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By Abigail Dauz
For the past several months there was so much hype of Chinese 2 time gold Olympian Zou Shiming. Well, after all the waiting we finally got to witness what he was all about and the outcome of Toprank Promotions’ first staged event in Macau, China aka the largest casino floor in the world aka the gambling capital.
Photo: Chris Farina/Top Rank
Well, let’s first start off with my review of the undercard: Aussie, Paul Fleming put on a good show against Yoshida which eventually was stopped due to Yoshida’s eye in an early head butt and ruled as a TKO in Rd4. Hands down the Penalosas and Melindo are some bright prospects from the Philippines to look out for. They all won their bouts with sensational knockouts which were to the body of their opponents.
The first upset of the night was Vazquez Jr. vs Ishimoto, I didn’t see this one coming at all, Ishimoto showed no respect to the former champion and seemed like Vazquez Jr. had difficulty adjusting to his opponent. Vazquez Jr. was ahead on the cards but right at the end of RD8, Ishimoto knocks down Vazquez Jr. and in my opinion that made the difference when the scores were read. I think Vazquez Jr. should have made it a war.
The next bout was Roman “Rocky” Martinez vs. undefeated Diego Magdaleno; I know many were in favor of Diego Magdaleno winning but I just didn’t see it happening. Diego lacked the experience. Martinez looked so focused compared to his last controversial win against Burgos. Magdaleno actually needed to fight the whole 12 RDs to win. Magdaleno just kept backing away from the Champion and you can’t do that if you want to take the belt from a Champion. Puerto Rico should be very proud of Rocky, his experience, power, aggression, being more active, and that right hand lead that knocked down Magdaleno in RD4 did enough for him to deserve a win.
The biggest upset of the night was Brian Viloria vs. Juan Francisco Estrada, Viloria needs no introduction we already know he’s a great warrior who loves to get into wars. But, that night was the end of his winning streak. I believe in the early rounds, Viloria was ahead but he gassed himself out. When it came to the championship RDS you can clearly see Estrada was showing some excellent boxing skills that started to frustrate Viloria with his movement. What was touching to me is Estrada only 22 stated in the post fight presser he dedicated this fight to his late Mother and Aunt and how no one knew who he was until now. I watched him live against Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzales and saw the look in his face when the cards were read; he looked really disappointed in himself. So, Estrada being now the unified champ is a defining moment in this young fighter’s career. I think the Promoters should stage a “Night of Rematches”: Viloria vs Tyson Marquez, Estrada vs. Gonzales and the winner of Viloria vs. Marquez gets the winner of Estrada vs. Gonzales.
Finally our main event for the night: Zou Shiming vs. Eleazer Valenzuela; Valenzuela the young 18 year old who looked 11 was not intimidated at all with the fact he was fighting China’s boxing star. In my opinion, Shiming left himself wide open and still looked like he was boxing in the amateurs. You can tell who was a professional. But Shiming won a 4RD UD. Overall, I think Toprank did a great job promoting their first event in China. I liked the variety of diverse ring girls they used and a great half time performance by famous Canto Pop Singer Stephanie Cheng. But wasted so much money on Zou Shiming; Shiming was paid $300, 00.00 US for his professional fight.
