Sung Kil Moon amateur fights (Including a brutal one punch knockout)

Chang lookin' cool as always.

 

Looks like several threads refer to me on this forum still, but I cannot log onto my account for some reasons. But yes, Moon is unwell and has brain damage. It's unsurprising because of his style. He not only got hit a lot due to his face-first style, but he also got butted a lot (and butted others a lot).

Someone above also mentioned his amateur wars. The most legendary wars were with Heo Yong-mo - which also happened to be quite possibly the greatest amateur rivalry in Korean history. Heo, contrary to Moon, was a classic stand-up, one-two boxer-puncher - a bit like Chung-il Choi (but with a better arsenal, as Choi couldn't throw any hooks or uppercuts), so this was a classic, contrasting match-up as well.

Heo's fate is ultimately another "what ifs" - a bit like Moon's - as injuries and over-stay in amateurs ruined a potential world title caliber career. Heo in my opinion was better than Moon as an amateur and far more technically advanced. To give you an idea of how good he was, Kim Kwang-sun - the Olympic Gold Medalist and a guy who nearly beat both Carbajal and Chiquita when he was way past expiration date - could not touch Heo and never could even make the national team when Heo was affixed at flyweight. And Kim wasn't the only elite Korean amateur at flyweight during these days; the Korean amateur flyweight scene - just like the pro scene - was loaded in the 70s and 80s.

Of course, things became different when Heo ultimately moved up and began to tangle with Moon. Here's one of those classic matches:

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Unfortunately, Moon got in Heo's way of more amateur glory; and Heo never turned pro - I am told because of persistent hand problems, which would have been exposed even more as a pro through greater usage.

Still, Heo's move up in weight ultimately was a major factor in Moon turning pro.

So a guy who kept Kim kwang-sun from the national team - and caused Moon to leave the amateur scene entirely - was damn good.

A sad coda to all of this is that Heo recently died this month.

Finally, someone mentioned Moon's stamina. He was an endurance athlete early in his youth, so this is no surprising. He really should have turned pro earlier and developed better. He had a game most perfectly suited to the pros: power, chin, stamina. Heck, he could've fought in the 19th century!

 

He did. And got butted and couldn't continue the next fight, I believe. Moon would've won the Gold likely but for the butt. The same thing happened to Heo Yong-mo - who should've won the gold at the weight below. Korea was unlucky to not come away with 4 Golds in LA (Dong-kil Kim lost a controversial decision in the semis, I think, against an American - which would serve as a pretext for the "revenge" decision against Roy Jones).

 

I heard it from a source who know him well in person and who promoted boxing a bit (I helped him with Jung-koo Chang's induction a bit as well). He could be mistaken, but he's a fairly reliable source.

 

Fair enough but he’s fine. At least when he’s out at the boxing (which is regular) and talking to average joes (apparently he’s very approachable and doing well)

 

Great post. Apart from the brain damage thing.

 

It's hearsay - so I could be wrong - as I already conceded. He does have a penchant to exaggerate; so that could be it. Or he could be flat-out wrong, and mistook Moon's case for another. But I don't see any reason why he'd intentionally lie. No real motive here.

 

Of course, I think he’s just mistaken. I posted a documentary here not too long ago and Moon was in the ring on the pads, walking up a mountain, all sorts. It was a welcome surprise!

Quick question if I may: what ‘endurance sports’ did the young Moon partake in? Was he a long distance runner or something? Do you know if he wasn’t successful at high school level or anything like that?

 

He was a long distance runner in his schooldays. Not sure how elite he was though. But it's brought up quite frequently to explain his style - or the capacity to sustain his style. I think endurance is the one part that is often neglected when people talk about Moon's raw attributes - whereas power and chin obviously come up a lot. But he was one of the few huge punchers who threw a lot and swarmed - partly because he rarely landed precisely. And without his endurance, no way he could just keep throwing those windmill shots.