Zou Shiming is at a crossroads.
China's double Olympic gold medalist from Zunyi, Guizhou province, pretty much faces a win-or-retire scenario on Saturday when he returns to the ring for the first time in 10 months to fight unbeaten Natan Santana Coutinho of Brazil in a 12-rounder for the WBO International flyweight crown.
Their fight is the headliner of a nine-bout card at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, promoted by Top Rank.
In the semi-main event, 2012 Olympic middleweight champion Ryota Murata of Japan (8-0, 5 KOs), ranked No 4 by the WBC, will square off with Argentina's Gaston Alejandro Vega (24-10-1, 10 KOs).
Turning 35
Zou, who will celebrate his 35th birthday on March 18, is coming off a loss to Thailand's Amnat Ruenroeng for the vacant IBF world title last spring.
The 2008 and 2012 Olympic champ won just three of the 12 rounds and sustained a torn rotator cuff en route to his first loss in seven pro fights, while Ruenroeng improved to 15-0.
While recovering from the injury, Zou co-starred with his four-year-old son in Where Are We Going, Dad, a hit reality series for Hunan Television - but now it's back to reality.
If he loses to the 21-year-old Coutinho, who is 12-0 with 10 KOs, Zou (6-1, 1 KO) will almost certainly drop out of the world top 10, which would make another title shot extremely unlikely. But Top Rank boss Bob Arum remains optimistic.
"Zou will get back on the horse and then move to another title fight," Arum said. "But he has to get by this fight first. He's monetized boxing in China. He's making a fortune in reality television, but he wants to fight."
Coutinho is coming off a first-round knockout in his most recent outing, in Sao Paulo in June. He turned pro two months ahead of Zou in 2013, but has banked just 33 rounds in his 12 fights compared to Zou's 57 rounds in seven bouts.
Besides the 13-year age gap, the major disparity between the two fighters is the quality of their opposition. Zou's seven opponents have compiled a combined record of 89-8-5, while the dozen names on Coutinho's hit list are an abysmal 49-116-2.
As for rebounding - as much mentally as physically - from his loss to Ruenroeng, Zou is philosophic: "I lost the fight. That is part of life. It was an experience, but I am ready to return. Without losing, you cannot really taste the sweetness of victory."
After watching his fighter lose 116-111 on all three scorecards, trainer Freddie Roach vowed to make Zou more "complete."
"We've had to go back to square one to make him more complete, more adaptable," said Roach, a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
"The last guy gave us a lot of trouble by running around; he moved a lot and was a very good counterpuncher. I didn't see that kind on the video we studied. The fight plan I devised totally sucked."
Stacked undercard
Saturday's undercard will feature six other Chinese boxers: 6-foot-3 light heavyweight Qu Peng (9-1-1, 6 KOs) of Dalian takes on Australia's Aaron Lai (7-3) in a six-rounder; southpaw light flyweight Ma Yimingof Dalian (12-6, 7 KOs) meets Jaymar Diama of the Philippines (7-5-5) in a six-rounder; featherweight Qing Xianmai of Danzhou, Hainan province, makes his pro debut in a four-rounder against Filipino Marjo Borres (6-5); super middleweight Dong Chaoqun (3-1) of Weifang, Shandong province, squares of with debuting Asaidula Musha of Xinjiang, Uygur autonomous region; and super lightweight Liu Qiang of Xining, Qinghai province, (1-1) faces Joseph Omana (12-2) of the Philippines.
