Region's top fighters light up Jiangsu city in major international tournament

Although double Olympic gold medalist and former world flyweight champion Zou Shiming might be forced to hang up his gloves because of severe eye problems, there's a new wave of boxing talent emerging in China.

The semifinal of the International Boxing Federation's Silk Road Champions Tournament wrapped up last Saturday at the Olympic Sports Center in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, with 10 fighters representing China, Russia, Thailand and the Philippines.

All four Chinese contenders－junior featherweight Chen Sen, lightweight Sun Xiangxiang, middleweight Biegezhati Suosailehan and female lightweight Xie Lili－pounded out victories to advance to February's final in Macao.

The first phase of the tournament kicked off in Macao in October, featuring 24 elite boxers from nations along the route of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Weight-class champions from the region will be listed in the IBF's global rankings, making them eligible to challenge world champions.

"The goal of this multinational tournament is to continue to stimulate the growth of boxing in the region and provide a platform for fighters to develop their professional careers by giving them additional opportunities to showcase their talents," said IBF president Daryl Peoples.

"The IBF is grateful to all involved in the creation of this exciting new initiative. The idea was received enthusiastically, and the great support continues to develop the Silk Road tournament and grow the IBF B&R Region."

Sun, who improved to 13-0 with an eighth-round TKO over Filipino Nelson Tinampay, said he appreciates what the IBF is doing. "I really cherish the opportunities this tournament has provided us. For Chinese boxers, we really want an opportunity to show the world the efforts that we have made in the sport. This is also a chance to test ourselves against high-quality opponents."

In 2015, IBF China launched the IBF China Professional Boxing Tournament, a national event to promote the sport's development. The emergence of the Silk Road Champions Tournament is testament to the organization's ongoing efforts to accelerate that mandate.

"With such rapid development over the past three years, the IBF has achieved so much in China," said Xiao Rongqiang, deputy secretary general of IBF China.

"But we still have a lot to do to promote the sport's development there. We want to create and share a new golden era of boxing in our country."

Xuzhou's success in hosting the semifinal of the Silk Road Champions tournament is a clear indication the city is poised to become China's "city of boxing".

Ahead of the tournament, a Belt and Road forum on 'Integrated Development of Sports and Cities' was held to explore how boxing and other sports can fuel the development of centers like Xuzhou.

Wang Liming, an official with the Xuzhou Economic Development Zone, said the city is striving to make sports－especially boxing－its calling card.

"Throughout ancient Chinese history, Xuzhou has always been a city of great military importance, so our people have had a long tradition of learning martial arts," said Wang.

"In modern times, Xuzhou boasts a glorious history of competitive sports."

According to Wang, since 1985, Xuzhou has nurtured 19 elite athletes who have earned 45 world championships in various sports.

The city is also home to 37 different kinds of martial arts, which provides a great atmosphere to embrace competitive sports like boxing.