Zou Shiming dominates Thailand's Prasitsak Phaprom to win WBO flyweight title

LAS VEGAS - China's two-time Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming used superior footwork and quickness, mixed in with a bit of shimmying and showboating, to win a unanimous decision against veteran Thai fighter Prasitsak Phaprom and his first world title Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus.

The 35-year-old Zou, trained by seven-time trainer of the year Freddie Roach, showed his offensive chops as he captured the WBO flyweight title with the impressive victory, his first successful attempt at a title. He was defeated in Macau by Amnat Ruenroeng in March 2015 for the IBF title.

Zou (9-1, 2 KOs) knocked Phaprom (39-2-1) down in the second round, and proceeded to dominate the fight the rest of the way, winning by the scores of 120-107 twice and 119-108. That's one round shy of a complete shutout. USA TODAY Sports scored it 119-108.

Zou Shiming (L) kisses his wife Yingying Ran as he celebrates his unanimous-decision victory over Prasitsak Phaprom to win the WBO flyweight championship title (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

After it was over, Zou's wife, a Chinese TV celebrity, gave her husband a big smooch in the middle of the ring.

"My dream is complete," Zou said. "I am an Olympic champion and now I'm a world champion."

Zou connected on more than three times as many punches as Phaprom, landing 347 to Phaprom's 107.

(Photo at top of Zou Shiming, left, and Prasitsak Phaprom, by Christian Petersen, Getty Images)