Zou Shiming wins before home crowd on Pacquiao undercard

MACAU (AP) — Zou Shiming treated the home crowd to an entertaining win Sunday, knocking down Kwanpichit Onesongchaigym three times on his way to a foul-plagued unanimous decision on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri title fight.

The Olympic gold medalist dominated the fight most of the way, but his Thai opponent never stopped coming forward and the two engaged in some good exchanges late in the fight that had the sellout crowd cheering at the final bell.

Fighting for only the sixth time as a pro, Zou was cut over his left eye by an apparent head butt in the middle rounds and had to deal with an opponent who tried everything he could to overcome a talent and strength advantage. Zou’s left eye was nearly swollen at the end of the bout and he looked worse than Kwanpichit, though he won by a lopsided margin on the three ringside scorecards.

“My eye really bothered me but I fought through it,” Zou said. “It was the toughest fight I ever had.”

Zou, who won gold medals in the Beijing and London Olympics, joined fellow double gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine as big winners on the card at the Venetian Macau. He remained unbeaten as a pro in a fight that paid him $700,000.

Kwanpichit went down three times, was penalized for a low blow, and was warned for head butts as he tried to pull an upset. But he was beaten 119-106 on two scorecards and 120-103 on the third.

Promoters said that if Zou won, he would headline a Feb. 14 fight card in Macau in a 112-pound title bout, though it will probably now be later because his cut will need time to heal.

“I want to fight for the world title,” Zou said. “I want to win it for China, do it right here.”

via Zou wins before home crowd on Pacquiao undercard – Yahoo Sports.