Kim Ki-soo (; September 17, 1939 – June 10, 1997) was a South Korean former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 1961 to 1969. He was South Korea's first world boxing champion, having held the

undisputed Undisputed may refer to: Film * ''Undisputed'' (film), a 2002 action-thriller-drama film ** ''Undisputed'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the film * Undisputed II: Last Man Standing, a 2006 American martial arts film * Undisputed III: Redempt ...

WBA and WBC

super-welterweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA a ...

titles from 1966 to 1968.

Amateur career

Kim graduated from

Kyung Hee University Kyung Hee University (abbreviated to KHU) (Hangul: 경희대학교; Hanja: 慶熙大學校) is a private research university in South Korea with campuses in Seoul and Suwon. Founded in 1949, it is widely regarded as one of the best universities i ...

's College of Physical Education. He competed in

boxing at the 1958 Asian Games The Boxing Tournament at the 1958 Asian Games was held in Korakuen Ice Palace, Tokyo, Japan from 28 to 31 May 1958. A total of 62 boxers from 11 nations competed. The host nation dominated the competition winning six out of ten gold medals, Sou ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, where he earned the gold medal of the welterweight division by defeating Soren Pirjanian of Iran, on points, in the final. He went on to represent

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

as a welterweight at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, where he defeated Henry Perry (Ireland) on points, but then lost to

Nino Benvenuti Giovanni "Nino" Benvenuti (born 26 April 1938) is an Italian former professional boxer and actor. He held world titles in two weight classes, having held the undisputed super-welterweight championship from June 1965 to June 1966 and the undispute ...

(Italy) on points.Kim Gi-Su
sports-reference.com

Professional career

Kim turned professional in 1961 and captured the WBC, WBA and Lineal light middleweight title when he upset

by split decision in 1966. He defended the belt twice before losing it to

Sandro Mazzinghi Alessandro "Sandro" Mazzinghi (3 October 1938 – 22 August 2020) was an Italian professional boxer who held the world light middleweight championship twice. Biography In 1961 Mazzinghi won the Military World Championships. The same year he ...

in 1968 by split decision. He retired the following year.

Later life

After his retirement, Kim worked as a boxing coach. He later started his own company, and was successful in business. He died of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

on 10 June 1997, at the age of 57. He was survived by his wife Jeong Ha-ja (鄭夏子), two sons, and two daughters.

Professional boxing record

References

External links