TSO WINS BY TECHNICAL DECISION
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 08 Oct 2017
HONG KONG- WBO International junior bantamweight titleholder Rex Tso of Hong Kong came out on top in a nail-biting ring war against Kohei Kono of Japan in a fight shortened due to an injury.
Tso started out fast in the opening round, peppering Kono with head and body shots. Kono pressed the action and Tso utilized his lateral movement to find the right angles for his punches.
An accidental clash of heads in the second round left Tso with a large swelling on the left side of his forehead. This did not slow the action one bit as the protagonists continued to trade hard punches.
Tso seemed to have the edge in volume but the swelling on his forehead increased until it started to close his left eye going into the fifth round. The ring doctors checked his condition but he was still able to see and fight. But at the end of the sixth, his eye was swollen shut and upon the advice of the ring doctors, the fight was stopped by Thai Referee Sawaeng Thaweekoon at the start of the seventh.
Tso was ahead 68-66 on the scores of the three judges - Atty. Danrex Tapdasan (Philippines), Fuji Fukuchi (Japan), Edward Ligas (Philippines), which enabled him to retain his title.
Rex Tso seconds before being declared the winner.
Ayumi Goto of Japan wins WBO Female Asia Pacific junior featherweight title.
Takuya Watanabe of Japan wins WBO Oriental junior lightweight title.
In the main undercard bout ? Japanese Ayumi Goto won the vacant WBO Female Asia Pacific junior featherweight title by a hard fought unanimous decision against a feisty Kirti of India.
The scores ? Michelle Ng ? 79-72, Samson Iu ? 78-73,Surat Soikrachang ? 78-73.
Takuya Watanabe of Japan survived a knockdown in the third round and used brutal body shots to deck Li Leshan of China in the fifth. Li got up but received a heavy volley with his back to the ropes. Li was no longer punching back prompting Referee Danrex Tapdasan to stop it at 2:13 of the 5th.
Watanabe was awarded the vacant WBO Oriental junior lightweight title.
For the non-title undercards:
Raymond Poon (Hong Kong) beat Indonesian Frenky Rohi by majority decision, Nick Frese, a Dutch boxer based in Thailand won against Prabhjot Singh, an Indian who is based and fighting in the Philippines. Frese stopped Singh in five rounds.
Tom Taw (Hong Kong) knocked out Odisorn Kesronsombat (Thailand) in three rounds, Nibesh Ghale, a Nepalese based in Hong Kong beat Filipino veteran Prell Tupas by third round TKO.
In the opening all-female match-up, Hong Kong?s Sandy Lam won against Nadya Nakhoir of Indonesia by unanimous verdict.
The card billed as CLASH OF CHAMPIONS III was promoted by DEF Promotions and Top Rank. The fights were held Saturday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center and officiated by the Professional Boxing Commission (PBC) of China. Supervising for the World Boxing Organization is WBO VP for Asia-Pacific Leon Panoncillo.
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