Defeated David Ayrapetyan (Russia) 23-6 *Defeated Patrick Barnes (Ireland) 22-8 *Defeated

(France) 16-1 *Defeated Harry Tanamor (Philippines) 17-3 2011 *Defeated Juan Meddina (Dominican Republic) 17-9 *Defeated Istvan Ungvari (Hungary) 12-2 *Defeated Mark Barriga (Philippines) 12-5 *Defeated Kaew Pongprayoon (Thailand) 14-8 *Defeated David Ayrapetyan (Russia) 15-8 *Defeated Shin Jong-Hun (South Korea) 20-11

Asian Games results

2006 *Defeated

(Tajikistan) 16-10 *Defeated Sanjay Kisan Kolte (India) RSCO 3 *Defeated Hong Moo-won (South Korea) 17-9 *Defeated

(Thailand) RSCO 2 2010 *Defeated Jasurbek Latipov (Uzbekistan) 9-2 *Defeated Hatsanai Phoilevy (Laos) 13-1 *Defeated

Amnat Ruenroeng Amnat Ruenroeng ( th, อำนาจ รื่นเริง; IPA:; born December 18, 1979), also known as Amnat Kasetphatthana ( th, อำนาจ เกษตรพัฒนา) is a Thai professional boxer and kickboxer who held the IBF f ...

(Thailand) 5-2 *Defeated

(Kazakhstan) 9-5

Professional career

Early fights

After winning gold at the

, Zou decided to turn professional. On 23 January 2013, he signed a contract with boxing promotion company

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

and was subsequently trained by

Freddie Roach Frederick Steven Roach (born March 5, 1960) is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer. Roach is widely regarded as one of the best boxing trainers of all time. He is the enduring boxing coach of the eight-division world champio ...

. Zou debuted on 6 April 2013, beating Eleazar Valenzuela by unanimous decision. Zou's professional debut generated an estimated 300 million viewers in China. After a win over Jesus Ortega, Zou fought on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios on 23 November 2013, beating Juan Tozcano. He recorded his first knockout win of his professional career on 22 February 2014, beating Yokthong Kokietgym in the seventh round.

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 The Cotai Arena is an indoor arena located on the premises of The Venetian Macao, on the Cotai Strip, in Macau, China. It opened in 2007 with a seating capacity of 15,000. The arena was known as Venetian Arena from 2007 to 2010, when it was renam ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, to win his first ever professional title, the WBO International

title. The fight was on the undercard of the world super-bantamweight championship fight between

Guillermo Rigondeaux Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz (; born 30 September 1980) is a Cuban professional boxer. He is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the unified WBA (Super), WBO and '' Ring'' magazine super bantamweight titles between 2013 a ...

and Sod Kokietgym.

Zou vs. Ruenroeng

After retaining the title against Prasitsak Phaprom on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri, Zou fought IBF flyweight champion

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

. 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.

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, and retained the title at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

against contender Jozsef Ajtai, he was ranked as the classified contender for the vacant WBO world title vacated by

Juan Francisco Estrada Juan Francisco Estrada Romero (born April 14, 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held ''The Ring'' super flyweight title since 2019. He previously held the WBA (Unified) and WBO flyweight titles be ...

, who decided to move up to

super flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council respond ...

. 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 The Thomas & Mack Center is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. It is home of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team of the Mountain West Conference. History The facility was fi ...

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.

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 is a Japanese professional boxer who held the WBO flyweight title from 2017 to 2018. Professional career WBO Asia Pacific Title on Nov 23, 2016, Kimura defeated Masahiro Sakamoto to win the WBO Asia Pacific flyweight title. WBO World Title ...

(14-1-2, 7 KOs) on July 28 at the Oriental Sports Center in

Shanghai, China Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. 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. 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.

Professional boxing record

Television viewership

China

Personal life

Zou graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from the

Shanghai University of Sport Shanghai University of Sport (上海体育学院; Shànghǎi tǐyù xuéyuàn) is a public university in Yangpu District, Shanghai, China. Founded in 1952, it is the first university of its kind in the People's Republic of China. It is a Chine ...

. He has been married to Ran Yingying since 2011 and they have three sons. In 2018, he was hired by

East China Normal University East China Normal University (ECNU) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Shanghai, China. It was formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University (est. 1924) and Kwang Hua University (est. 1925) and origin ...

as a teacher. In 2014, Zou made his first acting appearance in the movie '' Transformers: Age of Extinction''.

References

External links

*
"Zou Shiming"
n°20 on ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"
"The Boxing Rebellion"
in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

- Feb 4th, 2008
Shiming Zou - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zou, Shiming 1981 births Living people People from Zunyi Sportspeople from Guizhou Chinese male boxers Light-flyweight boxers Olympic boxers of China Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic bronze medalists for China Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in boxing Asian Games gold medalists for China Boxers at the 2002 Asian Games Boxers at the 2006 Asian Games Boxers at the 2010 Asian Games AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games