CHINA?S BIGGEST BOXING PROMOTER INVADES AUSTRALIA
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 26 Jun 2015
China?s biggest boxing promoter Liu Gang has invaded the garden city of Toowoomba in Queensland, Australia with two of his fighters and The Chronicle newspaper says he?s "ready to hit Toowoomba with a bang."
Liu Gang?s fighters Xu Chan and Wang Xinghua will see action in a ten fight card at Rumours International with Xu battling WBC Oceania super lightweight champion Kris George and Wang Xinghua facing Will Young in a featherweight showdown on Saturday.
The Chronicle reports that Chan who has a record of 5 wins with 2 defeats won by a majority decision over Josh Baillie in China last February so the Australian champion George and his team have an idea of what to expect.
Smithy?s TGW Gym trainer and promoter of the fight card Brendon Smith said he had the chance ?to see exactly what was going on in China? when he watched the fights there along with Baillie and Steve Spark.
Smith remarked, ?It absolutely blew me away how big boxing has become in China.?
Not many fight fans know that Liu Gang was a former Olympian and the first Chinese boxer to turn pro and ended up with a record of one win against 6 losses after a career based in Australia from 1996 to 1998.
Professional boxing has grown in China since the late WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman pioneered with the minimum weight title fight in which Xiong Zhao Zhong won the vacant crown with a twelve round unanimous decision over Mexico?s Javier Martinez Rosendiz on November 24, 2012 in Kunming, China.
With Top Rank promoter Bob Arum staging several big fights in Macau and also in the mainland the sport has sparked tremendous growth aided by the huge Chinese population.
Liu Gang himself said ?now is just the start of boxing in China. I think professional boxing is getting bigger and bigger in China.?
The Chronicle said it?s the first time that Liu Gang has brought boxers to Australia and they have spent plenty of time since their arrival jogging around Queens Park and visiting Picnic Point? prompting the promoter to remark ?Its wonderful to be in Toowoomba. Earlier this year I hosted Brendon Smith and tow of his boxers in China for one of our cards so its nice to come back to his back yard.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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