01.06.08 – By Ted Sares: South Koreans Myung-Woo Yuh met Oh Kon Son in Seoul on September 8, 1985 in a fight that featured head-to-head exchanges without let up and which had Son‘s face a bloody mess by the sixth round. I am fortunate enough to own rare footage of this fight and it must be seen to be believed..
Son suffered two standing 8-counts during the first six rounds as a result of receiving jackhammer shots, but gave as well as he took against the more skilled Myung-Woo Yuh who used sharp combos to slice and dice his gutsy foe and kept up the pressure with incredible punch volume. Indeed, he was nicknamed “so-na-gi,” which means “downpour” in Korea because of his volume punching which always came with technically sound combos. While his hand speed was not great, his monster volume more than made up for it as did the combinations. As I reviewed the footage, it appeared he was throwing well over 100 punches per round. Unfortunately for Son who was throwing his fair share of hard shots, Yuh’s chin was rock solid.
Finally, after the two engaged in some mutually punishing assault and battery, Yuh dropped Son with a body shot in the seventh stanza and the fight was wisely halted. Son, as is the case with most Korean fighters, was one who must be saved from himself.
In March 2006, Somsak Sithchatchawal took part in what would later win Ring Magazine’s Fight of the Year laurels. He challenged WBA Super Bantamweight champion Mahyar Monshipour. Sithchatchawal dropped Monshipour in the first round, and won via TKO in the 10th round to capture the belt. The Son-Yuh savagery was every bit as brutal and sustained, but went completely unnoticed and thus achieved true closet classic status.
And speaking of Myung-Woo Yuh, who finished in 1993 with a 38-1 record, he made 17 successful title defenses during his first reign, the record for the 108 pound division. His first defeat would come at the hands of Hiroki Ioka in Osaka, Japan in December 1991 by SD (when Yuh was past his prime). The scoring was as follows: Harold Lederman (US.) 113-115, Oscar Perez (US) 115-113, and Phil Newman 112-117. Less than a year later, he avenged his only defeat again fighting in Osaka where wining high profile fights is not an easy task for visiting fighters. This time the scoring was more decisive: Antonio Requena had it 119-111, Manuel Gonzalez 117-112, and Lou Tabat, who missed it badly, scored it even at 114-114. Yuh would fight one more time before retiring. On July 25, 1993, he decisioned Yuichi Hosono over decisive 12 rounds to retain his title, the only title defense of his second reign.
His level of opposition admittedly was as not tough as that of Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez, Hilario Zapata, Michael Carbajal, and fellow South Korean Jung-Koo Chang, but Leo Gamez. Jose De Jesus, Joey Olivio, and Leo Gamez were not exactly push overs. As well, Yuh was never floored in 39 career fights and arguably had the best chin in the division’s history. Moreover, he was always in great shape and his stamina was a good as anyone I have ever seen in the ring. Superbly conditioned, he seemingly could fight all-day (as a badly tiring Son found out in the above-described fight).
Ricardo “Finito” Lopez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007 and rightly so. Carbajal and Gonzalez also are in. As for Jung Koo Chang, I’ll make a case for his induction in another piece.
Some say if you have to hesitate, they don’t belong. I say that’s a bunch of bunk. Nevertheless, that’s an issue for another day, because when it comes to this storied fighter, the issue is academic for me. Myung-Woo Yuh should have been enshrined years ago.
Do the Right Thing
–Ossie Davis