By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says that his fighter Zou Shiming (3-0) could be fighting for a world title by the end of 2014. The idea is top put the soon to be 33-year-old Shiming in against newly crowned IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng (12-0, 5 KO’s) at the end of the year if Shiming is able to keep winning.
Shiming will need to get ranked in the top 15 in the flyweight division, because right now he’s not had enough fights for him to get pushed up in the rankings. Shiming also not looked good against the weak opposition he’s been in with.
This Saturday Shiming will be fighting Yokthong Kokietgym (15-3, 11 KO’s) in an 8 round bout at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. Arum has obviously done his research well, because there’s little chance that Arum is going to put Shiming in with someone that can beat him and mess up the plans he has for him. Shiming doesn’t have much of a fan base in the United States, but in China he’s huge due to his Olympic gold medals he won in 2008 and 2012. A lot of fans think Shiming was beaten in both Olympics, and it’s difficult to disagree with that opinion if you saw some of the controversial decisions that went his way.
“Then may be one more fight, a 10-rounder, before a title fight or maybe after the May fight he will go right into the title fight,” Arum said to ESPN in speaking about the future plans he has for Shiming. “But end of this year, November or December, is when we think he will fight for the title against the Thai champion.”
Ruenroeng, 34, is arguably the weakest of the four flyweight champions by far, so Arum might have a chance of getting Shiming a paper title. But if he put Shiming in with the other three flyweight champions, Akira Yaegashi, Juan F. Estrada and Juan Carlos Reveco, it would likely end badly for Shiming. He doesn’t have the power with his punches, and he slaps too much. Shiming also isn’t that hard to hit despite all the showboating he does in the ring.
15(11)-3(2)-0
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