By Carlos Costa

In a back-and-forth action thriller that fully entertained Hong Kong fans, 20-year-old Chinese boxer Xiang Li 李翔(7-2-1, 2 KO’s) of Liu Gang’s Max Power stable defeated by unanimous decision Hong Kong’s rising star Raymond Poon to capture the WBC Asian Continental, the Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) and the WBO Youth Lightweight Belts Sunday, May 12, at the HK Convention and Exhibition Center in Wanchai, Hong Kong.  

Trained solidly during the last three months by his Filipino coach former boxer Ninolito Jalnaiz, the Chinese Xiang Li engaged the local Hong Kong starRaymond Poon in a non-stop close-quarters melee that kept fans on the edge of their seats throughout the ten chapters war.

Dominance of the combat took turns as the local Raymond Poon (潘啟情) —    energized by tons of fans screaming his name   —   fought back in an attempted to overpower Xiang Li, but to no avail, as the Chinese southpaw was solid in his strength, speed, and stamina throughout the rough game.    

Even though the bravery and warrior-spirit of Raymond Poon were evident, it was also crystal clear that Xiang Li did enough merits to deserve the nod by six round to four, which was the sensible and reasonable score provided by one of the judges.   

Official tallies in favor of the winner Xiang Li were:  96-94, 97-93 and 99-91.

MORE RESULTS FROM HONG KONG

In fight girls action, Filipina light flyweight boxer Renz Dacquel (2-1, 1 KO) of the Highland Boxing Gym scored a four-rounder non-title unanimous decision win over cute Japanese fight girl Nanako Suzuki (3-2, 1 KO) in the undercard of the Sunday, May 12, card at the Hong Kong and Convention Center.

Plus, unbeaten Japanese featherweight Ren Sasaki (9-0, 6 KO’s) scored a round six TKO over coming-forward brawler Ge An Ma (6-1, 1 KO) of Dalian in northeastern China.    Official time of stoppage was 1:53in round 6.   The third manwas Mekin Sumon of Thailand.

Moreover, Hong Kong’s hard-punching super lightweight Nibesh Ghale (5-1, 4 KO’s) stopped Japanese Shogo Yamamoto (4-4, 1 KO) in four chapters for a TKO win.    Ghale was the dominant factor from the getgo, becoming more and more damaging in his demolition work as rounds went by.   The crushing end came at the 2:29minutes mark in the 4th stanza when referee Mekin Sumon of Thailand waived the fight off. 

Also, 21-year-old Hong Kong-Filipino minimumweight warrior Lennon Chen Tsoi (5-1, 4 KO’s) dropped three times and stopped unheralded Thai Wichet Sengprakhon (8-6, 3 KO’s) for devastating chapter six TKO victory.  

Matchmakers for the entertaining evening of boxing were Alan Chau and Aku Zhang.

The televised card Sunday, May 12, in Hong Kong, S.A.R., was a production of award-winning Hong Kong promoter Jay Lau, head of DEF Promotions in association with Nike Hong Kong.

The author Carlos Costa is a Panama boxing reporter living in the Philippines.  Carlos can be reached at carlos512@hotmail.comand whatsapp/viber/wechat:  +639184538152