Packing a punch

China's amateur boxers are top-class, and promoters are eager to develop the infrastructure that can make them champions at the professional level, Matt Hodges reports in Shanghai.

When Inner Mongolia's unheralded Wang Yingang brought Shanghai Fight Night to a chilling climax with a bloody fifth-round knockout earlier this month, he sent a statement of intent to the mostly expat crowd and sponsors like the Macao-based Cotai Ring Club.

These made-on-the-mainland fists of fury, Wang seemed to say, prove we Chinese can pack a killer punch. Combined with a decent defensive repertoire, they're game-changers. They can go all the way. Zou Shiming is not as good as it gets. What he symbolizes is a work in progress.