Hong Kong boxer Raymond Poon ends 4-year wait with comeback fight in Thailand – having almost called it quits
- Raymond Poon is finally set for a return to action on Thursday – after coming close to hanging up his gloves in frustration
- His teammates Saagar Pradhan and Lee Ka-wing will both make professional debuts at Spaceplus in Bangkok
Raymond Poon Kai-ching has admitted he was ready to leave his professional boxing career behind, had he not secured Thursday’s bout – his first fight in over four years – in Bangkok.
Former WBC (World Boxing Council) youth intercontinental light-flyweight champion Poon, who holds a 7-2-0 professional record, will face Thailand’s Phet Singmanatsak in a light flyweight match-up at the “Way of the Champions” event at Spaceplus in the RCA Plaza.
Having recently been left as Hong Kong’s only male pro boxer, the 27-year-old said he felt “lonely” at times, as he opted to stay on while “everyone else either retired or switched paths” over the years.
“The sense of loneliness is probably down to the change of faces around me,” Poon, who started his professional career seven years ago, said. “You trained and fought alongside someone, went through the challenges together, but most of them have a different identity now.
“Even [the city’s top fighter] Rex Tso Sing-yu switched to amateur boxing and is now on an entirely different route.”
Poon’s last pro fight came in a loss against Li Xiang at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in 2019.