MACAU – Welcome to the Zou Shiming Show.
On Saturday, at the 15,000 seat Cotai Arena of The Venetial Hotel here, China’s boxing superstar makes his pro debut in a four-round flyweight match against Mexico’s Eleazar Valenzuela.
It’s a four-rounder, and yes, it’s the main bout of the evening.
“How can you have a four-rounder for the main event?†asked Top Rank chief Bob Arum, who’s putting up the “Fists of Gold†card, the biggest so far in Asia’s gambling capital.
“Well, you can when you have Zou Shiming and his incredible amateur record,†added Arum.
And it’s not impossible when you’re talking about a boxer who won the World Championships three times in 2005, 2007 and 2011, and two Olympic gold medals in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.
Everybody knows how difficult it is to win a gold medal in the Olympics, and this 31-year-old Chinese has two.
Shiming, with a smiling face, is all over Macau, his face seen on television, in the streets, in the hotel lobbies and the casinos.
“Last night I was having dinner and his face was on the place mat,†said Freddie Roach, who trained Shiming for two months at the Wild Card Gym just for this fight.
“He’s everywhere. I think he’s the most famous Chinese athlete today,†added Roach, who believes that Shiming can become a world champion in one year.
Shiming is a fast learner, according to the celebrated trainer, and it wasn’t that hard to teach and show him the ropes as a professional fighter.
“In the amateurs you score points and protect the lead. In the pros, you don’t sell tickets without knocking people out. He’s not here to score points anymore,†said Roach.
Everything remains to be seen.