Xiong Chaozhong or Xiong Zhaozhong (born October 3, 1982) is a Chinese
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
. He is the first Chinese/Hmong to win a boxing world title, having held the
WBC mini-flyweight
Mini flyweight, also known as paperweight, minimumweight, strawweight, or super atomweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
In professional boxing, boxers in the minimumweight division may weigh no more than . This is a relatively new ...
title from 2012 to 2014.
Early life
Xiong was born in rural
Wénshān to two
Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related ...
farmers. He was the second child. Xiong grew up in poverty and after one year in high school, he dropped out to find work to support his family. Xiong ended up working in coal mines and in a banana plantation. Xiong used to scrap often in his youth and one of his cousins eventually convinced him to try boxing professionally, so Xiong moved to
Kunming
Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...
. and it was in Kunming China where he began to train under Zovi Boxing behind the Garden Hotel in northern Kunming. There he was trained by American Coach Abraham Darwish for 7 years and with no Amateur experience turned him into a world class fighter.
Professional career
Xiong debuted as a pro shortly after arriving in Kunming, with a points draw against Yu Ling Feng on August 15, 2006. Xiong won his next 11 fights, eight of them by stoppage, and claimed the WBC-ABCO Continental
light-flyweight title. However, he would drop the title in his first defense, losing a unanimous decision to Filipino journeyman Julius Alcos. On May 26, 2009, Xiong challenged
Daisuke Naito
is a former professional boxer from Japan. He is the former WBC and lineal flyweight champion, and former Japanese and OPBF flyweight champion.
Professional career
Naito made his professional debut in October, 1996. He compiled an undefeat ...
for the
WBC flyweight
Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight.
Professional boxing
The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...
title in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
. Xiong had a considerable size disadvantage, but he was able to drop Naito in round 6. Per WBC rules, Xiong had two points deducted for accidental headbutts which opened cuts on Naito. Naito also had a point deduction after an accidental headbutt cut Xiong in round 10. Naito retained his title with a close unanimous decision (114–110, 114–111, 113–111) win. Over the next three years, Xiong suffered two more losses in Japan, dropping decisions to Takuya Kogawa and Shin Ono.
Xiong defeated
Javier Martínez Resendiz for the vacant
WBC mini-flyweight
Mini flyweight, also known as paperweight, minimumweight, strawweight, or super atomweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
In professional boxing, boxers in the minimumweight division may weigh no more than . This is a relatively new ...
title. This made him the first Chinese boxer to ever win a world title. The fight took place in Kunming. Xiong cut Martínez in the third round and outboxed him for most of the fight, winning a unanimous decision (116–114, 116-112 and 119–110).
Xiong's next fight took place in
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, where he faced
Denver Cuello
Denver Cuello (born 12 December 1986) is a Filipino boxing promoter and a professional boxer who challenged for the WBC strawweight title in 2013.
Professional career
Cuello made his professional debut on September 26, 2004, against Marlon Vill ...
in a
mandatory defense. Xiong was dropped in the first round. However, Cuello was unable to use his right hand because of a
torn rotator cuff
Rotator cuff tendinopathy is a process of senescence. The pathophysiology is mucoid degeneration. Most people develop rotator cuff tendinopathy within their lifetime.
As part of rotator cuff tendinopathy, the tendon can thin and develop a defec ...
. Nevertheless, the fight remained close and Xiong won a narrow
majority decision
A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (at ...
(113-113, 113–110, 115–112). After a further defense, Xiong faced
Oswaldo Novoa
Oswaldo Novoa Mora (born 2 February 1982) is a Mexican professional boxer who held the WBC strawweight title in 2014.
Professional career
On October 5, 2012, Novoa defeated José Alfredo Zúñiga by twelfth round unanimous decision to win t ...
in February 2014. Xiong was stopped by
technical knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
in round 5, losing his world title on his third defense.
On October 25, 2014, Xiong attempted to regain a world title, facing
WBA mini-flyweight champion
Hekkie Budler
Hector "Hekkie" Budler (born 18 May 1988) is a South African former professional boxer. He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Organization (IBO) minimumweight ...
in
Monaco
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
. Budler and Xiong traded knockdowns in rounds 2 and 3. The rest of the fight remained close, but Budler retained with a unanimous decision win (114–112, 114–112, 118–108). Xiong's final title challenge took place in 2018, when he faced WBA mini-flyweight champion
Knockout CP Freshmart
Thammanoon Niyomtrong (, born 20 September 1990), known by his ring name Knockout CP Freshmart, is a Thai professional boxer and former Muay Thai fighter who held the World Boxing Association (WBA) mini-flyweight title from 2016 to 2020, and the ...
. Knockout outpointed Xiong to take a wide unanimous decision win (118–110, 118–110, 116–112). Xiong announced his retirement after the fight.
Professional boxing record
References
External links
*
Interview with Xiong Chao Zhong
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xiong, Chaozhong
Mini-flyweight boxers
1982 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Yunnan
People from Wenshan
Chinese male boxers
Hmong people