Anyone who enjoys an absolute tear up should watch this one. The fact that the fight was held in Darwin in October makes you appreciate how tough these fighters are. Darwin is at 12 degrees latitude in the tropics and is a stinking hot place. The stoppage was a wee bit premature in my opinion but I reckon Michael was going to win as Choi looked very, very tired and hurt but the Korean was still throwing punches back at the stoppage. This content is protected Cheers All.
Michael was journeyman level talent, but very tough. The creation of the IBF further watered down the oversll quality of the pool of "Champion." Lockridge absolutely savaged Michael to take his title. There were quite a few obscure South Koreans that held IBF titles in the mid 80s. His team must have paid Bob Lee a tidy sum to maneuver him.
Ahh, I've seen this one before. There's pre-fight footage of a supremely confident Choi running on the beach looking as 1980's as possible without a care in the world, right? Shame that Korea doesn't produce fighters in the same way they once did. A lot of these obscure Korean guys you see in the 80's Alphabet Soup affairs were actually damned tough and scrappy competitors, even if usually not truly world class.
Yep, put it this way, if Barry had been in the same position I doubt the referee would have stopped the fight. It certainly was an old fashioned give n take war. Cheers.
Hi mate, I remember a lot of old school Aussie fight fans like my father n his mates being pretty contemptuous of the whole concept of Lester Ellis and Barry being " world " champions. To guys who had watched Lionel Rose have to travel to Tokyo to fight Harada or even Famechon travelling to London to face Jose Legra it was a mickey mouse title. Agreed as far as Michael being more a good journeyman type as far as his physical abilities went but his chin, smarts and fitness were at a higher level than that. In an old school one champion per divison type situation Michael would have been a 10-15 kinda contender at best. Michael looked like he had been beaten up by an angry mob after the Lockridge fight. Rocky was without doubt the best fighter Michael ever faced and the gulf in class was very obvious. Do you know if Larry Holmes was the first big name fighter to solely hold an IBF belt ? I remember Larry quitting as WBC champion and defending his IBF title a few times. No doubt ole Bob Lee would have scored a few brown paper bags full of loot from Korea. A fair few Korean fighters won IBF straps. Cheers.
Is there one ya havent seen yet Russ hehehe I have never seen a Korean fighter who wasnt in great shape and really gutsy. They have produced some really tough fighters. I suppose the fact that South Korea has progressed so much as a country economically ( and the Mancini - Kim fight ) helped make boxing a less popular sport as far as actual participants go. Always a pleasure mate.
