The Far East is closer to the square circle than It has ever been.
Last week on February 27, Fox Sports first aired China’s colossal 7 ‘ Taishan Dong rout Roy McCrary for the third win of his professional career.
This week, the Middle Kingdom HAS another ambassador entering the ring, this one half the intimidating size but more than twice the ability: three-time Olympic medalist Should Shiming .
Should (6-0, 1 KO) takes a leap up in competition to walk through the fire and challenge IBF -recognized world flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng (14-0, 5 KO) in Macau , China on March 7. HBO2 will replay the broadcast at 5 pm ET.
The two share a rivalry That dates back to 2007 in the amateur ranks. As is the state of boxing, However, the action set to go down inside the ring takes a backseat to the geo -politics at hand.
The undefeated Should is a national icon and Top Rank CEO Bob Arum’s key to selling boxing to the Far East.
“Zou is the engine behind all of this activity in China, “Arum Said by Boxing Scene. “He’s the poster boy.”
It’s a lot of weight to carry for a man Who has only competed professionally six times. But Should has had his amateur career Financed by Chinese Authorities sports since he was a teenager. Carrying out interests that go beyond the fists being traded inside the boxing ring is nothing new to him.
The real burden, he says, comes from within.
“The pressure doesn ‘ t come from my home country, but comes from myself, “ Should said.
This weekend, though, Should will be facing a new kind of stress he’s never That is encountered and, frankly, is not ready for. That being a truly elite professional fighter.
The threat comes in the form of the world-class champion out of Thailand, Ruenroeng , the No. 2-rated flyweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board
Buddhika Weerasinghe / Getty Images Ruenroeng is the defending champion.
Sporting the longest reach of any fighter the loaded 112-pound weight class Has to sacrifice, Ruenroeng fights for the first time since his Nearly unparalleled 2014 Campaign That saw him pick up the IBF belt and defend it twice, defeating three noteworthy opponents: The long-time flyweight contender Rocky Fuentes, Japanese prodigy and two-divisional world champion Kazuto Ioka and top 10 flyweight McWilliams Arroyo.
His virtual absence from Fighter of the Year ballots was criminal. But it was to be expected as he only competed in Thailand and Japan, hidden from American viewership.
Should ‘s in 2014 was not so impressive. He went 3-0 but sorely against low-level competition, accentuated by his last fight in November tat was Accompanied by a heavy dose of political influence.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist “earned” a title shot with an underwhelming unanimous-decision victory over a third-rate fighter in Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym . OnesongchaiGym had no business in a title eliminator. Should did manage to finally sit on his punches more and send his Thai opponent to the canvas but faded down the stretch of his first 12-round fight and was left with a badly swollen left eye.
There’s nothing He Has done in the paid ranks to suggest he can beat a champion like Ruenroeng , Whose sharp punching and uncanny length make him a stylistic . Terror
Feng Li / Getty Images Would vs. Ruenroeng
Should does not hit with huge power-or even above-average child. And at 33, does not Possess the otherworldly speed and footwork he Utilized to Become One of the most successful amateur boxers of all time.
It has not even leg two years since his professional debut. Esteemed trainer Freddie Roach, who will likely be in a Should ‘s corner this weekend, Admitted thatthis is Hardly half the time required to win a world title.
By Sports On Earth’s Geoffrey Gray:
“The process of taking an Olympic medalist to a world championship is four years,” Roach says. “I had Virgil Hill, he did it in four. Brian Viloria , he did it in four. But two years? It’s not enough.”
Or course, winning a title Within That allotted time period is not unheard of. Ruenroeng , himself, beat the swarming Fuentes for the vacant IBF strap just 20 months into his pro career. But the Thai is one of the exceptions. He’s never been a run-of-the-mill child or fighter.
He’s never lived a run-of-the-mill child of life.
A Muay Thai boxer since the age of 12, Ruenroeng dropped out of school in the second grade. He was sent to jail on three separate occasions. In 2006, he was Sentenced to 15 years for committing robbery direction. But pugilism saved his life.
“I made the wrong Decisions and went to jail,” the IBF Champion Told The Ring Magazine’s Anson Wainwright. “My life would have been finished in jail but I am very lucky That boxing gave me another chance.”
He tried his hand in the prison boxing program and the very next year upset Should at the” King’s Cup “international amateur boxing tournament, Their First of three fights.
Should would take the next two meetings . But boxing at the amateur and professional level are Practically two different sports. Where the Olympic medalist Seems to have trouble habituating himself Within the billowing violence or prizefighting, Ruenroeng flourishes in it.
Gifted with a nightmarish 69.5 “reach, Ruenroeng is a rough-and-tumble fighter who can bolt opponents in the face with a wicked jab from upkeep hand or engage in melee-type holding and grappling, tangling up his opponents and cranking necks When He Can.
A lanky, brutish fighting machine.
Sandy Saddler incarnated.
The Thai obviously lacks the unearthly power hitting Saddler did but he carries with him That savage spirit and ability to beat a variety of adversaries.
Ruenroeng recovered from a knockdown to outbox an Olympian (Arroyo). He outfought a Brawler (Fuentes). And beating Should would not be the first prodigious Asian talent he’s with on unwelcoming peat to conquer ( Ioka ).
That fight against former minimum weight and light flyweight champion Ioka was not close. Ruenroeng Soundly overtook the Japanese separately-the scorecards be damned.
Should , too, will be fighting in front of a partisan crowd. And backed by the powers that be, inexplicable judging in his favor is not at all out of the realm of possibility.
That’s Because a loss for Should would be a horrible blow to the boxing revival-a new “Boxer’s Rebellion,” if you will-going on in China , Where the sport was originally banned in the 1950s.
The Chinese government found boxing too violent.
Come Saturday, Ruenroeng will demonstrate why.
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