At home in the ring

Rex Tso Sing-yu may not look like the image of a muscle-bound boxer, but he's certainly one great fighter. The 24-year-old launched his professional career last September and has since won all seven of his professional bouts. Last month, he captured his first professional title.

He's also an apple that did not fall far from the tree. His father, Tso Shu-yan, and elder brother, Ralf Tso Sing-yeung, who is eight years older than Rex, are seven-time and four-time Hong Kong champions, respectively. Rex himself started boxing at age 12 at South China Athletic Association.

'At first I was only hanging around and didn't treat the sport seriously,' recalls Rex, who lives in Tuen Mun. 'In secondary school, I would just lie on the sofa and play video games all day after school, unless I had boxing practice. I did not have a purpose.'

But then he began participating in some overseas tournaments. 'I fought against some foreign boxers and they were much better than I. I realised I had to do more to compete at an international level,' says Rex, who completed his studies at Lui Cheung Kwong Lutheran Evening College in 2007.

He worked as a warehouse assistant for a year before becoming an assistant coach at his club. He joined his current club DEF Boxing in Sheung Wan six years ago. There, he underwent a transformation, becoming a top local fighter.

Rex's coach, Jay Lau, saw he had potential, though he didn't think much about becoming a professional. But he had run out of local opponents.

'There is always only one or two, at most four, rivals in my weight category in local competitions organised by the Boxing Association. Other categories also face the same problem. I rarely had a chance to try something new as the opponents were all too familiar with each other,' Rex explains.