With crowd behind him, Chinese boxer pummels opponent

Zou Shiming began his quest for China's first boxing gold medal in style on Wednesday with an 11-2 victory over Eduard Bermudez of Venezuela.

Zou Shiming began his quest for China’s first boxing gold medal in style on Wednesday with an 11-2 victory over Eduard Bermudez of Venezuela in the light flyweight division as the Olympics’ biggest and smallest boxers began wrapping up the tournament’s preliminary bouts.

Deontay Wilder stopped the US team’s freefall with a brutal come-from-behind victory over Algeria’s Abdelaziz Touilbini, while Osmai Acosta shut out his Nigerian opponent to open his chase for Cuba’s fifth consecutive Olympic heavyweight title.

Zou became a national hero for winning China’s first boxing medal with a bronze in Athens, and he followed it up with world championships in 2005 and 2007. Though the martial-arts-trained Zou often struggles to make his 48-kg weight limit, he doesn’t seem to lose much power.

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Zou entered Workers’ Gymnasium with both arms stretched high, pumping his gloves with frenetic vigour to a huge ovation from the two-thirds-full arena. When Bermudez followed him, a few boos could be heard for nearly the first time in the tournament’s five days.

Zou is an exceptionally athletic fighter with a good-looking jab, which he used to dominate the bout. With a 7-0 lead early in the third round, Zou began to toy with Bermudez, dropping his hands and tempting the Venezuelan to try anything he pleased.

“It was just normal, and relatively easy,” Zou said. “I was a little nervous before the fight, but when I got into the ring, I heard all the fans cheering for me, and then I forgot about the pressure. I really love this feeling. I felt like a man in the ring.”

Zou will next face Winston Montero of the Dominican Republic, who brazenly guaranteed victory over Zou after winning his opening bout.