As a local, I know how Korean boxing declined. But I'm curious about how great Korean boxing was in its prime.
Prime Korean Boxing gave birth to some of the most rugged,tough and awkward two fisted pressure fighters of their time. While they mostly didn't get much recognition,I think the peak of Korean Boxing started around the 50s/60s ad the renaissance to the 80s and the 90s being it's absolute best,with fighters like Sang Hyun Kim,Chan Hee Park,Jung Koo Chang and such. It starts to degrade during the end of the 90s,and the last "cool" Korean fighter I saw was from the 2000s,being In Jin Chi.
My favorite from that era is Myung Woo Yuh. So much fun. He and Chang should have fought, and I'd be picking Yuh.
It reach its peak in the 80s when there was Jung Koo Chang, Myung Woo Yuh, Sung Kil Moon, Soo Hwan Hong, Chong Pal Park, In Chul Baek and it just slowly died down from there on. The only other Korean boxer that made some noise after that era was In Jin Chi. One things for sure you always expect a great fight from them. It's sad how Korean boxing has seriously declined since then. Chang, Yuh, and Moon were some of the most entertaining lower weight fighters I've seen.
Here's a question, do you think the death of Kim may have played apart in boxing becoming less culturally relevant in Korea?
It certainly played a role in the decline of boxing in Korea. But I also think the popularity of Taekwondo also has something to do with less Koreans focusing on boxing. Since Kim's death the mindset has drastically shifted over the years and boxing has been viewed as being too barbaric, which is why Taekwondo has been the essential combat sport for Koreans. It's rather interesting because I always thought Japan and South Korea shared the same values and mindset and yet Japan boxing continues to thrive despite the few deaths that happened in that country over the years.
Good point about the Taekwondo, Korean TKD completely left my mind. I always kinda assumed Japan was a little bit more bloodthirsty. From their history, to their boxers, all the way to the days of Pride.
Speaking as a Korean, the decline of Korean boxing is not because of Taekwondo. Taekwondo was already popular before. The reason Korean boxing failed was because of the corruption of the associations. There are about five associations in this small country! And the heads of the associations weren't interested in protecting the boxers at all. Some boxers received extremely low fight money, and some were even denied payment. As a result, boxing entered a declining sport, and only old people who remember the past glory are left. Boxing trainers these days are too low-level. They are not interested in overseas boxing and only stick to outdated training methods.
