Chong-pal Park v. Kyung-min Na II & In-chul Baek v. Jun-seok Hwang

I thought some folks might be interested in watching these two fights. Chong-pal Park v. Kyung-min Na II is the first fight (you actually see a brief highlight of their first fight, where Park got obliterated); and In-chul Baek v. Jun-seok Hwang is the 2nd fight. For identification purposes, in the first fight, Park is the shorter guy with a more crouched stance; in the second fight, Baek is the taller guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu93DIFtP2U

Now, three of the four fighters featured in these two fights -Park, Baek, and Hwang - are somewhat known in the West, since they were either world champions or fought in world title matches. The fourth fighter, Na, may have had an equally successful career if he had better guidance early in his career. I apologize in advance that the quality of the video is less than stellar, and it is also missing important markers like round number or time elapsed, etc.

A brief background to these fights:

First, the Park v. Na fights. Park is probably the most well-known fighter among the quartet - both in the West and in Korea. He was a top 3 ranked fighter for a while in the Hagler era, and had he beaten Obelmejias in their first fight, he would've been Hagler's mandatory challenger. After he blew that opportunity to be Hagler's mandatory, he toiled in relative obscurity until the newly-created IBF gave him another opportunity at 168 pounds against Murray Sutherland. After seizing that opportunity, the past-prime Park had a long but spotty run as an IBF titlist until he was - once again - knocked out by the equally past-prime Obelmejias.

As for Na, his career is riddled with "what ifs." Like Kwang-sun Kim and Sung-gil Moon, he turned pro at a very late age, around 26, I think, because - among other things - Olympic glory was more important for him. That was obviously a mistake, as South Korea ended up boycotting the Moscow Olympics. He also does not seem to have been coached all that well as he did not really adjust to the pro game. Like many Korean fighters with a long TKD and amateur background (Chung-il Choi comes to mind immediately), Na can only throw straight punches - a booming right hand and a decent jab - but cannot throw proper hooks effectively. This should have been fixed. Also like many long-time TKD/amateur competitors, Na doesn't take punches well, and he has stamina issues, too. Perhaps these flaws were incorrigible, but you still wonder.

At any rate, Na blitzed Park for a shocking early knockout in their first fight - which set up the return bout you see here. Some think, given what happened in their return match, that the result of the first fight was an aberration, especially since Park was extraordinarily lazy and took fights off, but I am not sure. Park was always chinny, and Na could always bomb.

Now, for the Baek v. Hwang fight. Baek is the more widely-known guy. Baek began his career by knocking out everyone for his first 25 or so fights and was in line for a title shot until he lost an American tune-up to Sean Mannion. He then reeled off another lengthy win streak (with a few questionable home decisions) until he was pulverized by Julian Jackson in a title match. IBF, however, comes to the rescue of another Korean fighter who should have disappeared as a "has been" - not quite a world champion-caliber fighter. Not too long after, Baek knocks out Obelmejias for Park's old IBF belt at 168. Baek's reign is, unfortunately, not quite as long-lived as that of Park, since he gets stopped by Tiozzo in his 3rd defense.

Hwang is probably known in the West for two fights. In his first big fight, he takes a beating from Donald Curry for the title vacated by Leonard but does knock Curry down with his patented left hook. In his second big fight, he has a war against Cuevas at 154 and outworks the shopworn Cuevas. Hwang was by no means a special fighter, but the "ox" (which not only indicates his immense strength and relentlessness but is also a pun on his name, as "hwang so" is "ox" in Korean) may have had the best chin in Korean boxing history. But at this stage Hwang is past his expiration date, fighting at a weight well-above his best, and meeting someone who hit harder than anyone he will face in absolute terms, including Curry and Cuevas. The result is predictable, but entertaining nonetheless.

 

Who? Park? No way.

 

Elaborate? His opponents were relatively mediocre, and the division didn't have the talent it had in other eras. And even when he won, he looked shaky, and he was arguably gifted a few hometown decisions. And the end came via a demolition against a washed up fighter. Just don't see it. A long reign itself does not necessarily mean much.