By Chris Williams: In what has to be seen as a huge blow to the career of two-time Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming (6-1, 1 KOs) and to his promoters at Top Rank, Shiming, 33, was soundly beaten tonight by 35-year-old IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng (15-0, 5 KOs) in a 12 round unanimous decision defeat at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.
Shiming, who tried to use a lot of slick moves all around the ring, he was constantly speared by the pinpoint shots from the 5’4 ½” Ruenroeng. It didn’t matter what crafty moves Shiming tried, he was nailed each time by Ruenroeng’s laser accurate shots.
The final judges’ scores were 116-111, 116-111 and 116-111. You can make an argument that the scores should have been even more lopsided than that, because Shiming was given credit for a knockdown in the 2nd round where Ruenroeng slipped to the canvas.
That was a real blow it call by referee Mark Nelson. Thankfully, it didn’t have an overall effect on the outcome of the fight, because that would have been a tragedy had Ruenroeng lost because of a bogus knockdown.
In the 3rd round, Ruenroeng laughed at Shiming after he went to the wrong corner after he had been nailed again and again by Ruenroeng’s accurate punches. Ruenroeng directed Shiming back to his corner while laughing the whole time. During that round, Ruenroeng threw Shiming to the canvas after he rammed heads with him while charging him like a bull.
Shiming’s trainer Freddie Roach was totally lost, jabbering a mile a minute in between rounds, but unable to give Shiming any useful advice to get him into the fight. It seems that no matter what move Shiming tried, Ruenroeng was always able to spear him with shots.
All the slick clowning moves that had worked for Shiming against the weaker opposition he’d faced to get a title shot, they were useless against Ruenroeng, because he didn’t fall for them and he was able to hit Shiming with his shots no matter how much movement the Chinese fighter used.
It’s hard to say where Shiming can go from here. There are boxing fans who saw Ruenroeng as the weak link among the four flyweight champions. With Shiming unable to beat Ruenroeng, it pretty much leaves the Chinese fighter with few options. Top Rank can certainly get Shiming another world title shot at flyweight, and I fully expect that to happen due to them being a power house promotional company.
There’s no weak links for Shiming to pick up an easy belt from right now. Top Rank can’t put Shiming in with WBC flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez or WBA/WBO champ Juan Francisco Estrada, because those guys would likely destroy Shiming in one-sided fights.
Likewise, Top Rank can’t put Shiming in with WBA champion Juan Carlos Reveco, because he’s like a mini Julio Cesar Chavez and he would be far too much for Shiming to deal with.
At 33, soon to be 34, I think Shiming is in a bad place right now unless he moves down in weight to junior flyweight. He doesn’t have the power to compete with any of the current champions at flyweight in my view, and I don’t see him having the youth to wait out one of the champions until they retire or move up in weight.
Roach had been bragging about how good Shiming was, and how much power he had. But tonight, Shiming looked out of his class like he didn’t belong in the same ring with Ruenroeng. Shiming is a decent fighter, but he didn’t show anything in his game tonight that suggested that he deserves to be a champion. He needs to start over somehow, but I don’t know how.
Shiming can still be a good money maker for Top Rank even if he never wins a world title. He’d been making good money by just fighting regular contenders. He can continue to do that and bring in large crowds and good money.
I just don’t see Shiming ever winning a world title at flyweight as long as Reveco, Roman Gonzalez, Ruenroeng and Juan Francisco Estrada are around. Those guys are way too good for the light hitting Shiming in my view. Even if Shiming won a controversial decision where he gets totally dominated and still winds up winning the fight, I can’t see Shiming holding onto the belt for more than a fight or two unless Top Rank matches him very, very carefully.
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