Beaten Zou Shiming vows to win back world title after shock loss to outsider Sho Kimura

Zou scotches rumours that he could retire after his defeat to the Japanese by declaring he will fight until his last breath

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Chinese boxer Zou Shiming has vowed to win back his world title following his shock loss to Japan’s Sho Kimura . Photo: AFP

Published: 4:24pm, 31 Jul 2017Updated: 10:44pm, 31 Jul 2017

Chinese boxing star Zou Shiming vowed Monday to “fight until my last breath” to recover the title he lost in Shanghai when he was knocked out in his first defence of the WBO flyweight crown.

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Zou was a strong favourite to beat Sho Kimura on Friday, but he ran out of juice as the fight wore on and the younger Japanese silenced a rowdy home crowd with an 11th-round upset victory.

Zou, whose professional record now stands 9-2 (two KOs), might be in the twilight of his career at 36 but he still wants his belt back.

“I believe in fate, but am not resigned to it. I will go on fighting until my last breath,” he posted early on Monday on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

Zou had said that the loss in Shanghai on Friday could be his last bout during a rambling speech after the fight. Photo: Handout

“A man must keep fighting to recover what he has lost.”

Zou won the vacant World Boxing Organisation (WBO) flyweight belt in November in Las Vegas, but since turning professional in 2013 he has largely failed to replicate the dominant form of a hugely successful amateur career that included two Olympic golds and three world titles.