Hong Kong's Rex Tso in doubt for Champions of Gold event in Macau
Wonder Kid could miss July extravaganza after injuring his hands against Thai opponent
Hong Kong's Rex Tso Sing-yu remains doubtful for next month's "Champions of Gold" in Macau as he nurses injured hands - the cost of keeping his perfect record intact on Saturday.
Tso won his 13th straight professional fight on the undercard of "Featherweight Fury" last week against Ratchasak Kokietgym (22-3-1), of Thailand, despite suffering two knockdowns in the third round, winning the 10-round contest by a unanimous decision at CotaiArena.
But the 26-year-old unbeaten southpaw (13-0-0, 8 KOs) sustained severe bruising in both hands and will need to see a specialist to see whether there's any soft tissue damage.
Tso, known as the Wonder Kid, had X-rays confirming no fractures in the hands, but confirmation of soft tissue damage would force him to rest for several weeks, thereby missing the Macau event on July 19. Tso had used lighter padding gloves for the fight, although trainer and manager Jay Lau Chi-yuen would not say this was to blame.
"We still want to go to Macau for the next fight but we really have no idea how's it going to be," said Lau.
"We are relieved he suffered no fractures. We still have to worry about the soft tissue though. We went to the Hong Kong Sanatorium hospital to see a regular doctor and he said we must see a specialist.
"We need to do an MRI scan because his hands are still the size of a balloon from severe swelling. He's still in severe pain.
"We have to make sure all the bruising is gone and his hands are functioning normally before we can start training again. Tso would also require physiotherapy treatment.
"We don't want to promise organisers and then pull out of the Macau event at the last moment," he said.
Tso also suffered broken blood vessels inside his nose and Lau said the Hong Kong star would eventually require laser treatment to prevent bleeding in future.
"Rex can breathe with his nose again and the bleeding has stopped. We have to perform laser surgery to prevent the wound from opening again," he said.
"Rex won every round except the third round [when he was knocked down]. Rex outboxed his opponent. His footwork was beautiful.
"His footwork was much better than in his last fight [knockout victory] against [Japan's] Mako Matsuyama in February.
"Every time Ratchasak tried to cut Rex in a corner, Rex moved away, which is good," said Lau.