Rex Tso
Courtesy of Boxrec.com
In the past Hong Kong has never been viewed as a boxing nation but 25 year old "Wonder kid" Rex Tso (19-0, 12) [曹星如] is one man wanting to put his nation on the boxing map as our sport continues to extend further than ever before.
Despite the country not being a typical boxing country Tso is from a true boxing family. Not only do his 3 brothers fight but his father was a 7 time national amateur champion. Although the Tso family are only really known in Hong Kong, two of Tso's brothers did fight internationally in notable tournaments.
Although Rex himself never really made a great name for himself as an amateur he was seen as a naturally gifted fighter who very quick and able to avoid shots with surprising ease. Unfortunately he was some what lazy and what success he generally got was based more on natural attributes and physical gifts than hard work or dedication. He was viewed as the best of the 4 fighting brothers in terms of natural talent but his laziness was capitalised on in the unpaid ranks until he signed up to work with trainer Jay Lau.
Under Lau's tutelage Tso has turned to the professional ranks and has become the most famous boxer in Hong Kong.
Rex made his professional debut back in September 2011 in Hong Kong on a card that saw Filipino Diarh Gabutan defend his WBO Oriental Bantamweight title, since then Tso has traveled through Asia for both bouts and sparring. He has so far recorded wins in the Chinese mainland, the Philippines and Singapore as well as Hong Kong where he not only debuted but also stopped Timur Shailezov to claim the WBC Asia Council Continental Super Flyweight title.
Despite the country not being a typical boxing country Tso is from a true boxing family. Not only do his 3 brothers fight but his father was a 7 time national amateur champion. Although the Tso family are only really known in Hong Kong, two of Tso's brothers did fight internationally in notable tournaments.
Although Rex himself never really made a great name for himself as an amateur he was seen as a naturally gifted fighter who very quick and able to avoid shots with surprising ease. Unfortunately he was some what lazy and what success he generally got was based more on natural attributes and physical gifts than hard work or dedication. He was viewed as the best of the 4 fighting brothers in terms of natural talent but his laziness was capitalised on in the unpaid ranks until he signed up to work with trainer Jay Lau.
Under Lau's tutelage Tso has turned to the professional ranks and has become the most famous boxer in Hong Kong.
Rex made his professional debut back in September 2011 in Hong Kong on a card that saw Filipino Diarh Gabutan defend his WBO Oriental Bantamweight title, since then Tso has traveled through Asia for both bouts and sparring. He has so far recorded wins in the Chinese mainland, the Philippines and Singapore as well as Hong Kong where he not only debuted but also stopped Timur Shailezov to claim the WBC Asia Council Continental Super Flyweight title.
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As well as the bouts he's had Tso has also shared a ring with several notable fighters in sparring sessions. Amongst those he has sparred are Fernando Lumacad and Randy Petalcorin who have both been helping Tso sharpen his skills which do need improving quite notably before he moves up
Tso's career so far has caught the attention of a number of people in the boxing world including Ricky Hatton who has made it known that Tso is a fighter that he's keeping his eye and the Asian Boxing Council (ABCO) who awarded Tso the honour of "WBC Asia Continental champion of the year". Rex scored win #9 as he stopped former WBC Minimumweight champion Wandee Singwancha to make the the first defense of his Asia Council Continental title. The victory over Singwancha is expected to help move the "The Wonder Kid" on to the next level as he tried to reach the heady heights some, including Aljoe Jaro, the trainer of Sonny Boy Jaro and Denver Cuello, have predicted. In his toughest bout to date Tso defeated tough Thai Rusalee Samor as part of the "Fists of Gold 2" card in Macau. This was by far the toughest contest in the career of Tso so far and would have helped him develop a lot more than a bunch of easy knock-over fights like many other prospects. Oddly following his victory over Samor he was given an easy assignment in "The Clash in Cotai", where he swiftly stopped Thailand's Susu Sithjadaeng in what was a complete mismatch He has since returned to the ring regularly with a number of fights coming in Macau. The first of those saw him stopping gutsy Japanese fighter Mako Matsuyama in a wonderfully entertaining slug fest. The bout, which saw two men lacking in defense, was one of those contests that was one sided though so action packed that it was hard to get bored by. It was the sort of contest that could well go "viral" and see Tso becoming a man with fans all around the world due to his style and effort. The second bout saw Tso pulling himself off the canvas, twice, to over-come Ratchasak Kokietgym whilst in a more recent bouts Tso has overcame John Bajawa and Espinos Sabu, both of whom are fighters from Indonesia, and Filipino Michael Enriquez, in what is a front runner for 2015's FOTY. Following the win over over Enriquez we've seen Tso fight twice, stopping Khunkhiri Wor Wisaruth in 4 rounds and Brad Hore in 7 rounds in a bout in Hong Kong. The plan for 2016 was all about securing Tso a shot at WBA champion Kohei Kono in the before the end of the year. Before then however his team felt he still needed some preparation so he began the year facing former world title challenger Young Gil Bae, who was stopped by the unbeaten youngster. He will now return to face unbeaten Japanese fighter Ryuto Maekawa before potentially getting the bout with Kono in December. |
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