Fighting his corner: How Hong Kong’s own boxing ‘wonder kid’ Rex Tso went from lazy to sell-out bouts

He’s the first Hongkonger to make a sustainable full-time career out of his love for the sport, and now he faces his toughest challenge yet

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Boxer Rex Tso Sing-yu trains at DEF Boxing in Sheung Wan. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 9:00am, 25 Feb 2017Updated: 6:06pm, 25 Feb 2017

In boxing, as in business, numbers talk. And by any measure, the pristine professional record of Rex Tso Sing-yu speaks volumes. His streak of 20 straight victories – 12 by knockout – dates to 2011 and places him in new territory among Hongkongers: that of a home-grown, self-supporting full-time athlete.

Next month, Tso, 29, will face Japanese boxer Hirofumi Mukai before a crowd of 8,000 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Tickets for the March 11 event went on sale last month for upwards of HK$1,800, and quickly sold out. Gate revenues are expected to exceed HK$6 million.

In his march towards loftier international boxing titles, Tso is blazing a trail for Hongkongers who aspire toa career in professional sports and a sustainable livelihood after their playing days are done.

But it takes more than just one person to build a boxer. While social media has helped build the young boxer’s brand, the engine behind “The Wonder Kid” is manager Jay Lau Chi-yuen, a Hong Kong native with a lifelong love for the sport.

To see those guys who were quietly training and hitting the bag with their friends suddenly performing in a big show, that was exciting

“Godfather of boxing”

Before deciding to try to introduce pro boxing to Hong Kong, Lau, 50, held over 16 jobs – the last one selling insurance. In 2002, he opened his gym, DEF Boxing, which relocated to a 5000 sq ft space in Sheung Wan in 2014.