Min Keun Oh
It's rare that we can't find any footage of a former world champion but that seems to be the case of Korean fighter Min Keun Oh (16-5, 6), who held the Korea, OPBF and IBF Featherweight titles during his short but notable career. He was just the second Korean fighter to hold a world Featherweight title, and was the inaugural IBF Featherweight champion, showing just how important he was historically. Even if his career is hard to watching anything of.
Born in August 1962 in Korea Oh would have a pretty impressive amateur career. His successes in the unpaid ranks included a Silvermedal at the first ever Junior World Championships, in 1979 in Yokohama, a silver medal at the 1980 Asian Championships in Asian Championships in what was then Bombay, though is now Mumbai as well and he also competed at the 1980 President's Cup, in Jakarta and the King's Cup in Thailand, all before making his professional debut in 1980, at the age of 17!
Given his strong amateur Pedigree Oh debuted in an 8 round bout in Seoul, beating tough Filipino visitor Cesar Ligan over 8 rounds. Ligan wasn't a huge name, but he did win the GAB Featherweight title just a month after this contest showing just how impressive this debut was for Oh, who celebrated his 18th birthday a week later. Oh's second bout would see him defeating Chong-Oh Kim over 10 rounds, a very impressive feat. We wouldn't be surprised if Kim's record on boxrec is incomplete, though at the time of writing Kim is 1-1, having lost and won against future world champion Ki Young Chung, who would later win the IBF Featherweight title, but more about him later.
Born in August 1962 in Korea Oh would have a pretty impressive amateur career. His successes in the unpaid ranks included a Silvermedal at the first ever Junior World Championships, in 1979 in Yokohama, a silver medal at the 1980 Asian Championships in Asian Championships in what was then Bombay, though is now Mumbai as well and he also competed at the 1980 President's Cup, in Jakarta and the King's Cup in Thailand, all before making his professional debut in 1980, at the age of 17!
Given his strong amateur Pedigree Oh debuted in an 8 round bout in Seoul, beating tough Filipino visitor Cesar Ligan over 8 rounds. Ligan wasn't a huge name, but he did win the GAB Featherweight title just a month after this contest showing just how impressive this debut was for Oh, who celebrated his 18th birthday a week later. Oh's second bout would see him defeating Chong-Oh Kim over 10 rounds, a very impressive feat. We wouldn't be surprised if Kim's record on boxrec is incomplete, though at the time of writing Kim is 1-1, having lost and won against future world champion Ki Young Chung, who would later win the IBF Featherweight title, but more about him later.
A rematch with debutant opponent Cesar Ligan followed in early 1981. Oh was again taken the distance but advanced to 3-0 and, within 11 months of his debut, moved into his first title bout, a shot at OPBF Super Bantamweight champion Willie Lucas of the Philippines. Lucas had won the title the previous year, beating Soon Hyun Chung by Splrit decision, and although he hadn't defended it prior to facing Oh he had twice beaten Sak Galaxy, the only man to ever beat Khaosai Galaxy. Oh would have to travel to the Philippines for the contest, and sadly he would come up short in Lucas' homeland, losing for the first time.
