The South Korean Jun Suk Hwang (former opponent of Donald Curry) is deceased

Never knocked out except once, despite the elite opponents he faced — this is the story of a truly unfortunate boxer in the world of boxing that I would like to bring to light.

I only learned of his passing this morning, coincidentally while I was watching his fight against Gilbert Delé. At first, I planned to mention him in just one line in a topic where I had already referenced him in 2024. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt that this boxer deserves far more than a simple line.

South Korean Jun Suk Hwang, who held a professional record of 42-5-0 (29 KOs), passed away on June 29, 2025, at 2:35 p.m., at the age of 64. The family did not disclose the cause of death.

• He became OPBF Welterweight Champion by defeating his undefeated compatriot Chung Jae Hwang, who had a record of 22 fights (20 KOs), via TKO in round 8 after a brutal war. Chung Jae Hwang was making the 15th defense of his OPBF title and had just previously beaten, on points, former WBC Super Lightweight championand former Lumpinee Muay Thai champion Saensak Muangsurin.
  
  
• Jun Suk Hwang then defended the OPBF title five times before earning his first world title opportunity.
  
  
• In February 1983, he faced Donald Curry and lost on points, delivering a very respectable performance against a Curry who was at the absolute peak of his career.
  
  
• He successfully defended his OPBF title two more times, before suffering a surprising points loss to Carlos Trujillo, a highly technical Panamanian boxer.
  
  
• After the defeat to Trujillo, the Dong-A Gymnasium took a high-risk gamble by matching Jun Suk Hwang against the notorious Mexican Pipino Cuevas, nicknamed “the Butcher of the Ring” and known as a career-breaker. Cuevas entered the fight with 30 wins (27 KOs) and 9 losses. In a fierce 10-round war, fought in the United States with no title at stake, Jun Suk Hwang emerged victorious via majority decision.
  
  
• Following this win, the South Korean re-established himself as one of the best Korean boxers of the 1980s. He regained the OPBF Welterweight title in September 1984, which he defended four times.
  
  
• After this reign, he challenged his rival In Chul Baek for the OPBF Super Welterweight title. At the time, Baek was a feared force with 38 wins, 36 KOs, and only one loss. Jun Suk Hwang went the distance and gave everything he had in a spectacular all-Korean rivalry bout, ultimately losing on points.
  
  
• He then suffered another setback when he was stopped by Seung Soon Lee via KO in round 6 in a fight for the OPBF Welterweight title.
  
  
• At 26 years old, Jun Suk Hwang rebuilt his career after this tough defeat, going on an eight-fight winning streak. During this run, he scored a TKO in round 2 over durable Japanese Super Welterweight Tadashi Maruo, and also gained revenge against Seung Soon Lee, defeating him on points in a 10-round non-title bout at middleweight.
  
  
• At 30 years old, ranked #3 by the WBA, Jun Suk Hwang traveled to France on May 4, 1991, to face Gilbert Delé. Shortly before that, Christophe Tiozzo had thoroughly dominated In Chul Baek in a WBA Super Middleweight title fight.
  
  At the time, the idea was to give Gilbert Delé — undefeated in 27 fights (with 1 draw) — an “easy” opponent for his first defense of the WBA Super Welterweight title. While Delé won almost every round (except perhaps the third), the courage and determination of the South Korean challenger truly forced the French champion to dig deep in order to secure the victory.
  
  
• This fight would be Jun Suk Hwang’s final bout. He retired immediately afterward at the age of 30, stating at the time that this second failed world title opportunity had taken a heavy psychological toll, and that it would be too difficult for him to rebuild another path toward a championship.
  

Some of his fights:

• Jun Suk Hwang vs. undefeated puncher Chung Jae Hwang — OPBF Welterweight title
  
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• Jun Suk Hwang vs. Pipino Cuevas “The Butcher of the Ring”
  
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• Donald Curry vs. Jun Suk Hwang — WBA Welterweight Championship
  
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• In Chul Baek vs. Jun Suk Hwang — OPBF Super Welterweight title
  
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• Jun Suk Hwang vs. Seung Soon Lee I — OPBF Welterweight title (his only KO loss), a massive war in South Korea
  
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• Gilbert Delé vs. Jun Suk Hwang — WBA Super Welterweight Championship
  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UYYTAyOColY
  
  
• Tribute video by KBS Sports (South Korea’s national sports channel):
  https://youtu.be/EbnEzP30QXg
  

 

Thanks a lot ! I think he deserves to be better known because he had a great career

 

His family gives the information in private on Facebook but you can have the informations there :

https://namu.wiki/w/황준석(권투선수)

https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20250630114900505

http://www.boxingm.com/bbs/sub1_3/147816

 

No problem it's normal

 

In South Korea today I have two friends Sung Cheol Kang & Young Joon Kim.

And I like to watch Ye Joon Kim, Tae Sun Kim, Deok No Yun, Yoo Sub Shin and Ryang Ho Han (this one is a serious prospect future world champion).


They have very nice fighters, I respect them they are like us in France they have the heart and they are technical.


In fact the South Korean boxing declined because Mrs Uhm (is retired since 2000 now maybe she is very old so I can't say if she is alive or not she is a legend in Korea), and she was the big promoter in boxing in Korea in the 80's-90's so this is why we had in the past Jum Hwan Choi, Myung Woo Yuh, Sung Kil Moon, In Chul Baek etc...