Daisuke Naito will defend his junior flyweight title against Xiong Zhao Zhong in Shanghai, China. Evidently, this will serve as a lead-in to DREAM 9. This is the first time a Chinese boxer will be contending for a title, though it probably won't be the last. Still, one would think they'd be able to find someone a little better than this guy. Zhong is 12-1-1, has never fought outside of China, and lost his only fight with someone who had a winning (13-6) record.
I realize it's a good thing if we can popularize professional boxing in China, but the WBC should be ashamed of themselves for sanctioning this mess. Frankly, China just isn't ready. They didn't even have a legitimate amateur boxing program until Beijing earned the right to host the Olympics, and none of their better amateurs has turned pro. Not that long ago, I remember seeing ads put out by the Chinese government offering to have pretty much anyone who knew a jab from a hook to move out to China to be a professional boxing trainer. Jumping the gun and having someone who is obviously a lamb for slaughter fighting for a belt isn't the right way to do this.
