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Shiming Wins His Pro Debut
By Nat Gottlieb - Courtesy of HBO.com
When Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain in 1492, he
was looking for a shorter way to China and India in a quest
to bring back spices and gold for the King and Queen of
Spain. Some 521 years later, another explorer of sorts has
also set his sights on China, but this time in quest of a
different kind of gold. Gold in the form of a diminutive
boxer from China, Zou Shiming, the country’s only Olympic
boxing gold medalist and a certified national rock star.
Octogenarian promoter, Bob Arum, still one of the great
innovators in the boxing world, trotted out his glittering
treasure Saturday in Macau. Shiming, all 112 pounds of him,
won a unanimous decision as expected, but failed to generate
a lot of excitement for the nearly sold-out crowd in the
15,000-seat Cotai Arena, not to mention a staggering
audience of reportedly close to 300 million in China that
was watching their legendary fighter on free television.
Only in the crazy world of boxing could all this pizzazz
have been generated by a 31-year-old flyweight making his
four-round professional debut!
A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Shiming put his dazzling
speed and boxing skills on display, but failed to rock the
house for any sustained period of time. In fact, an
inexperienced 18-year-old Mexican, Eleazar Valenzuela
(2-2-2), held his ground and was never hurt by Shiming.
Shiming did have his moments, and the partisan crowd reacted
accordingly, but on the whole, it was not all that
entertaining of a fight. Surely not the kind the millions
watching on Chinese TV were hoping to see from their
national hero. For now, call Shiming a work in progress.
Still, Arum had to be glowing inside as he took the first
step in what he hopes will be a massive marketing bonanza in
China and the rest of Asia.
Next stop for Shiming, Arum has said, is converting him into
a pay-per-view gold mine. How rich of a mine? In a recent
report, Arum expressed confidence that he can milk his
Chinese treasure for more money on Chinese and Asian
pay-per-view than Manny Pacquiao ever made!
To get there from here, however, Shiming will need a lot
more work with his great trainer, Freddie Roach, in order to
successfully make the transition from the amateur style, to
the pro way of boxing. Shiming looked decidedly
uncomfortable, even awkward, trying to adapt to the new
style. Off of what he displayed in his debut, Shiming has a
ways to go before he can be competitive against the two
flyweights who preceded him into the ring, Brian Viloria and
Juan Francisco Estrada.
The 32-year-old Viloria (32-4), the former Olympian and
defending world champion flyweight, was knocked off his
throne by 22-year-old Juan Francisco Estrada (23-2) in a
split decision that should have been a unanimous one.
Viloria started off strong against Estrada, taking the first
three rounds with effective counterpunching and power shots.
But Estrada, who was 10 years younger than Viloria, began to
wear down the champion in the 4th round, nailing him with a
strong right hand that stunned the Hawaiian and lured him
into some in-close brawling.
The 5th round seemed to be a turning point for the
challenger. From that point on, Estrada kept beating Viloria
to the punch and slowing him down with a steady barrage of
body shots. Except for a brief strong round in the 7th, it
was all downhill for Viloria, who began to show visible
signs of fatigue. Instead of staying outside and
counterpunching, Viloria constantly would move in and lean
on Estrada, seemingly resting, a tactic that took away the
Hawaiian champion’s counterpunching skills and played
strongly into the hands of the Mexican, who consistently won
the inside fighting with a barrage of body shots.
Game and courageous, Viloria kept fighting as hard as his
older body would let him, but he took some awful punishment
in doing so, especially in the final round. Estrada easily
dominated the fight, as two judges’ cards reflected with
scores of 116-111 and 117-111 for the Mexican. One judge,
however, inexplicably scored it 115-113 for Viloria,
resulting in a split decision win.
In the opening bout of the HBO-televised card, reigning
lightweight champion, Roman Martinez (27-1-2), had to battle
hard all the way before defeating a game unbeaten contender,
Diego Magdalena (23-1), in a close split decision.
The fight was an exciting, all-action affair, and Magdalena
appeared to be taking at least two, if not three of the
early rounds, thanks to his aggression against the
counterpunching, more experienced 30-year-old, who had seven
championship fights under his belt before Saturday.
The turning point came on what seemed like questionable
advice from Magdalena’s corner after the 4th round, a round
in which the challenger was knocked down but didn’t appear
to be hurt as he got right up and came back hard against the
champion. Yet in Magdalena’s corner after the round, his
handlers instructed him to move more.
By doing so, Martinez was forced into the role of the
aggressor, constantly stalking the stick-and-running
Magdalena. Martinez’s superior work rate undoubtedly earned
points with the judges. The change in tactic also sapped
energy from the legs of the challenger, which resulted in
him slowing down and throwing less punches in the
championship rounds, where the fight was decided.
It was another split decision, this time a close one, with
Martinez keeping his title with scores of 115-112 and
114-113, while Magdalena earned the nod on one card,
116-111.
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