TRUTH be told, Zou Shiming was never quite impressive. Well, at least that?s what I thought then while seated ringside in November of 2013 at the Cotai Arena in Macau, watching the undercard bouts of the Manny Pacquiao-Brandon Rios fight.
Of course, Shiming was the darling of the predominantly Chinese crowd, and his shifty moves drew a smattering of oohs and aahs from his adoring countrymen.
He was fast and threw a lot of punches, but I thought he still retained too much of that amateur style which brought him gold at the 2012 Olympic games.
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But then, I thought it was after all only his third fight, and what could you expect from an acolyte to pro boxing?
That night, Shiming would peck his way to a unanimous decision win over Mexican Juan Tozcano and everyone believed the future looked bright for the decorated Olympian.
Fast forward to just a year and a half later, and Shiming was challenging Amnat Ruenroeng for the IBF world flyweight title in that very same arena. I had to do a double take when I read about that one, but yes, Zou was actually gunning for his first world title in only his seventh pro fight.
The result? A disastrous and potentially ruinous unanimous decision loss.
RUENRONG. I don?t exactly blame Zou solely for that loss. His team made a huge tactical mistake in matching him up with Ruenrong.
What the hell were they thinking?
Ruenrong isn?t exactly Floyd Mayweather Jr., but he was coming in with a record 14 wins and five losses. Granted, he wasn?t much of a puncher, and looked shaky in his last outing, a split decision win over McWilliams Arroyo, but he defeated the likes Kazuota Ioka and Rocky Fuentes.
Yes, that?s our very own Rocky Fuentes of the ALA Boxing Stable.
LESSON. I?ve seen this story played out before and it?s a fistic tale as old as the sport itself.
There?s a young upstart with capacious potential, being carefully groomed by his handlers. They match him up with opponents designed to test him and bring out his best qualities.
And then they get a little bit too bullish and think he?s ripe for a world crown. Only they are pitifully unaware that their fighter?s way in over his head, until it?s too late.
Only fools rush in, and Zou?s case, it was plain and simple foolishness to make him fight for a world crown at a tender young fistic age of six fights under his belt.
KLITSCHKO. I can cite you many examples, but the most prominent that comes to mind is Wladimir Klitschko vs. Ross Purity.
Wladimir won the gold medal in the superheavyweight division at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He was equally impressive in his pro outings and was undefeated in 24 starts, 21 via the short route.
Purity was a journeyman with a record of 24 wins and 13 losses and was perceived to be easy prey for the hulking Ukrainian.
Problem was, somebody forgot to inform Ross about the script.
Wladimir had never gone past the eighth round in all his previous fights, and so Purity took him to deeper waters and drowned him in the 11th.
The young powerhouse started out fast and landed furious combinations early. But Purity sported a very good chin and took the shots well.
He started his move in the middle rounds and landed some hooks which stunned the unsuspecting Ukraninian and pretty soon it became a dogfight.
Klitschko began to abandon his jab and engaged Purity in a free wheeling brawl, to his detriment of course.
In the 11th round a wobbly, glassy-eyed Klitschko had to be rescued by his corner.
Of course we all know that Klitschko would go on to dominate the heavyweight division and presently he holds the WBA, WBO and IBF trinkets.
But in the Purity loss, he was only 22 years old and was young enough to make adjustments in his style and recover from that psychological blow.
I wish I could say the same for Zou who is already 33, an age where most fighters begin their physical decline.
LAST ROUND. It?s on little cherub Juan Francisco ?Jack? Flores-Garcia who just turned a year old. Cheers! Follow me on Twitter @thelastround
