Kim Ki-soo (; September 17, 1939 – June 10, 1997) was a South Korean former professional boxer who competed from 1961 to 1969. He was South Korea's first world boxing champion, having held the undisputed WBA and

WBC WBC may stand for: Business *Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS *Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company *Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...

super-welterweight titles from 1966 to 1968.

Amateur career

Kim graduated from Kyung Hee University's College of Physical Education. He competed in boxing at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, where he earned the gold medal of the welterweight division by defeating

Soren Pirjanian Soren Pirjanian also spelled Souren Pirjanian ( hy, Սուրէն Փիրջանեան; fa, سورن پیرجانیان , born 1935) was an Iranian Armenian boxer who became a member of Iran senior national Boxing team in 1955, and was also a mem ...

of Iran, on points, in the final. He went on to represent South Korea as a welterweight at the

1960 Rome Olympic Games The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

, where he defeated Henry Perry (Ireland) on points, but then lost to Nino Benvenuti (Italy) on points.Kim Gi-Su
sports-reference.com

Professional career

Kim turned professional in 1961 and captured the

, WBA and Lineal light middleweight title when he upset Nino Benvenuti by split decision in 1966. He defended the belt twice before losing it to Sandro Mazzinghi 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