Boxing Day 13 Review: Zou one step closer to gold

(BEIJING, August 22) -- Zou Shiming took one step closer to winning China's first-ever gold medal in boxing when he defeated Paddy Barnes of Ireland today. The world champion in the light-flyweight class, Zou comprehensively beat the Irish boxer, who failed to score a point.

Barnes may have complained about the judging after the bout, but there was no doubt that Zou was the more fluent boxer. Zou's opponent in the final on August 24 will be Serdamba Purevdorj of Mongolia, who has fought cleverly throughout the tournament but should be no match for the flashy fighting style of Zou.

Looking back at the tournament, the gold medal match for the light-flyweight class was really Zou's second bout against Nordine Oubaali. Oubaali has been the only boxer to rival Zou in terms of speed and tactics. The French boxer forced Zou to attack him, which allowed Oubaali to earn points through quick punches. The score was tied at 3-3 and Zou was probably fortunate to be judged the superior boxer.

James DeGale continues to be a breath of fresh air as he rampages through the tournament. The British middleweight easily beat Darren John Sutherland of Ireland 10-3. However, the British boxer may need to temper his natural exuberance in his gold medal bout against Cuban Emilio Correa Bayeaux.

"I fought him (DeGale) once in Bulgaria and I won. So this time I have to change my tactics because he already knows me. I have to surprise him," said Correa Bayeax after learning that he would face DeGale in the final.

One of the most interesting bouts of the day was the heavyweight fight between Italy's Clemente Russo and Deontay Wilder of the United States. World champion Russo seemed like a mountain of experience compared to Wilder, who has only been boxing for two years.

"I thought it would be harder work. He (Wilder) was slow but he's 2.01 meters tall and I needed time to find the right way to shorten the distances between us," said Russo, who is 21cm shorter than the American boxer.