BANGKOK, 12 July 2003 — China’s Zou Shiming, the new kid on the boxing block, hustled his way into the light-flyweight final at the World Amateur Championships yesterday.
The 22-year-old Zou, whose previous best result was a silver medal in the 2001 East Asian Games in Japan, easily outpointed 2002 Asian Games runner-up Harry Tanamor of the Philippines 21-13.
The slim Chinese employed the hit-and-run tactics that saw him cause the biggest upset of the world championships by downing title holder Yan Varela Barteleny of Cuba in an earlier round.
Zou, who took up boxing aged 16 when sports authorities in the southern province of Guizou spotted his potential, could not conceal his joy at sealing a final spot for China in their first world championships.
“I am delighted — it is great to be the first Chinese in a world (championship) final,” said Zou. “I am confident of doing well in the final.”
Amateur boxing was banned on the mainland until 1982 and has only been taken seriously as a sport for the last decade. The Chinese authorities are grooming several boxers ahead of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Zou will take on Russia’s Sergei Kazakov in the final of the lightest weight division (under 48g). Kazakov defeated Nouman Karim of Pakistan, the Asian Games flyweight silver medalist, 23-4 in the other semifinal.
France’s Jerome Thomas, who beat the odds to develop into a leading boxer, and compatriot Willy Blain both clinched final spots yesterday.
Thomas, the defending flyweight champion who was born with a chest abnormality which took 15 operations to correct, again looked impressive in his 31-19 last four victory over Alexandar Alexandrov of Bulgaria.
The red-headed Thomas will take on local favorite Somjit Jongjohor, the Asian Games champion, or Germany’s Rustam Rahimov in the final. They were down to box the second semi last night.
Blain, a bronze medalist at the 2001 world championships, reached the light welterweight final with a 25-13 victory over Tofik Ahmedov of Azerbaijan.
He will take on either Manus Boonjamnong of Thailand or Russia’s Alexandre Maletin.
“We brought a team of just seven boxers to these championships so to have two finalists is a good achievement,” said France’s team leader Dominique Nato. “I think the judges recognized the class of both Jerome (Thomas) and Willy (Blain).”
Cuba, who lifted seven out of 12 golds at the last championships, saw defending champions Mario Kindelan and Lorenzo Aragon reach the lightweight and welterweight finals respectively.
Aragon defeated Andre Berto of the United States 25-15, a result which again raised eyebrows in the troubled American camp. “These things happen when the judges use a different scoring system than we are used to (back home),” said US head coach Frank Gentile after the defeat of the team’s sole representative in the semifinals.
Mayorga Looks to Stop
Forrest in Rematch in Vegas
In Las Vegas, Nevada, Ricardo Mayorga will look to “smoke” Vernon Forrest again today when the welterweights meet at The Orleans Arena. On Jan. 25, Mayorga came into the ring with the World Boxing Association title as a heavy underdog against Forrest, who held the World Boxing Council belt. But the 29-year-old Mayorga (25-3-1-1, 22 KOs) knocked down Forrest in the first round before stopping him in the third. After the fight, Mayorga, who enjoys celebrating his victories, smoked a cigarette in the ring. This time, the Nicaraguan believes he will end the fight even sooner.
“I will knock out Forrest in two rounds, whether I have a cigarette or not,” he said. “I know a lot of people want to see me fight more rounds, so if HBO wants, they can pick two sparring partners for me to fight after I knock out Forrest. That way, the audience can see me fight 12 rounds.”
Mayorga, who captured the WBA strap with a fifth-round technical knockout of then-undefeated Andrew Lewis in March 2002, backed up his guarantee with some cash. “This is a message to all the reporters, fans and trainers who are thinking I cannot beat Forrest,” Mayorga said. “I will put $100,000 on the table against anyone who does not think I can knock out Forrest.”
Forrest (35-1, 26 KOs) put his name atop most pound-for-pound rankings after using a crisp jab to post two victories over Shane Mosley last year.
