HONG KONG HERO REX TSO SCORES TOUGH WIN OVER BATTLING RYUTO MAEKAWA
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 09 Oct 2016
Hong Kong hero Rex Tso scored his toughest victory as a pro boxer in a war with Japan?s previously unbeaten Ryuto Maekawa in the ?Battle of Victors? fight card at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on Saturday. The South China Morning Post reported that the 5,000 crowd cheered the ?Wonder Kid? on as he retained his unbeaten record in a tough battle against his Japanese rival and moved closer to a possible world title shot.
Tso who is now trained by Filipino Jake Verano who replaced Aljoe Jaro, needed to work harder than ever to earn his twentieth straight win.
The Post said ?Battling against tough Japanese, Ryuto Maekawa, Hong Kong?s first professional boxer had to dig deep into his arsenal of weapons before defeating the 20-year-old by unanimous decision in a 10-round slugfest that entertained a capacity crowd of 5,000. The win means Tso retains his WBC Asia super flyweight title (115 pounds), while also snatching the WBO international junior bantamweight title.
At the end of the super flyweight contest that kept the crowd on their toes, Tso kept his unbeaten streak going, but his latest win was a lot closer than the official?s scorecard (98-92, 99-91) suggested.
?Give my opponent some applause because he fought very hard,? said Tso before the sell-out crowd at the Convention and Exhibition Centre.
?He was very tough and it was 10 hard rounds. But I have taken another big step. It?s one more big step for me,? said an emotional Tso (now 20-0-0, 12 KOs).
Maekawa had previously been undefeated after 12 fights and it was easy to know why as he lured Tso into battling toe-to-toe with him ? which sometimes backfired.
The Tokyo-based fighter from the famed Watanabe gym never looked like hitting the canvas despite Tso?s best efforts and even sneaked in a few good shots that rocked Tso in the third and fourth rounds.
Tso worked on Maekawa?s head, scoring combinations ? he scored four continuous left jabs in the eighth round that all found its target ? but the Hong Kong star just couldn?t finish the Japanese off.
Tso trained at the Rex ?Wakee? Salud Gym in Cebu City.
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