Sung In Suh

Although Ju Do Chun was the first Korean to win an IBF world title, back when the IBF was IBF-USBA, he wasn't the first to fight for one. Just 6 days before Chun won his belt his compatriot Sung In Suh (22-5, 9) had actually come up short in a bout for the IBF Super Bantamweight title. Suh is, like Chun, one of the many Koreans of the early 1980's who is now forgotten, but played a key part in Korean boxing, and the growth of the IBF following it's creation.
So let's have a look at Suh, his career, and short but notable career.
Suh was born on July 18th 1959 in Seoul and as a young man he signed up with one of the two main Korean promotional outfits of the time, Dong A.
Like many Korean fighters of the time Suh would begin his career with an incredible schedule. He debuted on October 8th 1978 and finished the year having had 5 fights. He would actually lose his debut, losing a 4 round decision to fellow debutant Mun-Pyo Chang, but bounce back with a win in November, defeating Chong Soo Kim. In December Suh would fight 3 times in 4 days, beating Hee Baek Lee, on December 6th, beating Man Soo Han on December 8th and then lose to Mun-Pyo Chang, in what was a rematch of their debut.
So let's have a look at Suh, his career, and short but notable career.
Suh was born on July 18th 1959 in Seoul and as a young man he signed up with one of the two main Korean promotional outfits of the time, Dong A.
Like many Korean fighters of the time Suh would begin his career with an incredible schedule. He debuted on October 8th 1978 and finished the year having had 5 fights. He would actually lose his debut, losing a 4 round decision to fellow debutant Mun-Pyo Chang, but bounce back with a win in November, defeating Chong Soo Kim. In December Suh would fight 3 times in 4 days, beating Hee Baek Lee, on December 6th, beating Man Soo Han on December 8th and then lose to Mun-Pyo Chang, in what was a rematch of their debut.
Having ended 1978 with a record of 3-2, with both losses to Mun-Pyo Chang, Suh began 1979 with a slightly more calm level of activity. Fighting in January, March, July and November. Despite fighting less frequently he did still rack up rounds, going the distance in all 4 bouts as he progressed into 6 rounds, and then finally into 8 rounds. The most notable result in 1979 for Suh was a win in his third meeting with Mun-Pyo Chang, getting some revenge for his 2 previous losses.
Suh's success from 1979 continued into 1980, where he again reduced his activity, fighting just 3 times, but did achieve several notable firsts. He would make his international debut on January 27th 1980, beating Satoshi Koguchi in Osaka, and he would stop Il Nam Lim in June to record his first stoppage win. Those wins saw Suh ending the year with a record of 10-2 (1), and at 21 he looked to be improving, showing some fantastic promise and heading in the right direction. Also, notably, he served a significant part of his military service in 1980, before doing several months in 1981. It put a pause on his career, but it was served whilst Suh was still young enough to get back into action with no real harm on his career. Suh's growth and development would go from strength to strength, and in August 1981 he would defeat Ki-Young Chung to claim the Korean Super Bantamweight, his first professional title. He would defend the title just once, beating Kyo-Sok Han in November 1981 to mark his sole defense. He would then vacate the title with Ki Young Chung, the man Suh beat for the belt, filling the vacancy in 1982. Having vacated the title Suh would begin to face international opponents, taking on a Thai foe in his first bout of the year, and the Indonesian champion, Dado Muryado, in his second bout of the year. By now Suh's power was improving, and he would drop Duk Hwan Bae several times to record a third straight stoppage win of the year. To begin 1983 Suh would score two quick wins against Filipino foes , extending his stoppage run to 6 fights and move his record to an impressive looking 20-2 (7). It was then that Suh was matched with Filipino Bobby Berna, on December 4th 1983, in a bout for the IBF Super Bantamweight title. This was one of the first IBF title bouts in history, and came 6 days before Ju-Do Chun would claim the IBF Super Flyweight title, beating Ken Kasugai in Osaka. Sadly for Suh his good form would come to an end against Berna, with Suh being stopped due to a significant cut on his right eye lid. The loss would be his first stoppage loss and would see him fail in his first world title fight. A rematch 4 months later saw Suh get revenge, stopping Berna to take the title and become a world champion in his second shot. Suh would defend the belt 3 months later, stopping Cleo Garcia in 4 rounds, before taking on unbeaten countryman Ji-Won Kim. Kim would end Suh's reign in the 10th round of their bout, which was razor close before the stoppage. A rematch in Kim's second defense saw him stopping Suh in just 66 seconds, sending Suh into retirement at the age of 26. His quick blow out loss to Kim, in their second bout, was put down to Suh's issues with making weight and having had out of the ring problems with various parties. Likely helping speed up his retirement. Since retiring Suh has been involved in operating a gym, which we understand he began to do in 2007. It should be noted that Suh's record from Korean sources suggest his first 2 professional wins were stoppages, not decisions as boxrec suggests. His win over Kyo-Sok Han is also said to have been an 8th round technical decision. This is backed up by the record the KBF have for Suh, which is 22-5 (12) and not 22-5 (9), though it still leaves us with 1 unexplained stoppage. |
|