Hong Kong boxer Rex Tso’s Olympic dreams dashed after Paris qualifiers cancelled
- The former unbeaten professional is hoping to become the first Hong Kong boxer to compete at an Olympics in 57 years
- The southpaw’s world ranking is not good enough to earn automatic qualification for Tokyo
Rex Tso Sing-yu’s dreams of becoming the first Hong Kong boxer to compete at an Olympic Games in 57 years have all but evaporated after the International Olympic Committee cancelled the Paris world qualifiers because of Covid-19.
The 33-year-old Tso, a former unbeaten super flyweight professional with an impressive 22-0 (13 KOs) record, was hoping to compete at the Paris World Qualifying Event in June. But that event, considered the last chance for the “Wonder Kid” to punch his ticket to Tokyo in the summer, has been axed because of the logistical challenge of boxers travelling to Paris.
The IOC said on Tuesday that plans were changed because of “current challenges to international travel and related restrictions in many countries” during the coronavirus pandemic.
The IOC still intends to hold an Americas tournament, scheduled for May 10-16 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the European qualifiers are scheduled to be held in June at a venue to be decided.
Boxers worldwide were to compete for 53 places (32 for men and 21 for women) for the Tokyo Games in Paris. With the tournament now cancelled, the IOC decided that places will be allocated equally across continents by world rankings based on results since 2017.
“Rex’s amateur ranking is outside the world’s top 30, which doesn’t qualify him for Tokyo,” said Hong Kong Boxing Association sports executive Alex Yeung. “We are still awaiting official confirmation from the Hong Kong Olympic Committee as to whether the Paris qualifiers are definitely cancelled. We will probably get written notification from them by mid March.”
