Hyun-Mi "Defector Girl Boxer" Choi

Wow. Stories this inspiring are few and far between, even in the sport of boxing.

In the flower of puberty, young Hyun-Mi was headhunted by the Chosŏn Minjujuŭi (DPRK) government of Kim Jong Il for their planned 2008 female boxing Olympic squad. In a move that was spared young Miss Choi the rigors of being a slave to promoting the Supreme Leader's image, though it represented a momentary hiccup in forward-thinking in global sport, the International Olympic Committee scuppered plans to include women's boxing in Beijing - although progressive ideas would triumph at the next Olympiad in London. In an historic twist, a North Korean girl named Hye-Song Kim fought in the very first ever women's bout in the Games, losing to Elena Savelyeva of Russia in the RO16.

Though she dodged the proverbial bullet of being drafted onto the national squad in preparation for Beijing (and the probable mental & physical abuse that would have gone hand in hand with that), she was kept under scrutiny and may well have been in Hye-Song Kim's shoes if not for the courageous and selfless flight of her entire family. Her father, Chul-Soo Choi, was actually fairly well off in N. Korea and had to give up his successful business, comfortable economic position and standing in society to put a giant target on his back for a country that all but swears fatwas (if of an overtly atheistic stripe) on traitors, along with that of his wife and son to spirit his baby daughter away from the clutches of the dictatorship. Not only that, he faced uncertain prospects wherever they ended up, and in fact has been living on the dole in South Korea while the youngest Choi has served as the bread winner using her educated fists.

...and she has certainly done all she can do to win that bread, doing nothing but win since turning pro in 2008, just two years after defecting and taking South Korea's amateur scene by storm, and five years after the DPRK goons first came sniffing around. Defying the odds and expectations and overcoming the local prejudices, she has garnered a passionate if small following, approaching every match with utmost professionalism, forthrightness and dignity even when competing in the gymnasiums of Seoul Tech or worse, a dingy girl's middle school. At just 17, she captured a vacant world title in her professional debut, and is now a 2-division champ, going 10-0-1 (3) with all eleven of her bouts for world titles. I may be wrong here, but I'm fairly certain that has never been achieved by any boxer, male or female. Hell, the # of boxers that have captured world titles in their pro debut is short enough.

In her first year, she essentially supported her brother and parents on her fight purse earnings - a measly $7k USD per match, or $14k per year distributed amongst 4 mouths to feed. That might have gone far in their original home, but the cost of living is much higher in the more affluent ROK.

She remains in shape year-round, never exceeding ten pounds out from target weight even during her downtime, and her training regimen consists of doing 3-a-days. You know who else does those? Floyd Mayweather Jr., and that's about it.

Plucky, hard-working, beautiful, and brave - and the girl can box! She is undeniably talented, with a quick stinging jab and no fear of throwing in combination while parrying and brushing aside counters.


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Illegitimi

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igitur!!! :happy :bbb

• Hyun-Mi Choi vs. Tenku Tsubasa:

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• (Incomplete, aired on a Korean variety show called "Infinite Challenge!", possibly never aired in entirety)

• Hyun-Mi Choi vs. Sandy Tsagouris:

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• (Miss Choi's first professional knockout!! Her victim was the Greek-Canadian "Lil Tyson"...)

• Hyun-Mi Choi vs. Kittika Sithan:

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• (very next fight...another KO!!)

• Sparring with then-unified light flyweight champ Ju-Hee Kim:

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• (Hyun-Mi in the white shirt. Kim retired 17-1-1 with eight knockouts after unifying five belts, with a perfect 10-0 mark in world title bouts)

• Hyun-Mi Choi vs. Shannon O'Connell:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W879kBXmQUA

• (Choi's 7th consecutive successful defense of the WBA featherweight title, and last match before jumping up to 130lbs)

• Hyun-Mi Choi vs. Fujin Raika:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPkEazw2LmU

• (Raika was a former Japanese 126lb titlist, IBA titlist, multiple division world title challenger, and former Oriental & Pacific lightweight champ. This was Choi's super featherweight debut, and she claimed the interim WBA title...)

This past Saturday afternoon - or rather, late night Friday to us halfway around the world - Choi dominated Chika Mizutani, the game but aging globetrotting contender, over 10 rounds, making her 3-0 (1) at super feather, where she looks very comfortable with her lean (but not devoid of curves! :hey) 5'7" frame.

I'd love to find any footage of her pro debut (against Xu Chun Yan) or her 3rd WBA featherweight title defense (against Claudia Andrea Lopez, then 14-4-0, a very underrated win considering the Argentinian has gone on a 10-2 run since, 3-2 in world title bouts and was the one to pop the cherry of Lucas Matthysse's sister Edith)