Hong Kong boxer Ruru Yang set for her first title defence against the Philippines’ Kim Actub
- The 28-year-old is set to defend the WBC Asia super flyweight crown she won in April next week in Bangkok
- Yang’s coach says she ‘has the ability to go where no Hongkonger has gone before – she can be a legend’
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A little more than four months after becoming the city’s first female to win a regional title, Hong Kong boxer Ruru Yang Sheau-ru is again stepping into the ring.
The 28-year-old is set to defend the WBC Asia super flyweight crown she won in April when she takes on Kim Actub of the Philippines at Spaceplus in the RCA Plaza, Bangkok, on August 31.
“I had a month-long break after winning my title and went back to the gym again afterwards,” Yang said. “I had been training for five days every week waiting for the next fight.
“I changed my diet in order to prepare in a more efficient way, I’m eating in a healthier way so that my normal body weight is lower, and the weight cut during the last few weeks will be easier for me.”
Actub, the Philippines bantamweight champion, boasts a record of eight wins, of which five were knockouts, and 11 losses in a career which began in 2011.
She is coming off a second-round TKO loss to Japan bantamweight champion Asami “Akaringo” Nakai at EDION Arena Osaka.
The 30-year-old orthodox boxer, of Iligan City, is also a former Women’s International Boxing Association world super bantamweight champion. She won the vacant title with a knockout of debutant Lee Ye Byul of South Korea in 2017.
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With all four of her career wins coming at Spaceplus, the Hongkonger is happy to have her first title defence at her “lucky place” next Thursday, and Yang has her usual game plan drawn up.
“Despite this upcoming fight being the first 10-round bout of my career, we are not planning to let it go all the way,” she said.
“We’ve studied her last fight against WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight champion Aka Ringo, and my target is to earn a knockout win as usual.
“My coach and I are working on some strategies. Let’s see if I can do it in the ring.”
Coach Wong Hiu-tung, who has been in Yang’s corner since she turned pro last August, believes the fight against Actub could serve as a benchmark.
“The Philippines is a country famous for boxing, and Actub is such a good fighter,” he said. “Perhaps we cam use the result of this fight to gauge Yang’s readiness at world-class level.
“Her Asia crown was historic already, and her career may well be coming to an end. I think Yang has the ability to go where no Hongkonger has gone before.
“She can be a legend and leave her name in the city’s boxing history books.”
