Ready or not, Chinese flyweight star Zou Shiming will get the world title shot that was virtually preordained for him from the moment he signed a professional contract with Top Rank in January 2013.
Just two years later, and in only his seventh professional fight, Zou will challenge his former amateur rival and reigning 112-pound world titleholder Amnat Ruenroeng on Saturday (HBO2, 5 p.m. ET/PT, same-day tape delay) at the Venetian Macao's Cotai Arena in Macau, China.
HBO2's coverage will also include a scheduled 10-round junior middleweight fight between Glen Tapia (22-1, 14 KOs), 25, of Passaic, New Jersey, and former world title challenger Daniel Dawson (40-4-1, 26 KOs), 37, of Australia. Spanish-language network UniMas will also have tape-delayed coverage of other bouts from the card at 11 p.m. ET/PT, including Mexican lightweight Jose Felix Jr. (28-1-1, 23 KOs) against the Philippines' Raymond Sermona (17-4-5, 8 KOs) in an eight-round bout.
"Expect me to be champion," Zou said through a translator. "This will be the biggest test for me."
This moment is what it was all about when the 33-year-old Zou turned pro and became the catalyst for big-time boxing in Macau because of his fame in China, where he was one of the most decorated amateurs in boxing history.
Zou (6-0, 1 KO) won two Olympic gold medals, in 2012 in London and in 2008 at home in Beijing, as well as a bronze medal in 2004 in Athens. He was also a three-time gold medalist at the World Amateur Championships (2005, 2007 and 2011) and was the first Chinese Olympic boxing medalist as well as his country's first gold medalist in the Olympics and World Amateur Championships.
"I am asked a lot which means more, winning Olympic gold or a world title," Zou said. "They are equally important to me. [Saturday's] fight is the next step for me. It is the biggest thing for me right now, but for me personally, not bigger than winning the gold medals."
When Zou turned pro in March 2013, his amateur style was very evident. His punches were more like slaps because he got very little leverage on the shots. He clearly needed to gain strength.
He had a lot to learn, but he worked hard under the tutelage of Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, the seven-time trainer of the year, who will celebrate his 55th birthday in Macau on Thursday as he prepares Zou for the fight.
"I am very calm, not nervous," Zou said. "I have been prepared for this moment for a long time. I am focused on myself -- on executing Freddie's game plan. I felt a lot more pressure when I was in the Olympics. This time the pressure is on Ruenroeng.
"I feel very confident with the professional fighting style now. In my last fight, which went 12 rounds, I really felt like a professional fighter. That was a turning point for me -- a landmark fight. The three Olympics, the World Amateur Championships and the past two years as a professional have prepared me for [Saturday]. I don't need any more fights to prepare me for challenging for a world title."
Roach was able to essentially remold Zou into a professional fighter. He began to sit down on his punches better as he gained more pro experience and finally scored a seventh-round knockout in his fourth fight. In his sixth fight in November, his first scheduled for 12 rounds, Zou did not get a knockout, but he put on a power punching clinic against durable Kwanpichit Onesongchaigym, who was 27-0-2 entering the bout. He dropped the Thai fighter three times and cruised to a shutout decision to set up the title shot.
"He's a very intelligent young man, very dedicated," said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, adding that Zou will earn $750,000 and Ruenroeng $250,000. "He fell in love with Freddie and Freddie gave him a whole dose of confidence -- that if he followed Freddie's instructions he would be a good pro. He realized how much pro boxing is very different than the amateurs. Some don't realize that, especially if they were successful in the amateurs. But he realized it right away, that he would have to change his style completely to be successful in the pros.
"He knew he could keep his ability but alter the way he fought and he believed Freddie was the guy to help him do that. I believe he has progressed at a remarkable clip. He's a much stronger-looking young man than he was when he turned pro."
Zou is quite familiar with Ruenroeng (14-0, 5 KOs), 35, of Thailand, himself a late starter as a professional after his own strong amateur career.
They met three times in the amateur ranks. Ruenroeng won the first fight of the unpaid trilogy (as a late substitute called up by the Thailand amateur team) at the 2007 King's Cup, which was also Ruenroeng's first international competition. Zou won their next two bouts, including in the semifinals at the 2010 Asian Games.
"What I remember most is that he is good at gauging the distance between us to land his punches," Zou said. "He's very lengthy with his reach. He was also very good at timing his punches."
Ruenroeng won a vacant world title by decision against Rocky Fuentes in Thailand in January 2014 and has defended the title twice, both by split decision against quality opponents in former titleholder Kazuto Ioka of Japan and McWilliams Arroyo of Puerto Rico.
Roach likes how Ruenroeng's style matches up with Zou's.
"The Thai fighter is a much different fighter now as a pro than he was as an amateur, but I really think Shiming should win the fight," Roach said. "We have a really good game plan. Amnat is a counterpuncher. I saw his last fight against the guy from Puerto Rico [Arroyo], and I thought the Puerto Rican won. He dropped Ruenroeng. I told Shiming he's a sucker for the left hook. We have a good game plan. We're ready."
Zou also said he is ready and looking to make more history for China, which has had only one professional world champion in Xiong Zhao Zhong, who won a strawweight world title in 2012 and made two successful defenses before losing it 13 months ago.
"I really want to win the world title and bring it back to China," Zou said. "It would be the first time a Chinese fighter won Olympic gold and a world championship belt as a professional. No one has ever done that.
"I want to make my country proud and advance the sport of boxing throughout China. I am ready for my date with destiny."