Chan Hee Park

When we think of world champions from Korea it does seem like Chan hee Park (17-4-2, 6) often gets over looked, despite having been a key figure in the Flyweight division in the late 1970's and early 1980's. His short career, which consisted of 23 fights in a little over 5 years, certainly didn't help him to leave a lasting impression, but he certainly did more than enough to deserve attention. He was the first Korean world champion not to claim minor titles on his way to a world title and he fought 9 bouts at world level, more than 1/3 of his total career.
 
Born in Deagu on March 23rd 1957 Park would first make a name for himself in the amateurs, whilst still a teenager. 
 
Aged just 17 when he went to Tehran, Iran, to fight in the Asian Games, Park would surprise everyone by taking the Gold medal at 48KG's. Along the way he would beat Singaporean Syed Abdul Kadir, who had won a bronze at the Commonwealth games, future Olympian Noboru Uchiyama and local hopeful Abdolreza Ansari, who Park beat in the final. That same year he travelled to the US as part of a USA Vs Asia event, and stopped Albert Sandoval in what was a winning effort for Asia. Sandoval would later turn professional and fight for the WBC Bantamweight title, challenging Lupe Pintor.

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At the age of 19 Park would travel to Montreal, Canada, and be part of the Korean amateur team at the 1976 Olympic Games. He would reach the quarter finals before losing a very close decision to eventual gold medal winner Jorge Hernandez of Cuba. Hernandez essentially cruised the tournament, other than his bout with Park, which was very competitive and showed that the teenager was a special fighter, who was very unlucky with the draw.
 
Also in 1976 Park won gold at the King's Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, beating Payao Poontarat in the final. Poontarat would become the first Thai to claim an Olympic medal, at the 1976 Olympics, and would go on to claim a world title in the professional ranks, taking the WBC Super Flyweight title in 1983.
 
After his amateur exploits Park would make his debut in 1977, at age of 20. On debut he took on experienced Japanese fighter Chuji Muto, and stopped him in the first round, his second bout was also a an easy win over a Japanese fighter, taking out Yukimitsu Kondo just 2 months after debuting. He would remain active through 1977, finishing the year 4-0 (2) before further building on his reputation in 1978, going 5-0 (3) during the year to move his record to 9-0 (5).
 
Park's record would be blotted for the first time on February 18th 1979, when he was held to a draw over 10 rounds by Siony Carupo, who would himself fight for a world title just 5 months later, running Sung Jun Kim to a split decision.
 
Just a month after drawing with Carupo we'd see Park have his first world title fight, taking on Mexican great Miguel Canto, the then WBC Flyweight champion. By this point Park was 9-0-1 (5), he'd been a professional for a little over 20 months and had never faced anyone with world level experience. Canto on the other hand was a true veteran, with a record of 57-4-3 (15), he was 33 and had held the WBC Flyweight title since January 1975 and had made 15 defenses of the title. 
 
Park surprised the boxing world by defeating Canto over 15 rounds, using his speed and movement to take a narrow decision over the Mexican great to become a world champion in just his 11th bout.
 
With the title just won Park was unable to really relax, and was defending his belt just 2 months after winning it, defeating Chikara Igarashi over 15 rounds. He then retained it by scoring a draw with Canto, less than 6 months after his title win. His third defense would also take place before 1979 was over, as he took on the excellent Guty Espadas. The two men traded knockdowns in the opening round before Park forced the referee to stop the bout in round 2.
 
The hectic activity of Park would remain in 1980. Less than 2 months after stopped Espadas the champion wold make his 4th defense, beating Arnel Arrozal over15 rounds, then do the same to Alberto Morales, 2 months later.
 
Having been the champion for just 13 months Park gad already defended the title 5 times, more than was typical of Korean fighters of the time. He had fought 77 rounds at championship level in 13 months, and it seemed like that sort of activity could break anyone down. Sadly that proved to be the case when he returned to the ring just weeks after beating Morales, taking on former champion Shoji Oguma. Oguma proved to be too accurate, too busy, too good and too quick, stopping Park in the 9th round, after hurting him with body shots in the previous round.
 
Park would take 2 months out before returning and scoring a win over Ver Libradilla, before getting a rematch with Oguma, this time in Japan. This time Park put up a much, much better effort, dropping Oguma in the opening round but losing a split decision to his Japanese nemesis. A third with Oguma also saw the Japanese fighter win a narrow decision, to retain the title.
 
After 3 losses in 4 bouts Park would then be out of the ring for 18 months before beating Katsuyuki Ohashi in Seoul. This began the last part of Park's career, which saw him beat Rocky Pineda before being stopped, in a real shock, by Filipino Wick Tengam. The would be Park's final bout, at the age of just 25.
 
At his best Park was a quick but aggressive fighter, with fantastic natural skill. He was dubbed as an effortless genius. Sadly, however his own willingness to fight regularly took it's toll and certainly ended his prime early. His style also prevented a lengthy career. He was aggressive but lacked the power needed to make bouts short, and he certainly racked up punishment with his front foot style.