BOXING | ‘Macau Kid’ defeats New Zealand Champion

Beau O’Brien vs Ng Kuok Kun

Macau’s boxer Ng Kuok Kun defeated a New Zealand national champion by a close but unanimous decision in a six-round super welterweight bout at Saturday night’s “Champion of Gold” boxing event, extending his winning streak to five victories.
Decorated with bruises on his eyelids, “The Macau Kid” Ng (5-0, 2 KOs) said the fight wasn’t the one where he got injured the worst, but is the one where he “encountered the most difficult opponent so far.”
After a full distance of battling, Ng won at the scores of 60-54, 60-54, 59-55 over his Kiwi opponent Beau O’Brien, who was at the same age, same height and same weight as him, but holds the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association’s light middleweight title as well as the Global Boxing Federation’s Oceania Light Middleweight title.
“He was very tough; even though I hit him to bleeding in his nose during the early rounds and continued to land punches on him, he could still continue to fight. His punches were also very heavy; this is the first time I got hit like this,” Ng commented.
The 24-year old acknowledged that there is still a big space for improvement in his performance, especially in the aspects of “constancy, stamina and striking more combination punches.”
“This is the first time I’ve fought a six rounder and also the first time I’ve fought through the full distance. It’s a very valuable experience for me,” stressed the young boxer, adding that he felt a little tired during the bout.
Occasionally, the ring saw Ng step aside from his opponent and drop off his arms of defense, whereas O’Brien took the opportunity to strike punches. “I was feeling tired when I did that,” he explained.
“I tend to use that move to relax while observing how my opponent would attack, before I strike back,” he added. “I’d never use this move if I sense the opponent is capable to knock me out in a few strikes. Maybe that was a bad habit of mine.”
The young boxer also acknowledged that he has grown bolder in attacking and more skilled in defensing. “I felt myself dominant during the bout, so in the last round I tried to attack my opponent intensively and stop him by knockout.”
“Come on, KK! Come on, KK!” Either at a thrilling strike or a clever dodge, a moment he was dominating or at disadvantage, cheering would break out around the ring. Into the final round, the cheering audience seemed even eager to see the local favorite win.
“Actually I couldn’t hear that; I just heard it was bustling with noise,” Ng responded to the media delightedly, “I was concentrated on battling my opponent and merely listened to what my coach had to say.”
Although having defeated the light middleweight champion of New Zealand, “The Macau Kid” said that didn’t make him feel “a level up.” “But at least this victory brings me one step closer to my goal of achieving ten consecutive wins as well as the dream of an Asian champion belt,” he stated.
“I feel very fortunate that amongst the many people in Macau, there is at least one person pursuing boxing,” he added. “This victory will give me a greater driving force to continue walking this path.”  Staff reporter