Yang main draw as city hosts 1st pro event
THE first world class professional boxing event to be held in China’s mainland — Fist of Power — will be staged at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai this evening.
Ik Yang, or Yang Lianhui (15-0, 9KOs), 29, from Dalian, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, will take on Thailand’s Sukkasem Kietyoungyuth (13-2, 8KOs) in a 10-round challenge for the WBO Asia Pacific Lightweight title.
The co-main fight will feature Filipino Randy Petalcorin (21-1-1, 16KOs) battling Walter Tello of Panama in a 12-round fight for the WBA Interim Light Flyweight title.
A total of seven Chinese boxers will trade punches and skills with counterparts from the Philippines, Thailand and Australia, including unbeaten light heavyweight Zhou Yunfei (2-0), bronze medalist at last year’s National Games.
According to Li Sheng, president of the co-organizer SECA, most tickets for the debut professional boxing event in Shanghai will be given away as charity or gift tickets.
“Boxing is still regarded as a grass-roots, or underground, sport on the mainland, while it has become mainstream in cities like (China’s) Macau,” Li suggested.
Trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, coach of Philippine icon Manny Pacquiao and Chinese Olympic champion Zou Shiming, Yang will be going for a third intercontinental belt in his professional career when he takes on Thai rival today.
Yang represented Beijing at the national amateur championships before he turned professional and took part in events in South Korea. The former “bad boy” spent four months in prison in 2008 for breaking a rival’s chin in an off-the-ring fight.
“Compared to Zou Shiming, I’m a grass-roots child,” Yang joked. Talking about today’s fight, the Chinese boxer said he hadn’t looked at videos of his opponent’s fights, focusing mainly on his own training. “I want to take this belt home as a gift for my father,” Yang said at the weigh-in ceremony yesterday.
Interestingly, Pacquiao will defend his WBO welterweight title against American Chris Algieri at the Venetian’s Cotai Arena in Macau on November 22, when Zou (5-0) will fight over 12 rounds for the first time against Thailand’s Kwanpichit 13 Rien Express (27-0-2) on the undercard, with the winner earning a shot at the WBO flyweight title in February.
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