Despite the loss to Lucas that was certainly not the end for Oh who bounced back just weeks later to stop Dragon Hayakawa in 4 rounds at the legendary Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, scoring his first win on international soil and his first stoppage. Have beaten his first Japanese opponent Oh's next bout would see the experienced Kenichi Ito travel to Seoul to face Oh. Ito would lose a 10 round decision, though later challenged for both the Japanese and OPBF Super Bantamweight titles. Wins then followed over Nasai Charlermchaigym, Gen Tosa and Sandy Noora as Oh rebuilt his momentum and turned 20. Oh would travel for his third fight on foreign soil just over a month after scoring a 10 round decision over Sandy Noora, this time travelling to Indonesia to take on Kaison in Surabaya, Indonesia. Oh would sadly lose to Kaison, in what is currently the only recorded bout for the Indonesian on Boxrec though we suspect there are non-recorded bouts out there for the Indonesian mystery man. Oh his return back to Korean Oh would get his second title shot, and would defeat Oh Hyun Lee in Seoul, to become the South Korean Featherweight champion. Oh was taken the distance by Lee, who was seeking his second defense of the title, with the win would finally win his first silverware as a professional and begin living up to the expectation that he had been on his shoulders since he was an amateur. Rather than defending his Korean title Oh's first bout after winning the belt saw him take on Australian veteran Paul Ferreri, who was having his 89th bout. Ferreri, a former Australian and Commonwealth title holder, had only been stopped at this point and unsurprisingly he went the distance with Oh. Interestingly Ferreri's only stoppage loss, by this point, had come to the then WBC Bantamweight champion Carlos Zarate in 1976, and that was on cuts. Zarate was 42-0 (41) entering that bout. With a record of 10-2 (2) Oh was able to secure his second OPBF title shot, this time at OPBF Featherweight champion Davino Inocian, form the Philippines. Inocian had won the OPBF in his second shot, after having come up short against Hwan Kil Yuh in 1982, and had also won the GAB Featherweight title, twice. This time Oh wasn't to let the opportunity slip through his hands, and went on to stop Inocian in the 7th round to become a double champion. Oh would score another stoppage the following month, taking out Renato Paulino in 7 rounds, as he began to show a new found power in his shots. He had gone from just 2 stoppages in his first 12 bouts to scoring back to back stoppages for the first time in his career. That stoppage run would continue when Oh faced Joko Arter of Indonesian in the inaugural IBF Featherweight world title fight. Arter is thought to have been making his debut in this bout, and was stopped in 2 rounds, giving him one of the shortest career of any world title challenger. Due to the pressure of Korean TV channels Oh wasn't able to feast on limited challengers, especially not given the poor quality of his opponent in his title win. Despite that his first defense was against a very limited American, Kelvin Lampkin who had won just 14 of his 32 bouts to this point. Lampkin was unable to really test Oh, who retained his title with a clear decision win. The decision, over 15 rounds, saw one judge score it 150-138 to Oh, whilst the Korean judge had it 148-143 to Oh. The Korean press really ripped the contest apart, explaining that the bout "consistently failed" and that the "fans were disappointed". The American showed little more than his jab, whilst Oh was more varied in his attack but couldn't ever excite the fans. This lead to growing pressure on Oh and his team by the TV channels airing the bout. The plan was to then bring in a top opponent for Oh's second defense just a few months later. Oh's second defense was, according to the Korean press, scheduled for September 1984, just months after his win over Lampkin, and was supposed to be against a very highly regarded American, speculated as being Bernard Taylor. For whatever reason, Oh wouldn't manage to get a bout with Taylor, and struggled to get a suitable opponent to take the September date instead. Despite struggling for opponents Oh had began the year in the Ring Magazine top 10, ranked #9 in the division. And would finally begin his 1985 with a bout against Irving Mitchell, which took place in April 1985 several weeks after the originally scheduled date. By this point Oh had been out of the ring for around 10 months and didn't look as sharp as her perhaps could. Despiute the ring rust Oh retained his title against Irving with a narrow decision win, and this time the press were less harsh, complimenting his speed and skill. Earlier we mentioned Ki Young Chung, well he was the third challenger for Oh, and sadly for Oh he would be the man to end Oh's world title reign, stopping the champion in the final minutes of a hotly contest bout in Chongju. At the time of the stoppage there was little to split the two men, with Chung scoring the finish and taking it out of the judges hands. The Joongang Daily would report that following the loss Oh would require hospitalisation, following vomiting and severe headaches, and had suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage. Despite the injury Oh stated that he would return to the ring, and he did so 5 months later, stopping former Korean Super Bantamweight champion Chan Jung Chun in the 4th round. That would be Oh's final victory, and he would go on to lose back to back technical decisions to novices Cha Suk Oh and Yong Mon Chun. Those losses would send Oh into retirement, at the age of just 25. Sadly footage of Oh really does seem scarce, though all reports suggest he was a speedy fighter, though little else is reported about his style. (Image courtesy of boxingM) |
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