Moon Sung-kil (, born July 20, 1963) is a 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 1987 to 1993. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBA

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

title from August 1988 to July 1989 and the WBC

super-flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council responded to pressure from Asi ...

title between January 1990 and November 1993. His name is also rendered Sung Kil Moon.

Amateur career

Moon, who compiled a purported record of 219–22 (164 KO) during his amateur career, was known as a great knockout puncher of the lighter divisions. In 1982, he won the

gold medal at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, knocking out Wanchai Pongsri of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

with one blow in the final. In the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, Moon was eliminated in the quarterfinals by

Pedro Nolasco Pedro Nolasco (February 2, 1962 – September 15, 1995) was a Dominican boxer, who won the bronze medal in the men's bantamweight category at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. This was the first Olympic medal of the Dom ...

via RSC in the first round due to a cut on his head after an accidental head butt. In March 1985, Moon defeated future WBC

Super Bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

champion Paul Banke by a third round referee stopped contest (RSC) at the USA-Korea Amateur Boxing Championships held in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. In November 1985, Moon won the gold medal at the

Boxing World Cup The Boxing World Cup was an international boxing event organized by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), featuring boxers competing in different weight divisions. It was held from 1979 to 1998 as an individual competition and from 2002 to ...

, manhandling all the opponents by KO. In 1986, Moon became the first

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 ...

n amateur boxer to win a gold medal at the

World Amateur Boxing Championships The IBA World Boxing Championships, and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships (previously known as AIBA), are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is the sport governing body. A ...

, beating future Olympic silver medalists Aleksandar Hristov and

Arnaldo Mesa Arnaldo Mesa Bonell (6 December 1967 – 17 December 2012) was an amateur boxer from Cuba, who won the silver medal for his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. In the final of the Bantamweight (– 54 ...

in the tourney.

Results

Professional career

Moon's pro debut took place on March 8, 1987 with a first-round KO over Ric Bajelot, a fighter with 16 professional fights at the time. Moon won his first six fights by knock-out, before challenging

Khaokor Galaxy Kaokor Galaxy, also written as Khaokor Galaxy (Thai language, Thai: เขาค้อ แกแล็คซี่, born, May 15, 1959) is a Thai former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1989. He held the World Boxing Association, WB ...

for the WBA bantamweight title on August 14, 1988. Moon won a six-round technical decision to win the title. The fight was stopped early due to an accidental headbutt that cut Moon. Moon would go on to make two successful defenses of his title, scoring a seventh-round KO of Edgar Omar Monserrat, and a fifth-round KO of Chiaki Kobayashi. Kobayashi, a former Japanese National Bantamweight Champion, retired after this defeat. On July 9, 1989 Moon and Galaxy met in a rematch, this time Galaxy won a unanimous decision over 12 rounds to regain his WBA bantamweight title. Moon was knocked down twice in the 11th round, losing by scores of 120–109, 120–109 and 120–112. Moon then moved down in weight. Moon scored a second-round KO over Romeo Opriasa in a tune-up bout, before challenging

Nana Konadu Nana Yaw Konadu Yeboah (born February 15, 1964) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2001. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC super-flyweight title from 1989 to 1990, and the WBA banta ...

on January 20, 1990 for the WBC and Lineal super-flyweight title. The fight between Moon and Konadu was a war, both fighters were knocked down several times. Moon won a ninth-round technical decision to capture the title, after once again becoming the victim of an accidental headbutt. Moon won by scores of 86–84, 86–82, and 87–84 to capture his second world title in his second division. Moon would go on to record nine successful title defenses, including five victories over prior or future world champions. These victories included a ninth-round KO over former two-time WBC and Lineal super-flyweight Champion

Gilberto Roman Gilberto is the Iberian and Italian version of the originally Norman-French given name '' Gilbert'', used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish languages. In Galician, it's spelled Xilberto or Xilberte. ''Gilbert'' is ultimately derived from the Ger ...

, a fourth-round KO over Konadu in their rematch, and a first-round KO over former two-time WBC light-flyweight and former WBA flyweight champion Hilario Zapata. On July 3, 1993, Moon made his ninth and final successful title defense, scoring a 12-round majority decision over future IBF super-flyweight and WBO flyweight champion

Carlos Gabriel Salazar Carlos Gabriel Salazar (born 5 September 1964) is an Argentine former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1998. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the IBF super flyweight title from 1995 to 1996, and the WBO fl ...

. On November 13, 1993 Moon lost a split decision to

Jose Luis Bueno Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

by scores of 115–114, 112–117 and 110–118 to lose the WBC super-flyweight Title. Sung-Kil Moon retired after this fight, finishing with professional record of 20 wins and two losses (15 by knockout). Folk musician

Mark Kozelek Mark Edward Kozelek (born January 24, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and occasional actor. He is known as the vocalist and primary recording artist of the indie folk act Sun Kil Moon and founding member of ...

's current project,

Sun Kil Moon Sun Kil Moon is an American folk rock act from San Francisco, California, founded in 2002. Initially a continuation of the defunct indie rock band Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon is now the primary recording moniker of vocalist and guitarist M ...

, is named after Sung-Kil Moon.

Professional boxing record

References

External links