Zou's gotta brand new bag

Olympic champion boxer vows to repeat his success in London with a different, more unique fighting approach

Four years ago, boxer Zou Shiming proved the Chinese could roar in the ring after claiming the Beijing Olympic gold medal in the 48-kilogram division.

Today, his iconic style is taking a beating from his opponents. By all accounts, he seems to have lost his mojo. But that hasn't deterred the 30-year-old, who remains confident that he will defend his title at the London Olympics with a more versatile fighting style derived from Chinese martial arts.

"My style is no certain style now," Zou said after attending the adidas ClimaCool 10th anniversary in the 798 Art Zone in Beijing on Wednesday. "I've been inventing and honing my new fighting method since the winter training camp started three months ago. I don't want to be labeled as some certain type. I will show the world how versatile I am at the London Olympics."

He will have a lot of hurdles to overcome to again win gold this summer. He is moving up in class to the 49-kg light-flyweight division, where he could be outsized and overpowered by his opponents. Zou said the key is his mobility to escape punches and counterattack with left-right combinations.

Zou's style, dubbed "pirate fighting" by the media, has given him advantages because it relies more on footwork and accuracy and less on brawling during a match, which lasts for four two-minute rounds.

Opponents, however, have caught on to Zou's style, having gotten more comfortable over the years. That, he said, has forced him to modify his old ways.

"I've found a new way to improve my tactics that is to combine martial arts and boxing," said Zou, who started to learn Wushu, a modern hybrid sport based on martial arts, at the age of 12 in his home town of Zunyi in southwest China's Guizhou province.

"Martial arts are more flexible while boxing is more direct. Mixing them together is a specialty of Chinese boxing," he said.

Zou's Wushu training has given him even greater footwork, he says, to combine with his innate sense of distance and his uncanny ability to know when to lunge and withdraw to stay out of his opponent's reach.

With an Olympic gold medal and three consecutive world champion titles in his bag, Zou has single-handedly put his country on the boxing map, but also admits his gas tank has recently been running on fumes.

"Sometime, I feel like being crushed by a big ball that was made of injury, fatigue and pressure after years of fights," he said. "But I am a veteran and the spiritual leader of the team now. I have to hang on and help the young guns with my experience."

Zou isn't the only must-watch boxer from China. A new breed of boxers have emerged from last year's world championships and have been added to the Chinese roster, including light-heavyweight Zhang Xiaoping, who won gold in the Beijing Olympics.

But London won't be Zou's career sendoff. He still expects to land a stint in the professional ring after his amateur playing days are over. He had already expressed his desire to turn pro after the Beijing Olympics, but decided against it to honor his commitment to his country.

The decision to turn pro won't be postponed this time, he said.

"A lot of fans support me to try out at the pro competitions abroad. I also want to test my caliber facing the tougher opponents there. So, I guess it will be the ideal timing after London," Zou said.

The pull to turn pro also comes from boxing's popularity in the Western world.

"Some people even recognized me when I was walking in the street in Cuba (during competitions). That's a surprise because hardly a person knew me when I hang out in China," said Zou, who in 2008 before the Olympics was interviewed by The New Yorker magazine.

"Boxing is a very popular event in a lot of foreign countries, as same as soccer and basketball. But it's still small in China. But I already have seen big potentials, and hopefully I could do my best to promote by winning another gold in London," Zou said.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/13/2012 page24)