TSO CONFIDENT HE WON’T GET FLOORED BY KONO

UNBEATEN WBO International super flyweight champion Rex “The Wonder Kid” Tso is confident that he won’t get floored against Japanese rival Kohei “Tough Boy Kono in their title fight on October 7 at the Hong Kong Convention and Entertainment Center.
The 30-year-old southpaw told the South China Morning Post that he completed more than two months training “injury free for the first time in a long time”.
Tso has been training at the DEF Boxing Gym in Hong Kong with Filipino trainer Jake Verano.
“When I fought my last fight against [Japan’s Hirofumi Mukai in March] I was carrying all sorts of injuries. But all my injuries have healed and I was able to put in more effort in my training without being too conscious of the injuries.”
“That’s why I think my fitness and conditioning have improved from last time out,” said Tso, who is 21-0-0 with 13 knockouts.
Before taking on Mukai, which he won in an eighth-round knockout, the Hong Kong star was nursing an injury to the bridge of his nose, an injured left wrist and a badly bruised rib sustained during training in the Philippines.
“Thankfully, I didn’t suffer any injuries during my training for Kono and I was able to push myself a bit more, but at the same time it was harder and more strenuous.
“I was going all out. Ross [Eathorne] my conditioning coach said I have improved my fitness, too,” he said.
“Kono will present a big problem. He’s more experienced. He’s six years older, but he’s had more battles than me and he has had more fights going the distance over 12 rounds,” said Tso.
“I really don’t know how the fight will pan out. Maybe, the fight will go the distance. It will be tough whatever happens,” said Tso of the 12-round contest for the WBO international super flyweight title.
Tso’s promoter-manager Jay Lau Chi-yuen, said fans could expect to see a more “patient” Tso, who will bide his time before springing into action when the opportunity comes knocking.
“This time, his preparations are much better than last time. The improvement and progress he has made are obvious,” Lau said.
“He’s stronger and faster. The game plan now is for Rex to keep his distance from Kono. Sometimes that goes out the window as Rex likes to fight toe-to-toe.
“This time he’s going to go in there trying to control the fight. All his sparring partners have been helping him.
Before taking on Mukai, which he won in an eighth-round knockout, the Hong Kong star was nursing an injury to the bridge of his nose, an injured left wrist and a badly bruised rib sustained during training in the Philippines.
“I think Rex will be really patient this time because Kono knows Rex is very fast and strong but he’s an easy target. I’ve told him about that,” said Tso’s manager Jay Lau.
“Kono definitely has the power to knock out Rex. Rex should be really careful about that. During sparring, Rex always kept his hands up and kept a good distance so he has been mindful of this.”
The Tso-Kono title-fight is the main event of the “Clash of Champions 3” boxing card. It is co-promoted by Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions. The title is sponsored by TFI Digital Media while the sponsors are Tai Hing Catering Group, NIKE, CMGE, Huawei, Mass Mutual, Olympian City and Hong Kong Broadband.
Tickets have already been completely sold out and another capacity crowd of 8,000 will be on hand to watch Tso’s latest fight as he eyes a future world title fight.

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