A Top Chinese Flyweight Is a Heavyweight at Home

导读:对于开始职业生涯以来只打过五场比赛的邹市明来说，这样的比赛异乎寻常地困难。而且，帕奎奥之所以赢得现在的名声，正是靠击溃所有的挑战者。如果邹市明想让自己的人气沿着类似的道路，超出亚洲，一直走向美国，那么他就必须要开始挑战最强的选手，而且要以最激动人心的方式取胜。

MACAU — Given Manny Pacquiao’s popularity, it is not surprising to see images of him lining the halls of a hotel this week.

澳门——毕竟曼尼·帕奎奥(Manny Pacquiao)名气很大，酒店的大厅里这周挂满了他的画像也并不令人惊讶。

But also featured prominently on the official fight poster, besides Pacquiao’s opponent this weekend, Chris Algieri of Long Island, is a third fighter on the card, who is sharing the marquee.

不过除了帕奎奥本周末（本文最初发表于11月21日——编注）的对手，来自长岛的克里斯·阿尔吉里(Chris Algieri)，官方的海报上还突出展示了同场竞技的第三位参赛选手。

He is Zou Shiming, and it is not an accident that his picture is front and center. According to those involved with the promotion of the fight, which is expected to fill the 15,000-seat arena at the Venetian Macao, Zou’s presence is every bit as important as Pacquiao’s — if not more.

他就是邹市明，而他在画面里站在前面正中间的位置也并不意外。这场比赛估计能让澳门威尼斯人酒店(Venetian Macao)可以容纳1.5万观众的赛场座无虚席。而且比赛推广活动的参与者透露，邹市明的出场和帕奎奥同样重要，甚至可以说更重要。

“He’s the poster boy for boxing in China,” said Bob Arum, the chief executive of Top Rank Boxing, which represents Zou. “Manny is very popular. But if you went around and talked to the audience, Zou Shiming is No. 1.”

“他是中国拳击的代表人物，”鲍勃·阿鲁姆(Bob Arum)说。“曼尼·帕奎奥很受欢迎。但四下打听打听，与观众聊一聊就会发现，邹市明才是第一。”阿鲁姆是邹市明的代表公司Top Rank Boxing的首席执行官。

Zou, a 5-foot-5, 112-pound flyweight, achieved elite status in China mostly on the strength of his Olympic gold medal victories in 2008 — in Beijing — and 2012 in London. 这位身高1.64米、体重112磅（约合50公斤）的蝇量级选手，主要凭借2008年北京奥运会上的金牌，以及2012年伦敦奥运会上的金牌，在中国赢得了极高的地位。

“I was very excited and proud of him because he’s Chinese, and he won the Olympics,” said Li Chu Fa, a boxing fan from the Shunde district of Guangdong Province. “All my friends went, ‘Wow!’ ”

“我很激动，也为他自豪，因为他是中国人，而且还赢得了奥运冠军，”来自广东顺德的拳击爱好者李楚发（音）说。“我所有的朋友都‘哇’地叫出了声。”

Zou turned professional in April 2013, and since then, his fan base has only grown. Arum said he expected the Chinese television audience for this weekend’s bout to exceed 300 million, roughly three times the American audience during the Super Bowl.

邹市明在2013年4月成为职业选手，自那以来，他的粉丝群体就不断扩大。阿鲁姆说，他预计周末的比赛在中国能有3亿电视观众，大约是“超级碗”(Super Bowl)时美国观众人数的三倍。

Ed Tracy, chief executive of Sands China, which includes the Venetian, was eager to develop boxing in Macau as a way to attract customers from mainland China. Tracy believed that Zou was the only viable candidate to anchor those efforts. His conviction has been validated over the course of Zou’s first five professional fights, all of which have taken place at the hotel, and all of which have drawn large crowds.

金沙中国(Sands China)首席执行官埃德·特雷西(Ed Tracy)盼望着在澳门发展拳击，以此吸引来自中国内地的顾客。威尼斯人是金沙旗下的产业。特雷西相信，邹市明是支撑所有这些努力的唯一可靠人选。在邹市明打前五场职业比赛的过程中，他的论断得到了印证。这几场比赛都是在威尼斯人举行的，每一场都吸引到了大量观众。

“To have an opportunity to coalesce a program around somebody who’s a national hero doesn’t happen every day,” Tracy said. “Quite frankly, this guy has delivered in a way that has really surprised me.”

“围绕着一个民族英雄来推出一个项目，这种机会可不是每天都有的，”特雷西说。“老实说，这哥们产生的效果，真的让我感到惊讶。”

Referring to Macau’s emergence as a destination on the world boxing scene, Arum said: “He opened this up. All of this is happening not because of Pacquiao, but because of Shiming.”

澳门在世界拳击赛场上，正在成为一个越来越重要的城市。阿鲁姆评价道，“这个局面是他打开的。所有这些之所以发生，并不是因为帕奎奥，而是因为市明。”

For his part, Zou is reluctant to accept such accolades. Before a workout Tuesday at the hotel’s gym, he demurred, citing Pacquiao as the weekend’s true star.

然而邹市明本人却不肯接受这样的赞誉。周二在酒店的健身房里锻炼身体之前，他提出异议，说帕奎奥才是本周末真正的明星。

“The audience is here for Pacquiao,” Zou said through an interpreter. “I’m just happy that I have a chance to perform on the same stage as Manny.”

“观众是来看帕奎奥的，”邹市明通过翻译回答。“有机会和曼尼同场竞技，我已经很高兴了。”

Zou is perhaps the only person here who questions his ability to compete with Pacquiao as a drawing card. More skeptics can be found, though, in discussions of whether Zou can approach Pacquiao’s level of accomplishment in the ring.

