Japanese university student and pro boxer Nanako Suzuki lights Hong Kong up with her good looks and right hooks
The 19-year-old is mobbed by adoring local fans and media as the popular boxer debuts in the city of her all-time favourite martial arts hero, Bruce Lee
There are no prizes for guessing what Japanese college fresher and professional boxer Nanako Suzuki had after her co-main event victory at DEF Promotion’s Road to Glory II on Saturday evening. After all, she was spotted with Cantonese egg waffles everywhere she went leading up to the fight.
“I was quite surprised at how the media focused on me,” said Suzuki, who did her native Watanabe Gym proud by comfortably dispatching Hong Kong pro debutant Rice Wong Ka-yan (0-1) after Wong’s corner threw in the towel in the fourth round at Southorn Stadium. “Japan has a lot of boxers so being a new boxer doesn’t get you much attention.”
Suzuki’s youthful looks seemed to either melt or perplex local boxing fans; could this unassuming, ‘beautiful teen’ as several media outlets called her, really step into a ring and trade punches?
“I want to prove my boxing skills, not just appearance or young age,” said Suzuki, whose daily routine usually consists of a morning run, university lectures in the afternoon, and boxing training until the evening. “I want to win Hong Kong fans over with my performance regardless of whether I’m from Japan or Hong Kong.”
Pre-fight activities included sampling local delicacies, ferrying across Victoria Harbour, and visiting the legendary Bruce Lee statue along the Avenue of Stars.
“I’m a Bruce Lee fan and I read through some of his wise sayings before my fights,” said Suzuki, whose boxing shorts have the infamous Enter the Dragon (1973) line ‘Don’t think, feel’ and a mini dragon etched on to them.