Choi Hyun-mi (; born November 7, 1990) is a South Korean female
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 ...
. She is a two-weight world champion, having held the
WBA female
super-featherweight
Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and .
The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...
title since 2014 and previously the WBA female
featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...
title from 2008 to 2013. As of September 2020, she is ranked as the world's third best active female super-featherweight by
''The Ring'' and ninth by
BoxRec.
At age 18 Choi was asked to prepare to compete in the 2008
Olympics as a member of the North Korean team; eventually the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
decided against including women's boxing in the competition.
In 2004 her father, a successful businessman in North Korea, fled the country, followed by his family, who traveled first through
China, then were smuggled through
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
before settling in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, where Choi's promoters advertised her as the "Defector Girl Boxer".
Professional career
Choi entered the amateur ranks in South Korea in 2006, winning 5 domestic titles before turning professional in 2007.
On October 11, 2008, Choi won the vacant women's featherweight championship of the World Boxing Association by beating Xu Chunyan of China.
On January 23 and 30, 2010, Choi featured in episodes of the popular Korean variety show ''
Infinity Challenge
''Infinite Challenge'' (; abbreviated as ''Mudo'') is a South Korean television entertainment program, distributed and syndicated by MBC, that ran from 2005 to 2018.
As of January 2013, it had the largest market share for its timeslot; with ...
'' where she successfully defended her WBA Featherweight Women's title against Tenku Tsubasa.
On May 10, 2014, Choi won the women's super featherweight championship of the World Boxing Association by beating Keanpetch Superchamps of Thailand.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
List of female boxers
This is a list of notable female boxers. For a list of notable male boxers, see List of male boxers.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
{, class="wikitable sortable"
, -
! Name
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References
Notes
The Korea Times, 10-12-2008
External links
Hyun-mi Choia
Awakening Fighters''Champion North Korean Boxer'', PRI's The World*
*
Reuters photo, after winning featherweight championship match
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Hyunmi
1990 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Pyongyang
South Korean women boxers
North Korean women boxers
North Korean defectors
Super-featherweight boxers
World boxing champions