在这里，唯一质疑邹市明能否作为大牌选手与帕奎奥竞争的人，或许就是他自己。不过，在谈论邹市明能否在拳坛上取得与帕奎奥一样的成就时，也能听到更多怀疑的声音。

Zou struggled to win a four-round decision against a mediocre opponent in his professional debut. But he has improved drastically, capturing all four of his subsequent bouts against tougher competition.

邹市明首战职业比赛时，经过四回合比赛，只以点数击败了水平一般的对手。然而他的实力已经有了显著的提升，随后的四场比赛中面对更强悍的对手，全都取得了胜利。

“I’ve learned from every single professional fight since the first one,” Zou said. “As my opponents have gotten stronger, I feel I’ve gotten stronger.”

“从第一场开始，我从每一场比赛中都学到了东西，”邹市明说。“随着我的对手越来越强，我也变得越来越强。”

Arum credits the trainer Freddie Roach with accelerating Zou’s progress. He said that Roach, who trains Zou and Pacquiao, was crucial in helping Zou abandon what he dismissively calls the “slap, slap, slap” style that is tailored more for the Olympics.

阿鲁姆认为，邹市明水平提升的速度加快，要归功于他的教练弗雷迪·罗奇(Freddie Roach)。罗奇在指导邹市明的同时，也在指导帕奎奥。阿鲁姆说，罗奇在帮助邹市明抛弃过去的比赛风格时，起到了关键作用。阿鲁姆不以为然地形容，“掴掴掴”的风格更适合奥运会。

“His first fight, he was pretty awful because of his amateur style,” Arum said. “But Freddie has developed him into a really good professional.”

“他第一次打比赛时，因为竞技风格业余而显得相当差，”阿鲁姆说。“但是弗雷迪让他发展成了一个相当出色的职业拳手。”

Roach and Zou have made significant strides in the nearly two years they have worked together. But Roach feels they still have a long way to go.

罗奇和邹市明在合作的近两年时间里，取得了显著的进步。不过罗奇感觉，他们还有很长的路要走。

“Right now, he’s a good fighter,” Roach said during a break in his fighters’ workouts. “His offense is very good. We’ve lost a little bit of his defense in changing him into a more offensive fighter. So we have to work on that a little bit more.”

“现在，他是一个好拳手，”罗奇在他指导的拳手锻炼的间隙说。“他的进攻很棒。为了把他转变成一个攻击性更强的拳手，我们在防守方面有所损失。所以我们要针对这一点再做一些努力。”

Roach might classify Zou as a strong offensive fighter, but he has knocked out only one of his first five opponents. Zou, though, is content to take the victories however he can get them.

尽管罗奇会把邹市明归类为进攻很强的选手，但是他在头五名对手中，只击倒了一人。不过，无论以何种方式取得胜利，邹市明都感到满意。

“I just want to win,” he said. “Knockouts are just one way to win. Getting a knockout takes good opportunity and good timing. If you have more experience, you can get more KOs for sure.”

“我只是想赢，”他说。“击倒只是取胜的一种方式。想击倒对手，需要机会好、时间好。如果有更多经验，肯定就能更多地击倒对手。”

Roach also feels that with seasoning, the knockouts will come.

罗奇也感觉，经过更多历练后，也会更多地击倒对手。

“He really can punch,” Roach said. “He just hasn’t had the confidence of using his power correctly. He’s still young and doubtful a little bit about power.”

“他的确出拳很强，”罗奇说。“只是还欠缺恰当运用力量的自信心。他还年轻，而且对于力量有一些怀疑。”

But Roach quickly added: “He’ll start knocking guys out. I promise.”

不过罗奇很快又说：“他会开始击倒对手的，我保证。”

He will have to start soon, if Arum is correct in his prediction that Zou, 33, does not have many more fights left in him.

他需要快点开始。如果阿鲁姆的预测准确的话，今年33岁的邹市明还能打的比赛已经没那么多了。

“He’ll fight for a couple of more years,” Arum said. “I doubt he gets to 20” bouts.

“他还能再打几年，”阿鲁姆说。“不过我猜应该打不到20场比赛。”

And thus the desire for a rapid career progression. Zou’s opponent this weekend, the Thai Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym, is 27-0-2. Should Zou win, the plan is for him to challenge Amnat Ruenroeng for the International Boxing Federation flyweight championship early next year.

正因如此，他才希望在职业生涯中快速推进。邹市明本周末的对手是泰国拳手坤比七(Kwanpichit Onesongchai Gym)，历史成绩27胜0负2平。如果取胜，接下来的计划是在明年年初国际拳击联合会(International Boxing Federation)的比赛上，挑战阿姆纳特·雷恩伦(Amnat Ruenroeng)，角逐蝇量级冠军。

These are unusually difficult matches for someone only five fights into his professional career. Then again, Pacquiao cultivated his reputation by taking on all comers. If Zou’s popularity is to follow a similar course and extend beyond Asia to the United States, he will have to start taking on and defeating the best, and doing it in exciting fashion.

对于开始职业生涯以来只打过五场比赛的邹市明来说，这样的比赛异乎寻常地困难。而且，帕奎奥之所以赢得现在的名声，正是靠击溃所有的挑战者。如果邹市明想让自己的人气沿着类似的道路，超出亚洲，一直走向美国，那么他就必须要开始挑战最强的选手，而且要以最激动人心的方式取胜。

来源:互联网爱语吧作者:互联网