Hyun-Mi Choi
Courtesy of Boxrec.com
For many boxing fans the biggest story about any boxer is what they do in the ring. Their life outside of it is merely a distraction to the action inside. For some fighters however the opposite is true and it's what they do outside of the ring that really influences them inside it. Korean fighter Hyun-Mi Choi (10-0-1, 3), AKA "Defector Girl Boxer", certainly falls in to that second category.
Born in 1990 in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, Choi was fortunate to be born into a relatively successful family. Her family, unlike many in North Korea did have some money and her parents, whilst not rich by western standards were certainly more well off than many other North Koreans.
Thanks to the moderate wealth of her family Choi was well fed and at school she looked bigger than many of her malnourished classmates. As well as being taller and naturally bigger she was also a real athlete who was quicker than her school friends and showed potential, despite only being a very young girl, of being someone who could represent North Korea at the Olympics.
Aged just 13 Choi was approached by North Korean officials who wanted to train her as a boxer the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. At the time it appeared likely that women's boxing would be included in the games and by the time it came around North Korea wanted a team of fighters capable of winning gold.
As we all know women's boxing wasn't actually included in the '08 Olympics but the training the North Koreans had given Choi had helped realise that this was what she wanted to do with her life.
Although Choi's parents, as we mentioned above, were moderately well off they felt they owed more to to their family so in 2004 their father defected to South Korea. Choi and the rest of the family, including her mother, would soon follow taking a journey that took them through China and Vietnam before reaching Choi's father in South Korea.
Having given up their status in North Korea the family knew they had sacrificed for their new beginning though it wasn't long until Choi was finding boxing success in South Korea and the family had settled, albeit in a smaller home.
Born in 1990 in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, Choi was fortunate to be born into a relatively successful family. Her family, unlike many in North Korea did have some money and her parents, whilst not rich by western standards were certainly more well off than many other North Koreans.
Thanks to the moderate wealth of her family Choi was well fed and at school she looked bigger than many of her malnourished classmates. As well as being taller and naturally bigger she was also a real athlete who was quicker than her school friends and showed potential, despite only being a very young girl, of being someone who could represent North Korea at the Olympics.
Aged just 13 Choi was approached by North Korean officials who wanted to train her as a boxer the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. At the time it appeared likely that women's boxing would be included in the games and by the time it came around North Korea wanted a team of fighters capable of winning gold.
As we all know women's boxing wasn't actually included in the '08 Olympics but the training the North Koreans had given Choi had helped realise that this was what she wanted to do with her life.
Although Choi's parents, as we mentioned above, were moderately well off they felt they owed more to to their family so in 2004 their father defected to South Korea. Choi and the rest of the family, including her mother, would soon follow taking a journey that took them through China and Vietnam before reaching Choi's father in South Korea.
Having given up their status in North Korea the family knew they had sacrificed for their new beginning though it wasn't long until Choi was finding boxing success in South Korea and the family had settled, albeit in a smaller home.
Choi used the training she had received in North Korea to great effect and within just a few years of settling in South Korea she had captured 5 national titles and won 17 of 18 contests in the amateur ranks.
Unfortunately winning the amateur competitions wasn't really worth a great deal of money. Although the prizes were around 50,000 Korean Won that only actually equalled about $42.70 and wasn't enough to really do anything with. Instead of continuing to dominate the Korean amateur scene Choi turned professional aged just 17. With her amateur success behind her Choi was given the unusual, though not unheard of, chance of becoming a world champion on her debut. She was to face China's Xu Chun Yan in a bout for the WBA Featherweight title. Although Yan was no push over the talented Choi did what was needed and took a decision to win the title on her debut. Choi make the first defence of her title just 7 months later taking a split decision draw over South Korean native Hyo-Min Kim, a very credible fighter in her own right. Unfortunately for Choi this bout was marred more by out the ring issues, include major problems with her manager who had not life easy for his “client” thanks to an unfair and highly unbalanced contract. Thankfully Choi was taken under the wing of Seung-ho Yoon who has since helped to promote Choi into becoming a bigger and bigger name. The work of Yoon helped to get Choi's second world title defence on TV with the bout being televised on the highly popular television show “Infinite Challenge”. With the bout getting the attention of a huge number of the population the attention and pressure was on Choi was successful as she over-came talented and experienced Japanese challenger Tenku Tsubasa. It's the result of this bout that can be seen in the picture above Choi's third title defence was by far the toughest of her career as she took on very talented Argentinian Claudia Andrea Lopez. Lopez, who is a former IBF female Super Featherweight champion, gave Choi all she could handle with the Korean only just holding on to her title via a split decision. Following the tough bout with Lopez, Choi would be out of the ring for almost a year before returning to defend her belt against Canadian Sandy Tsagouris. Tsagouris, again a talented fighter who had pushed Ina Menzer very hard, was made to look like nothing other than a scrub with Choi knocking her out in round 3. This was Choi's first knockout as a professional and soon afterwards she would add another stopping Sainumdoi Superchamps in the 5th round. In 2012 Choi would make the 6th defence of her title overcoming Mexican Rocio Castillo by decision in what would be the penultimate defence of her title. The final defence of the WBA Featherweight title for Choi came earlier this year as she out pointed Australian Shannon O'Connell in tough bout made even harder by the fact Choi was struggling to make the Featherweight limit. Following the victory over O'Connell, Choi would decide that she had outgrown the Featherweight division and turned her attention to the Super Featherweight division. She made her debut at the new weight on August 15th 2013 and defeated Japanese veteran Fujin Raika to claim the WBA "interim" Super Featherweight title. Choi made the first defence of her WBA Super Featherweight title in a very odd bout against Thailand's Keanpetch Superchamps. The bout was unsanctioned by the Korean board though saw Choi stopping the Thai in the 8th round. Originally the details of the contest were scarce though we're glad to have come across the video of the bout where Choi looked solid. More recently Choi recorded the second defense of her title title as she easily over-came Japanese veteran Chika Mizutani in a very impressive performance. Fighting to help support her family that got her away from the North Korean regime Choi is a fighter who is fighting for a real cause. The hope that she can provide the income needed to help the family live like they did in North Korea is certain a driving factor in her career and one that could help her really look to prove her talent in the ring. Unlike many female fighters in South Korea Choi isn't interested in using the sport to lose weight but wants to be a star and a fighter who can show that refugees from North Korea are much more than just second class citizens. Video below is courtesy of vegaxpress and show's Choi's bout with Sandy Tsagouris. |
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