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| Born | 18 May 1981 (1981-05-18) (age 44) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft4+1⁄2 in (164 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | Flyweight | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reach | 64+1⁄2 in (164 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxing record | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total fights | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Win by KO | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Losses | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Zou Shiming (Chinese:邹市明;pinyin:Zōu Shìmíng; born 18 May 1981) is a Chinese formerboxer and two-time Olympic champion. Inamateur boxing, he is China's most successful boxer of all time. In thelight-flyweight division, he won three consecutive Olympic medals (bronze in2004 and gold in2008 and2012), as well as threeWorld Amateur Boxing Championships gold medals in2005,2007 and2011. He competed inprofessional boxing from 2013 to 2017 and held theWorld Boxing Organization (WBO)flyweight title from 2016 to 2017.
Zou Shiming competed in his first amateur boxing competition at the2004 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships and won silver, losing in the final to Pakistan'sNoman Karim but qualifying for the2004 Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, he won his first match by beatingRau'shee Warren in the round of 32. He lost to eventual championYan Bartelemí in the semi-finals and ended up winning bronze. Zou won the2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships by beatingPál Bedák in the final, becoming the first ever Chinese boxer to win the tournament. At the2006 Asian Games, Zou won gold by beatingSuban Pannon 21–1 in the final match.[1] He repeated his triumph from 2005 at the2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships, beatingDavid Ayrapetyan early in the tournament andHarry Tanamor in the final; however, Zou had to settle for silver at the2007 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships, losing in the final againstPürevdorjiin Serdamba.
At the2008 Summer Olympics, 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.[2] After Serdamba was not able to continue, Zou burst into tears in compassion for his fellow boxer's injury. Zou did not compete in the2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships, but he came back to win gold at the2010 Asian Games. He also won his third straight gold at the2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships. Zou won gold again at the2012 Summer Olympics by beatingKaeo Pongprayoon 13–10, but several critics regarded his victory as controversial.[3]
After the 2012 Summer Olympics, aged 32, Zou decided to switch from amateur boxing to professional boxing.
Beijing – 2008
London – 2012
2003
2005
2007
2011
2006
2010
After winning gold at the2012 Summer Olympics, Zou decided to turn professional. On 23 January 2013, he signed a contract with boxing promotion companyTop Rank and was subsequently trained byFreddie Roach. Zou debuted on 6 April 2013, beating Eleazar Valenzuela by unanimous decision. Zou's professional debut generated an estimated 300 million viewers in China.[4] After a win over Jesus Ortega,[5] Zou fought on the undercard ofManny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios on 23 November 2013, beating Juan Tozcano.[6][7] He recorded his first knockout win of his professional career on 22 February 2014, beating Yokthong Kokietgym in the seventh round.[8]
On 19 July 2014, Zou beat Luis de la Rosa by unanimous decision with scores of 97–93, 99–91 & 99–91 at theCotai Arena inMacau, to win his first ever professional title, theWBO Internationalflyweight title. The fight was on the undercard of the world super-bantamweight championship fight betweenGuillermo Rigondeaux and Sod Kokietgym.[9][10][11]
After retaining the title against Prasitsak Phaprom on the undercard ofManny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri, Zou foughtIBF flyweight championAmnat Ruenroeng 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 the2010 Asian Games. 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 theWBC.[12]
After Zou beat Brazilian boxer Natan Santana Coutinho by technical knockout to win back the WBO International flyweight title,[13] and retained the title atMadison Square Garden inNew York City against contender Jozsef Ajtai, he was ranked as the classified contender for the vacant WBO world title vacated byJuan Francisco Estrada, who decided to move up tosuper flyweight.[14]
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 vacantWBO flyweight title on theVargas-Pacquiao undercard at theThomas & Mack Center 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.[15]
On June 27, 2017, it was announced that Zou would make a voluntary defence of his WBO title against Japanese underdog and WBO #7Sho Kimura (14–1–2, 7 KOs) on July 28 at theOriental Sports Center inShanghai, China.[16] 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.[17] 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 did not count him out, calling off the fight.[18][19]
| 11 fights | 9 wins | 2 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 2 | 1 |
| By decision | 7 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Loss | 9–2 | Sho Kimura | TKO | 11 (12),2:28 | 28 Jul 2017 | Oriental Sports Center, Shanghai, China | Lost WBO flyweight title |
| 10 | Win | 9–1 | Prasitsak Phaprom | UD | 12 | 5 Nov 2016 | Thomas & Mack Center,Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Won vacantWBO flyweight title |
| 9 | Win | 8–1 | Jozsef Ajtai | UD | 10 | 11 Jun 2016 | Madison Square Garden,New York City, New York, U.S. | Retained WBO International flyweight title |
| 8 | Win | 7–1 | Natan Santana Coutinho | TKO | 8 (12),2:17 | 30 Jan 2016 | Oriental Sports Center,Shanghai, China | Won vacant WBO International flyweight title |
| 7 | Loss | 6–1 | Amnat Ruenroeng | UD | 12 | 7 Mar 2015 | Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR | ForIBF flyweight title |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Prasitsak Phaprom | UD | 12 | 22 Nov 2014 | Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR | Retained WBO International flyweight title |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Luis de la Rosa | UD | 10 | 19 Jul 2014 | Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR | Won vacantWBO International flyweight title |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Yokthong Kokietgym | KO | 7 (8),2:09 | 22 Feb 2014 | Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Juan Tozcano | UD | 6 | 23 Nov 2013 | Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Jesus Ortega | UD | 6 | 27 Jul 2013 | Cotai Arena, Macau, SAR | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Eleazar Valenzuela | UD | 4 | 6 Apr 2013 | Cotai Arena,Macau,SAR |
| Date | Fight | Network | Viewership (est.) | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
6 April 2013 | Zou Shiming vs. Eleazar Valenzuela | 300,000,000 | [20][4][21] | |
| Total viewership | 300,000,000 |
Zou graduated with amaster's degree from theShanghai University of Sport. He has been married to Ran Yingying since 2011 and they have three sons. In 2018, he was hired byEast China Normal University as a teacher.
In 2014, Zou made his first acting appearance in the movieTransformers: Age of Extinction.[22]
| Sporting positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional boxing titles | ||||
| Vacant Title last held by Milan Melindo | WBO Internationalflyweight champion 19 July 2014 – February 2015 Vacated | Vacant Title next held by Himself | ||
| Vacant Title last held by Himself | WBO International flyweight champion 30 January 2016 –5 November 2016 Won world title | Vacant Title next held by Wenfeng Ge | ||
| World boxing titles | ||||
| Vacant Title last held by Juan Francisco Estrada | WBO flyweight champion 5 November 2016 – 28 July 2017 | Succeeded by | ||
1968–2008: up to 48 kg, 2012–2016: up to 49 kg | |
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1966–2006:48 kg • 2010–2018:49 kg | |
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