Not even Zou Shiming could stop Barnes winning gold!

Paddy Barnes believes nothing could stop him winning Olympic gold in Rio, not even Zou Shiming.

Chinese legend Shiming prevented the popular Belfast fighter from fighting for the right to top the podium in both Beijing and London. The Olympic gold medal winner won’t be there to stop the fighter, who will carry the flag for Ireland at the Olympic opening ceremony, this time around, but Barnes thinks he could have overcame Asian the fighter this time round.

The two time Olympic bronze medal winner said,

“To be honest I wish I was in his shoes. He turned professional after the London Games and is now a multi- millionaire and he is – due to the size of the population of China – the most watched boxer on television ever.

“He is a very good fighter but I have been improving all the time and I would fancy my chances against him if he was in Rio. But now I am the main man at the weight so they will all have to worry about me.”

The confident little man claims he is now the one to watch and he isn’t worried about who he has to fight this Summer.

“I used to think about the draw and what way it went – now, I’m the one people are looking for,” he said. I don’t want to watch anybody else because I’m going with the same game-plan in my head.

“People need a game-plan to beat me, I don’t need a game-plan to beat them. I am not worried about anybody else.”