Former Amateur Sensation Zou Shiming Headlines Saturday’s Card In Shangai

Amateur Sensation Zou Shiming, the greatest amateur boxer ever from China, returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 30, opposing Natan Coutinho in a 12-round contest at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China.

The card is promoted by Bob Arum and Top Rank and marks the first time the group has promoted a fight in mainland China, having run Shiming’s previous pro fights in Macao.

This will be Shiming’s first outing since March of last year when he was outpointed by defending IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng of Thailand.  Shiming spent the time healing up injuries and he also spent a stint on a “reality” style TV show where he travelled throughout China with his four year old son.  The show was well received in his home country, and brought him a lot of attention heading into this return fight.

A three-time Olympic medalist who won gold in the 2008 and 2012 games, Shiming is 6-1 (1 KO) as a professional. Coutinho, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, is undefeated (12-0, 10 KOs) but has yet to compete in a bout that went longer than six rounds.

In the 10-round co-feature, Tokyo’s Ryota Murata (8-0, 5 KOs) takes a step up in class, opposing Argentina’s Gaston Vega (24-10-1, 10 KOs).

Ryota Murata, a hugely popular athlete in his native Japan and a budding star on the international boxing scene, won the gold medal in the middleweight class at the 2012 London Olympiad. Murata is the first Japanese boxer to win an Olympic gold medal since 1964 and the first Japanese medalist ever who fought above the bantamweight class.

A second Top Rank show goes down that same day at the Marriott Events Center in Burbank, California. The main event on the January 30th “Solo Boxeo Tecate” card is a 10-round lightweight scrap between Jose Felix Jr (32-1-1, 25 KOs) and Ricky Sismundo (30-8-2, 13 KOs). Felix fights out of Los Mochis, Mexico. Sismundo hails from Yokohama, Japan by way of the Philippines.

The complete live event in Shangai features nine bouts in all, and as would be expected the card is looking to showcase Asian and specifically Chinese talent.  Bob Arum has been working to enter the vast Chinese market for years, and he has had success operating in Macao.  The fact that he is venturing to the mainland with Zou Shiming in tow as the main event shows that Top Rank has not lost faith in the Chinese star after his recent loss.

The complete lineup for the Shangai event appears below.

January 30th, 2016 – Shanghai Sports Center
Shanghai, China

Top Rank Inc (Card Subject To Change):

Flyweight 12 Rounds: Shiming Zou (6-1) vs Natan Santana Coutinho (12-0) 

Middleweight 10 Rounds: Ryota Murata (8-0) vs Gaston Vega (24-10-1)

Light Heavyweight 6 Rounds: Peng Qu vs (9-1-1) vs Aaron Lai (7-3)

Flyweight 6 Rounds:  Yi Ming Ha (12-6) vs Jaya Diama (7-5-5)

Super Middleweight 6 Rounds: Zulpikar Maimaitali (5-0-1) vs Steve Moxon (5-2)

Super Middleweight 6 Rounds: Andrey Kalyuzhnyy (11-1) vs Abdalla Paziwapazi (9-3)

Featherweight 4 Rounds: Qing Xian Mai (0-0) vs Mario Borres (6-5)

Super Middleweight 4 Rounds: Asaidula Musha (0-0) vs Chaoqun Dong (3-1)

Super Lightweight 4 Rounds:  Joseph Omana (12-4-1) vs Qiang Liu (1-1)

Check out this The Boxing Channel‘s video with results and highlights.