‘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.
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.”
