The comeback fight of the reigning WBO International flyweight champion - China's Zou Shiming - in January drew an audience of over 36 million.

According to World Boxing news, an impressive 6.5 million viewers watched the January 30 boxing event on television (on CCTV 5) and 30 million viewers saw the fight via live stream. Over 12,000 fans were present at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center to see the boxing match-up.

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Zou (7-1, 2 KO's), who fought the then unbeaten Brazilian Natan Santana Coutinho in the boxing match billed as "The Return of the King", won by an eighth round technical knockout. It was the Chinese fighter's first professional bout in the mainland and his first boxing match since his loss in March 2015 to Thailander Amnat Ruenroeng in Macau.

The fight card also featured the Japanese 2012 Olympic gold medalist and undefeated Top-Five middleweight contender Ryota Murata (9-0, 6 KOs), who knocked out the Argentine Gaston Vega in the second round.

"These events are growing the sport of boxing in China at a tremendous rate," said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. "The voracious appetite of the fans and the sponsors proves that mainland China is very fertile territory for our sport. The potential is unlimited and should pay off big benefits in terms of exposure."

Zou is a highly decorated amateur boxer winning three consecutive Olympic medals. He won bronze in 2004 Athens, Greece and claimed gold in 2008 Beijing, China and 2012 London, United Kingdom Olympic Games. He is also a three-time gold medalist in the World Amateur Boxing Championships (2005, 2007 and 2011).

He turned into professional boxer in January 2012 and has won a streak of six successive victories. He first became the WBO International flyweight champion in July 2014 beating the Columbian Luis De La Rosa.

TagsZou Shiming, WBO