Hong Kong's Kenny Yeung faced a battle with the scales yesterday before being allowed to step into the ring tonight for Legends III at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The Melbourne-based fighter, who grew up in Sha Tin, decided to drop to the 66kg featherweight division after a first-minute knockout by Taiwan's Justin Lee in their lightweight bout at Legends' mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in June.
Nine bouts are scheduled and will see fighters from across the Asia-Pacific do battle in three five-minute rounds decided by knockout, submission, referee's decision or judges' scorecard if the fights go the full length.
Yeung takes on the mainland's Yang Zhou, who is renowned for a vicious left hook that has accounted for a string of knockout victories. Yang also won the BFX1 Muay Thai World Cup last year. In 2008, he took the northeast China championship in sanda, a combination of grappling, striking and wushu.
Top of the bill is a heavyweight clash that features Pacific islander Kelvin Fitial, who also plays basketball for the Northern Mariana Islands national team. The 115kg boxing and grappling champion faces 22-year-old Korean Yang Hae-jun.
At 1.8 metres and with five straight MMA victories, Yang gives away nearly 7kg to the 1.91m power-hitter from Saipan. Both have a reputation as fearsome boxers, with Yang's wrestling background likely to give him the edge on the ground, while Fitial favours stand-up tactics.
