Rex Tso continues transition to Olympic-style boxing: "I need to use my skills and techniques naturally."
After missing out on Tokyo 2020, the former professional star from Hong Kong, China has made technical adjustments to boost his chances of earning a Paris 2024 quota spot.
Boxing
Rex Tso hopes a change of approach will help him realise his dream of boxing for Hong Kong, China at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Hong Kong has not had an Olympic boxer since it reverted to Chinese rule with Law Hon-pak and Lee Kam-wah representing the then-British colony at Tokyo 1964.
After a successful professional career which made him a hero in his homeland, Tso - also known as Tso Sing-yu - has largely struggled to adapt to Olympic-style boxing.
And he knows he has to make changes if he wants to make his Olympic dream a reality.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post earlier this year, he said, “As much as I am starting to get used to amateur (sic) fights now, I tend to think too much far too often in the ring.
“The matches are so condensed and they are not like professional fights. They are much quicker and the rhythm does not allow me to watch and gauge the fight.”
Rex Tso celebrates his WBC Asia Pacific super flyweight title bout win over Young Gil-bae in May 2016
Tso’s missed Tokyo opportunities
Now 36, Tso is no longer ‘The Wonder Kid’.
Boasting a 22-0 professional record, Tso took time out after suffering a serious eye injury in his last win over Japan’s Kono Kohei in October 2017.
And despite potential world title bouts in the offing, the southpaw made his return in the unpaid ranks with a view to qualifying for Tokyo 2020.
He competed in the Olympic Asia and Oceania Qualifier in Amman, Jordan in March 2020, but was well beaten in the 57kg quarter-finals by Uzbekistan’s then world champion Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov.
With six Tokyo quota spots available, Tso had another chance to make the Games when he met fellow beaten quarter-finalist Daniyal Shahbakhsh.
However, the flashy teenager from the Islamic Republic of Iran proved too good and won by unanimous decision.
Tso thought he would have a third opportunity in the World Qualifier, but that was cancelled due to pandemic complications with boxers awarded Tokyo slots based on their world ranking.
With Tso having only competed in Amman, his ranking was too low and he quickly switched his target to Paris 2024.
Rex Tso sets sights on Paris 2024
After his Tokyo setback, Tso contested his first World Championships in November 2021.
His experience in Belgrade did not last long, going out by unanimous decision to Brazil’s Luis Gabriel Oliveira in his opening bout.
A year later in Amman, he lost his opener at the Asisan Championships by a 4-1 majority decision to Lee Haeng-seok of the Republic of Korea.
He did beat Mongolia’s Kharkhuu Bilguunsaikhan by unanimous decision at Ultimate Extreme Fight in January, his first fight on home soil for over three years, but claimed his performance just “60 per cent” of what he was doing in training.
He told the South China Morning Post, “I need to use my skills and techniques naturally. My body has to be in fluid motions when preparing to attack, or switching between offence and defence because I am losing time and position if I stop and think.”
“A split second in the ring makes all the difference, especially with only three three-minute rounds.” - Rex Tso to the South China Morning Post
While fighters without a great deal of professional experience have largely performed well back in Olympic-style boxing, more seasoned pros like Tso and Frenchwoman Maïva Hamadouche, a former world super featherweight champion who boxed at Tokyo 2020, have found life far tougher.
And in May, Tso suffered another early exit at the World Championships in Tashkent by unanimous decision at the hands of Lee Cheng-wei of Chinese Taipei.
Having clearly lost the first round, Tso was far more competitive in the next two and perhaps deserved more credit from the judges for his efforts.
And despite the one-sided nature of the scorecards, with three of the five judges giving all three rounds to Lee, Tso showed enough to suggest he is no forlorn hope on the Road to Paris.
The 2022 Asian Games in 2023 serve as the Asia boxing qualifier for Paris 2024.
Should Tso fail to reach the 57kg final and win one of the two quota spots on offer in Hangzhou, China, he potentially has two further opportunities at World Qualifier 1 in Busto Arsizio, Italy, and World Qualifier 2 in Bangkok, Thailand early next year.
Speaking to Yahoo Sports in July about his Asian Games debut, Tso said, "I hope to strive for a medal but there may be unknown elements, so the priority is to perform well technically.
"If you want to reach the podium, you have to believe in yourself first without any hesitation. The difference in mindset can greatly affect performance. Even the power of a jab is different."
The former ‘Wonder Kid’ knows what he needs to do. He just has to put it into practice.