Zou Shiming Wins Debuts, Estrada Shocks Viloria in Macau

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In the main event of Top Rank's 'Fists of Gold' show at the Cotai Arena in Macau, Zou Shiming easily overcame Eleazar Valenzuela to send the Chinese fight fans home happy. Shiming, who was making his professional debut, couldn't get the KO but showcased some of the defensive ability which made him a two time world amateur champion and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. The 31 year old was known in his amateur days for a hit and run style, but he was clearly under instructions to take a more entertaining approach and started off very confidently, with his hands by his waist and a broad grin on his face.

Valenzuela could not live with his opponent's speed and movement and the only disappointment for Top Rank's Bob Arum, as he looks to move into the Chinese market, was that Shiming seemed to lack the punching power to ever put the Mexican in serious trouble. With the win, his first as a pro, Shiming moves up to 1-0 while Valenzuela's record drops to 2-2-2.

The rest of the card contained some action packed encounters and a couple of surprise results. Brian Viloria was a strong favorite against Juan Francisco Estrada and looked firmly in control during the first half of the fight. After Viloria's back and forth war with Hernan Marquez this was a comparatively quiet affair but it came to life in round six as Estrada started to press forward, fighting at close quarters and banging away to Viloria's body.

This set the pattern for the second half of the fight as Estrada applied relentless pressure to Viloria who slowly faded in the face of a relentless onslaught from the Mexican. Estrada's right uppercut was his most effective weapon and was there for him all night, snapping Viloria's head upwards again and and again.

In the 12th round Estrada seemed to have Viloria hurt, the champion looked to be on wobbly legs and backed up but regained his composure in time to make it to the final bell. Viloria's dominance in the early round made it a nervous wait for Estrada but his strong finish to the fight was enough to win him the fight on the scorecards of Michael Pernick (111-116) and Francisco Martinez (111-117) with Levi Martinez (115-113) the sole dissenting voice.

With the win Estrada improves to 23-2 and he picks up the WBO and WBA flyweight titles. His first defence will be against mandatory challenger Milan Melindo, the Filipino blasted through Indonesian Tommy Seran in four rounds and promoter Bob Arum announced his intention to hold that fight on the next Top Rank Card in Macau - which is tentatively set for late July or early August.

The other world title fight between mandatory challenger Diego Magdaleno, and WBO super featherweight champion Roman Martinez, also ended in a split decision with the Puerto Rican somewhat fortunate to leave Macau with his WBO super featherweight title intact. The decisive moment cam in the fourth round when the defending champion landed a one-two combination with the right hand connecting cleanly and knocking Magdaleno down.

Buoyed by his success Martinez continued to stalk forwards but Magdaleno was circling away, staying out of trouble and landing some effective counters of his own. At the start of the 12th, Magdaleno, presumably sensing he was behind on the scorecards, abandoned his previous strategy and started to attack with a sense of urgency but it proved to be too little too late with the judges scoring the fight 115-112 for Martinez, 116-111 for Magdaleno and 114-113 to Martinez.

There was an upset in the previous fight when Yasutaka Ishimoto claimed the WBO international super bantamweight title at the expense of reigning champion Wilfredo Vazquez Jr, courtesy of a majority decision. Vazquez Jr started strong, using the jab as a range finder and looking to line up power punches with his right hand but Ishimoto kept pressing forward and ripping away with hooks to the body.

The Japanese fighter's superior work rate quickly became the story of the fight and the turning point arrived in virtually the last second of the eighth round when Ishimoto scored a flash knockdown. Vazquez Jr. was not badly hurt but he handed the initiative to Ishimoto who kept pressing forward right up until the end of the fight and was rewarded for his persistence with a majority decision win with scores of 95-95, 96-93, 95-94.