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Zou Shiming’s lack of power will hurt his success at the top

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shiming3By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is going to need to do a really good job of matchmaking with his gold mine fighter light flyweight Zou Shiming (1-0) because after watching Shiming struggle at times to beat little known 18-yer-old Eleazer Valenzuela (2-2-2, 1 KO’s) tonight by a four round unanimous decision in Macao, China, I can’t see the 32-year-old Shiming beating the best fighters at light flyweight.

Shiming does the shoe shine bit pretty good, but he’s got no power whatsoever and he’s easily backed up. Tonight, he was just hitting, moving and trying to showboat and it didn’t come off well because he was still getting hit in return.

Behind closed doors, boxing is at war with itself

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By Mark Havey: Boxing is one sport that has many aspects and levels attached to it. Boxers, promoters, trainers, managers, sanctioning bodies and television networks all have a role to play in keeping the sport thriving. On the most part, it works very well.

Roach: Zou Shiming could be a world champion within a year

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zou shiming1By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach sees light flyweight Zou Shiming possibly becoming a world champion within a year. At 32, Shiming, a former 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medalist for China, doesn’t have a lot of time in looking to capture a world title.

The good news is the light flyweight division is a weak one. The bad news is Shiming can’t punch and will have to be carefully maneuvered because if Top Rank matches him against the best champion at light flyweight Roman Gonzalez, he could have problems.

Liam Walsh v Scott Harrison on April 20th at Wembley Arena, London

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walshBy Stevie Ocallaghan: On the 20th April at Wemley Stadium, Liam Walsh defends his WBO European lightweight title against veteran Scott Harrison. 26 year old Walsh with 13 wins and 10 stoppages will be looking to extend his unbeaten record to keep alive his world title ambitions after having a December fight against WBO lightweight champ Ricky Burns scuppered due to a car crash injury.

Walsh is still a relative novice having only 13 fights and is now arguably taking his toughest test so far in Harrison, who at 35 is himself in the last chance saloon. This is Harrison’s last real chance at getting back to the top after well documented personal problems.

Land of the Free and the home of the…….

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The famous quote on the statue of Liberty,  proudly standing in the harbour of New York to welcome new arrivals says  “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”.

Where next for the sweet science?

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By Brian Slater: It’s been well documented that boxing has become an overly-intricate farce when it comes to sanctioning bodies, silver/diamond belts and paper champions. This is not something I want to talk about. I do, however want to take a closer at the players in the game, the fighters/ promoters.

Arum now without the option to match Rios vs. Pacquiao

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rios2By Chris Williams: Somewhere out there I imagine Bob Arum of Top Rank is not a happy camper tonight after Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) was defeated by the arguably less popular Mike Alvarado (34-1, 23 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Rios, 26, was one of Pacquiao’s big options for his next fight in September, but now Alvarado had taken the fight off the table by beating Rios. Arum now only has Tim Bradley or Juan Manuel Marquez for Pacquiao.

Arum isn’t going to get Marquez to face Pacquiao unless he gives a really big money offer. Marquez obviously knows Pacquiao only has Tim Bradley and himself to fight, and he can now ask for a 50-50 deal to fight the Filipino instead of the mere 76-24 deal they had last time they fought in December.

Chilemba robbed in draw against Bellew

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By Scott Gilfoid: In a truly poorly scored fight, the talented #3 WBC light heavyweight champion Isaac Chilemba (20-1-2, 9 KO’s) was robbed in a fight against WBC Silver light heavyweight champion Tony Bellew (19-1-1, 12 KO’s) on Saturday night at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. The final judges scores were 116-112 for Chilema, 116-115 for Bellew, and 114-114 even.

Vera stops Bondorovas, looks poor

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vera11By Jim Dower: #1 WBO middleweight contender Brian Vera (23-6, 13 KO’s) stayed in the running for a payday fight against former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. tonight by beating 33-year-old Donatas Bondorovas (17-4-1, 6 KO’s) by a highly questionable 7th round stoppage due to two small cuts that Bondorovas had suffered at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, USA.

Referee Charlie Fitch asked Bondorovas if he could see well enough to continue after the 7th round, and it appears there was a miscommunication with Fitch not understanding that Bondorovas said “I can see.” Fitch thought he heard Bondorovas say “I can’t see very well.”

The stoppage very well may have saved the fight for the better known Vera because he appeared to be losing the fight at the time of the stoppage, and Bondorovas was the one that controlling the action with his right hands.

Fighters that move up in weight get a bad rap

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By Robert Elmore: When I hear people say “they fought everybody back in the day”, I can assume they mean fighters who had no intentions of moving up in weight. Therefore, that statement holds much weight. And if fighters in the lower divisions wanted a shot at the title, they had to move up.