Thai deals Zhou first boxing loss

MACAU – When the announcer declared victory for the defending champion, Zou Shiming still carried his Chinese flag and waved to the home audience.

The flag-bearer for Chinese boxing lost his first title fight on Saturday, as IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng of Thailand defeated him by unanimous decision.

“I didn’t get the victory today, but it’s the beginning of a new journey. Boxing is just like life, so it doesn’t matter,” said Zou at the post-fight press conference. “Boxers are like this, we Chinese people are like this, I will give another shot and start all over again.”

Zou is propelling boxing’s surge in popularity in China, but he came up short in the biggest test so far with the record in his short pro career falling to 6-1 (1 KO).

The challenger said what he took from his first title fight was “one more experience” as he didn’t think he was outclassed.

“I don’t think my technique lost to his; perhaps the reason is he had more experience dealing with this type of title fight,” he said. “I don’t think my opponent was aggressive either. On the contrary, I think I was the more aggressive one in a state of stalemate.”