Zou Shiming punches Jozef Ajtai during the second round of a WBO flyweight title boxing match
Bob Arum was right. The CEO of Top Rank and Chinese icon Zou Shiming’s promoter predicted a sparse Chinese fan turnout Saturday night at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. And for the first time in Zou’s professional career, the stands he fought in front of weren’t filled to the brim with new, yet energetic Chinese boxing fans.
Instead, in a packed house, the majority of the electric crowd was filled with flag-waving Puerto Rican fans supporting Felix Verdejo and Roman “Rocky’ Martinez, who co-headlined the championship.
Fighting at the theater provided Zou’s smallest capacity venue to date. But despite the small Chinese turnout, a handful of Chinese flags waved in the stands. “The crowd yelled loudly and made me feel like it was a home match and not away,” Zou said.
Giving the millions of Chinese boxing fans watching at home something to cheer about, Zou (8-1, 2 KOs) easily beat 19-year-old Jozsef Ajtai (15-3, 10 KOs) of Hungary in a 10-round unanimous decision. “My competitor’s objective was to stand to the last minute of the fight,” Zou said. “He was afraid of the competition.”
Sheng Li, CEO of Sports Entertainment Content Activation (SECA) in Shanghai, said Saturday prior to the fight he didn’t know how big Zou’s fan turnout would be, but predicted approximately 100.
“It will be different with this crowd, but this is what he wants,” Sheng said. “At Madison Square Garden, every boxer wants to fight here. He [Zou] has fought in China eight times and now he wants to fight outside of China.”
Fighting seven times in Macau at Cotai Arena, Zou sold out the 12,000-15,00-seat venue, and in Shanghai he did the same in his most recent fight on Jan. 31 in an arena that can accommodate about 10,000 fans, according to Sheng.
Zou’s win Saturday will boost his stardom in China even more, according to Ye Chen, part of Shenzhen Media Group in China that broadcasted the fight back to Zou’s homeland.
Ye was one of a handful of Chinese media making the flight from China to attend Zou’s bout. About 600,000 people watched the fight on LeTV through mobile, desktop and television.
The Chinese media predicted a large viewing audience, mostly on mobile devices due to Zou’s fight taking place when it’s Sunday morning in China, and the Chinese people work Sunday morning because of a Chinese holiday break Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
“Despite the time, Zou has the most audience for fighters in China,” said WeiWei Wu, a member of LeTV.
Zou’s stardom was showcased on season 3 of “Dad, Where Are We Going?” in China. The season aired from July-October 2015.
“The reality show is him taking his son fishing and various activities, and it’s the highest-rated reality TV show in China,” Arum said.
Zou and his wife, Ying Ying Ren, a presenter on China television, make up one of China’s most popular couples. Zou also made a cameo in the Hollywood blockbuster “Transformer 4: Age of Extinction.” Samantha Pell, New York , AP
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