Chang Hee park

GPater11093 · Jul 15, 2011

I'll need to watch my video of him against Canto again, been ages. But it really impressed me, and Confuscious post re-interested me in Park.

The first Oguma-Park fight was really decisive though, I was surprised they had two subsequent fights after it. Oguma just walked right through him and landed everything before KOing him. Could anyone win more decisivly and be beaten (arguably) in a rematch?

Confucius · Jul 15, 2011

Duodenum said: ↑

Easy enough to believe, and the fact they had such a quick immediate rematch in spite of the WBC's supposed prohibition against immediate rematches speaks volumes.And at just 25, after only 23 professional bouts, he was gone. He didn't really stick around long enough to have a real chance at achieving ATG status. If he'd persisted like Oguma did, maybe Park would be in Canastota today, but as has been alluded to, the heart wasn't really there. Of course one didn't need a great chin against Canto, but things might have been interesting if he'd crossed paths with Betulio Gonzales, who had stamina, and did possess a bit of power.
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Even past prime, Gonzalez would have indeed given him a lot of trouble. In fact, there was much talk of a match with Tae-shik Kim back in the day in Korea, and domestic experts actually thought it was a pick'em type of a fight. I think that tells you all of Park's limits.

Confucius · Jul 15, 2011

GPater11093 said: ↑

I'll need to watch my video of him against Canto again, been ages. But it really impressed me, and Confuscious post re-interested me in Park.

The first Oguma-Park fight was really decisive though, I was surprised they had two subsequent fights after it. Oguma just walked right through him and landed everything before KOing him. Could anyone win more decisivly and be beaten (arguably) in a rematch?
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It happens all the time though. Look at Park v. Canto II and Chang v. Torres II

GPater11093 · Jul 15, 2011

Confucius said: ↑

It happens all the time though. Look at Park v. Canto II and Chang v. Torres II
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:good

Yeh, you got me there.

The Morlocks · Dec 1, 2019

Confucius said: ↑

Sweet_scientist has a pretty good grasp of Park. (And I am surprised and pleased to find a boxing forum where the participants know and discuss things other than American pugilism.)

On the positive side: Chan-hee was both an immense natural talent and a superbly-polished technician, his skills honed through a dominating amateur career that was second to none in perhaps Asian history. (He "lost" 2 bouts in almost 200 amateur fights; and those 2 losses involve a domestic, "politics" loss to a then-more well-known fighter when Park was coming up, and a 1976 Olympics loss to Jorge Hernandes--the Gold Medalist--in a match that Korean boxing authorities feel is Korea's version of the Roy Jones decision. Simply put, Park was untouchable as an amateur, and he's the one Korean fighter who probably should have never turned pro, given his skill sets--unlike guys like Sung-kil Moon, Kwang-Sun Kim, Huh Yeong-mo, et al. guys who would've been dominant world champions had they turned pro early but stayed way too long in the amateurs and had their pro prospects severely damaged.)

On the negative side: As Sweet_scientist says, Park was a basket case, a colossal waste of innate talent and refined skills. Conventionally, it's often pointed out that he had two major weaknesses: Chin and stamina (which is why I say he should've never turned pro). The latter problem was mightily contributed by the fact that Park rivals that another Korean boxing prodigy, Jung-koo Chang, in his lack of work ethic and his notorious unwillingness to put the work in the gym. But unlike Chang--who was from the "streets"--and just like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, Park had no heart. He was a Tyson-like front-runner who couldn't deal with adversity and started wanting to quit as soon as he got hit hard (see the 1st and 3rd Oguma fights).

So it's entirely unsurprising that Park's career turned out the way it had. At the pinnacle, Park essentially shut out a still formidable Miguel Canto. And contrary to what some believe, no version of Canto competes with Park, since Park's assets are all "wrong" for Canto. We've seen this situation time and again: A skilled boxer with a pronounced speed edge always beats an equally skilled but a slower boxer (e.g. Leonard v. Benitez or Jones v. Hopkins I). Prime or no, Canto would've been beaten to the punch every time.

But on the downside, Park couldn't beat anyone who was tough, durable, and brought the fight to him, because he has no chin, no stamina, and no heart. If Oguma can force Park to cry "Uncle," imagine what someone like Harada or Chang would do to him over 12-15 rounds--if the fight lasted that long?

It's been fashionable to speculate how good Park could've been in veteran Korean circles, had he been more dedicated--much like kids talk about the possibility of Tyson sans Robin Givens, the sex, and God knows what. Some say, talent-wise, he could've beaten or at least competed with any flyweight who ever lived.

Consider me a skeptic. I am not, of course, dismissive of the Korean plastic surgery industry's deserved reputation for miracle work. But to my knowledge, a personality transplant is not their specialty or even expertise. And even if Park can get a "warrior" mentality transplant, I don't see him overcoming what seems to be natural limitations such as lack of punch resistance--not in a division where the very best fighters are aggressive, buzzsaws. I honestly strain to see a single all-time top 10 flyweight that Park could've beaten, except Canto.

I do concede, however, given the division's lack of signature talent in his era, Park could have had a very long, successful reign had he been less indifferent to his craft.
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