‘I boxed so poorly’ – Hong Kong boxer Rex Tso suffers embarrassing loss as Olympic dreams are left in tatters
- The 32-year-old ‘Wonder Kid’ has one last throw of the dice when he takes part in a World Olympic Qualification Event in Paris in May
- The Hong Kong star is outclassed for the second time inside 48 hours having proved no match against the world champion from Uzbekistan on Monday
Hong Kong boxer Rex Tso Sing-yu’s Olympic dreams were left in tatters in Amman, Jordan on Wednesday night after he suffered another embarrassing loss in the fifth-sixth place box-offs.
Having been battered by world champion Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov of Uzbekistan, in Monday’s quarter-finals, the 32-year-old had another chance to make his way to Tokyo. But he was outclassed again, this time to an aspiring Iranian teenager.
Hong Kong boxer Rex Tso no match for world champion in Amman Olympic qualifiers
Daniyal Shahbakhsh is only 19 years old but he had the makings of a future star as he handed the former unbeaten pro from Hong Kong a boxing lesson the “Wonder Kid” won’t be forgetting soon.
Shahbakhsh, who is a southpaw like Tso, astonishingly displayed the huge gulf between an up-and-coming amateur and an experienced pro as he won the featherweight (57kg) bout by unanimous decision, getting the nod from all five judges (5-0) in the Asia/Pacific qualifiers.
A tearful Tso couldn’t believe he boxed so poorly and apologised for losing.
“I couldn’t perform at all. I couldn’t do the things I wanted to do. I’m really sorry. I rushed into it and I stepped into his offence and couldn’t defend. Once I set up for an attack, I walked into a lot of his punches. I was too anxious to attack. Everything was a mess in the end. I had pressure. I wanted to take a nap after breakfast but I couldn’t sleep because I had a lot on my mind. I’m really sorry.”
I was really moved when Hong Kong won, says Rex Tso after reaching Olympic qualifying quarter-finals
Shahbakhsh’s victory was all the more impressive given the fact that he had lost his quarter-final bout after suffering a horrendous eye injury on Monday against Kazakhstan’s Serik Temirzhanov and there was genuine concern he would not take his place at Prince Hamzah Hall. But somehow the teenager picked himself up and boxed brilliantly against Tso.
Tso has one more chance to qualify for Tokyo when he takes part in a World Olympic Qualification Event in Paris from May 13-20. The Amman qualifiers had been moved from coronavirus-hit Wuhan in January.
However, judging by Tso’s performance in Amman, he will have an even tougher task in Paris against boxers from all over the world.
To is aiming to become the first Hong Kong boxer in 56 years to take part in the Olympics since Law Hon-pak and Lee Kam-wah represented the then-colony at the 1964 Tokyo Games.
