Chang Hee park

He's one of the most talented flyweights I've ever seen. He had a great offense, top notch handspeed in particular, but he was a bit of a headcase and it pretty much cost him some fights he should never have lost (or drawn).

Besides his first fight with Canto his second fight with Shoji Oguma shows him in top form and I thought Park fought great there and got robbed of the decision (had Park taking it by three points).

In their third fight however, Park gets off to a sizeable points lead on a slightly shopworn Oguma, but then for no apparent reason he started to coast and allows Oguma to edge back into the fight simply through dint of his greater workrate. By the end he ended up losing the fight to an inferior fighter (as far as talent goes) and he didn't really seem to care.

Likewise in the second Canto fight, he starts off ok, but then he pretty much packs it in midway through the fight. I think Mante told us once that he actually wanted to quit midway through the Canto fight, and had to be talked into continuing. I don't know why that was the case. Again, it didn't look like he was too distressed with the punishment he had taken or anything.... strange. He was lucky to get a draw in that one. Canto clearly took it.

Not sure what happened to him after the third Oguma fight but I'm guessing he just lost his hunger for the sport and had other things he was more interested in.

Park was kind of like a more capable Zab Judah. Loads of talent, but didn't have the mental faculties to see that talent come to fruition.

 

His fight with Espadas was a great showing as well, though it could be argued the stoppage was premature.

Espadas was an excellent classy fighter with great smooth hooks and usually had a fine well-schooled defence as he came forward, but Park just blasted him with combinations and counters off the back-foot.

As an aside, park vs Alfonso Lopez would have been a beatiful fight to watch, though their primes didn't quite match up.Both very talented guys with glaring flaws.I wish i had a copy of Lopez' fight with Oguma now that i think about it.

 

Just re-watched the Espadas fight then. Was indeed a good little pasting, against an excellent opponent as you say Mante.

Do you think the Oguma-Lopez fight exists on film?

 

I'm guessing it should do, but i've never come across anything.

Raging Bull is your man to ask here, i reckon.

 

Haha, indeed I am it seems, as I do believe I have the Lopez/Oguma fight here somewhere. Then again I may be confusing it with another Oguma bout but I am almost certain I have it, I`ll check this weekend.

 

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.

 

Great first post Confucius and welcome to the forum. :good

Canto indeed would have had his hands full with Park, even if he was in his prime, but I'd probably still give Canto a decent shot at taking the fight, given Park's notorious ability to lose the unloseable fights. We shouldn't forget that he was pretty lucky to draw their second fight with a more well trained but still past his best Canto...

You're most likely right though that you have to make an impression on Park by drawing him into a battle of wills (heart) or hit him with something heavy to discourage him.

 

Hi, I agree that Canto should've won the 2nd fight. But Park hardly trained, given that he completely dismissed Canto after he really demolished Canto the 1st fight--much like how Chang didn't train for the 2nd fight with German Torres, after a similarly one-sided 1st fight.

I am basically assuming we have a peak Park v. a peak Canto, and I don't see scenarios where Park loses here, because of the stylistic match-up. Park is one guy that's going to be very difficult to out-box for anyone, because of his foot/hand speed combined with his technical mastery.

 

Outstanding, tremendously informed and well-articulated inaugural post Confucius! Greetings, and welcome to ESB Classic!

Essentially you're saying that he was in the right place at the right against the right opponent in Canto.

You're certain he beats Canto to the punch every time (not the same as saying he defeats Canto every time, as their rematch demonstrated), but El Maestro could be amazingly quick at his best, able to throw any punch effortlessly. (What he did in stopping Jiro Takada in his Merida homecoming after winning the title has lingered vividly in my mind for over 35 years.)

Fact remains that Oguma did shockingly revive a seemingly finished career at Park's expense, enough so to win "Comeback of the Year" for 1980 from more than one boxing periodical, but I certainly would have expected Park to take at least one from his trilogy with Oguma. Dethroning Canto the way he did is a phenomenal feather in his cap though, one which clinches his place in boxing history. (Take away that win, and Greg likely doesn't create this thread about him.)

 

Park did beat Oguma in their 2nd fight, but got shafted.

He had that great win against the formidable Espadas as well.

Overall i'd put him down as a really good/borderline great type Flyweight, but one with a short prime and the aforementioned flaws that would put him out of most top 10-15 lists.

 

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.

 

Hi, thanks for the welcome. And yes, Canto was the perfect "great" flyweight opponent for Park and possibly the only one he could've beaten. No doubt Park was had tremendous physical gifts and skills, but the total package was not conducive to being a great professional fighter. He should've stuck as an amateur and tried to win an Olympic Gold--which is actually not so crazy in the Korean cultural context, where an Olympic Gold was far more prestigious than a world title and almost as financially rewarding (though that would have been a disastrous decision with a 20/20 hindsight, since Korea didn't attend the Moscow Games anyways in 1980).

On Canto, I fall into one of those groups of people who thinks he was more of an "accomplishment" great than "head-to-head" great. Be that as it may, Park was just faster of both hands and foot and was more active without conceding much in terms of skills, if at all (which is where Canto's main advantage lay v. most everyone). Again, I think it's a Benitez v. Leonard type of situation. (Maybe the Jones v. Hopkins I is not the best analogy, since one could make an argument that Hopkins could've made it a brawl and won--though I don't think so, since it's not in Hopkins' make-up to bull-rush people from the opening.)

On the bouts with Oguma, even Japanese boxing experts agree that it was a clear robbery on their 2nd fight. I think the term "robbery" is over-used and often flat-out inaccurately used, but I have not seen anyone who thought Oguma won their 2nd fight.