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Chinese boxer Zou Shiming has vowed to win back his world title following his shock loss to Japan’s Sho Kimura . Photo: AFP

Beaten Zou Shiming vows to win back world title after shock loss to outsider Sho Kimura

Zou scotches rumours that he could retire after his defeat to the Japanese by declaring he will fight until his last breath

Zou Shiming
Chinese boxing star Zou Shiming vowed Monday to “fight until my last breath” to recover the title he lost in Shanghai when he was knocked out in his first defence of the WBO flyweight crown.

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Zou was a strong favourite to beat Sho Kimura on Friday, but he ran out of juice as the fight wore on and the younger Japanese silenced a rowdy home crowd with an 11th-round upset victory.

Zou, whose professional record now stands 9-2 (two KOs), might be in the twilight of his career at 36 but he still wants his belt back.

“I believe in fate, but am not resigned to it. I will go on fighting until my last breath,” he posted early on Monday on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.
Zou had said that the loss in Shanghai on Friday could be his last bout during a rambling speech after the fight. Photo: Handout

“A man must keep fighting to recover what he has lost.”

Zou won the vacant World Boxing Organisation (WBO) flyweight belt in November in Las Vegas, but since turning professional in 2013 he has largely failed to replicate the dominant form of a hugely successful amateur career that included two Olympic golds and three world titles.

Zou was too clever for the less experienced Kimura, 28, in the early rounds of Friday’s bout but the Japanese – a part-time restaurant worker – kept coming forward and refused to be put off by a nasty wound he sustained above one eye.

Kimura, who improved to 15-1-2 (eight KOs), unleashed a flurry of punches in the 11th that stunned Zou, sending him to the canvas.
Zou took to Weibo to say he will attempt to win back his world title. Photo: AFP

Zou, who was promoting himself for the first time after parting with US promoters Top Rank, was left in tears in the ring.

His wife Ran Yingying, a former television presenter who is heavily involved in her husband’s new promotion company, sent a similarly defiant message in the early hours Monday on Weibo.

“At dawn I heard a steadfast pledge. I also want to say: I believe in you, and I know you.

“Restore what has been lost! A sincere man keeps fighting!”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: I will keep fighting to get back world title, Zou vows
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