MACAO (May 14, 2013) – Chapter two of the Zou Shiming era will begin when the two-time Olympic gold medallist and three-time Amateur World Champion returns to the ring and headlines an exciting card featuring two world championship fights – WBO/WBA flyweight champion Juan Estrada vs. Milan Melindo and IBF featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich vs. Mauricio Muñoz – Saturday, July 27, at The Venetian® Macao’s CotaiArena™. Promoted by Top Rank and Sands China Ltd., in association with Tecate, ZOU SHIMING: Fists of Gold II ticket details will be announced soon; Fists of Gold II ticket holders will be able to purchase advance tickets for November’s Pacquiao vs. Rios event during an exclusive period prior to general public sales. Details are to be announced at a later date.
The fantastic night of entertainment is Sands China’s latest world-class sporting event, part of its multi-tiered entertainment strategy aimed at diversifying Macao’s tourism economy through the varied offerings of its Cotai Strip Resorts, contributing to the city’s development into one of Asia’s top entertainment hubs and a world centre of tourism and leisure. Sands China held the highly-successful greater China debut of Ultimate Fighting Championship last November, and has hosted and sponsored numerous sporting events with some of the world’s most well-known athletes – from basketball greats Kobe Bryant and Yao Ming to tennis legends Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, and golf sensations like Rory McElroy and Lee Westwood. Zou Shiming’s recent April 6 professional debut had all the right ingredients and became another high-octane crowd pleaser, selling out tickets in advance. It was televised internationally to more than 30 countries, including to the U.S. via HBO 2 and in China on CCTV5.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
