December 16, 2006
SEOUL, KOREA
Newly crowned WBC feather champ Rudy Lopez (19-2-1, 13 KOs), Mexico, will risk his belt against Korean ex-champ Injin Chi (30-3-1, 18 KOs) tomorrow (Sunday) at the Chungmu Art Hall in Seoul, Korea.
Lopez, ten years his junior at 23, will make his initial defense against the more experienced Korean due to the option agreement at the challenger’s home-turf. The weigh-in ceremony has been done. Lopez tipped the beam at 57.0 kg (125.75 pounds) to 57.1 kg (126 pounds) for Chi.
The officials are as follows: referee Curtis Thrasher (US); judges Lou Filippo (US), Stephen Blea (US) and Raul Nieves (Puerto Rico); and supervisor Eric Buhain (Philippines).
Chi, last January, lost his belt to Japanese lefty Takashi Koshimoto by a debatable upset decision in Fukuoka, Japan. Lopez stunned the fistic world by dethroning Koshimoto by a tenth-round stoppage there this July. The Lopez-Chi bout was originally slated on November 26, but was postponed three weeks until tomorrow due to a TV schedule.
It is already cold now in Korea, where it is some 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside. The Lopez party, headed by his manager Jose Alberto Gomez from Cancun, complained of the coldness at first when this reporter arrived here yesterday and saluted them. The cold weather may or may not affect the young champ.
Chi hasn’t fought for ten months since yielding his belt to Koshimoto in January, and people still wonder how good his condition will be tomorrow since he has had a great weight problem. Chi looked physically big as a 126-pounder, so had to struggle to make the weight in latest bouts. The game and tough Korean acquired the belt by dismantling Michael Brodie in Manchester in April 2004. He is already 33, when almost all Korean boxers hang up gloves for good. Chi kept his throne twice by defeating Eiichi Sugama (TKO10) and Tommy Browne (W12) before his forfeiture of the belt. Chi is an aggressive and fast fighter who keeps punching at the long or close ranges. He can punch as well as take punch. His durability and toughness was apparently shown in his first world title shot against Eric Morales, which ended in a close but unanimous decision for El Terrible in Los Angeles in 2001.
Some Korean experts say, “Should Chi lose this time, it might be the last world title bout to be held in Korea in this century.” It means that the popularity and position of boxing has terribly dropped to the bottom. It is now hard to fill the top ten in every division of the Korean national ratings because of few active boxers. It is a pity to see such a serious decline of boxing here in Korea, which once dominated Asia by holding many world champs and OPBF titleholders. People still remember the good old days of excellent champs such as Jungkoo Chang, Myungwoo Yuh, Chongpal Park, Inchul Baek, et al. Korea has been rapidly modernized since 1988, when the Olympic Games took place in Seoul. It might be the beginning of the Korean boxing’s decline since people tended not to pay much attention to boxing events. Under such pitiful condition in Korea, only Kusung Lee of Poong San Promotion is an active promoter to celebrate world title goes by continually booking Chi before limited aficionados here. Lee, formerly world 122-pound contender and wealthy businessman, strongly wishes to recover the fistic status in the economically fast-rising Korea.
Rudy Lopez is a young and handsome Mexican hombre. He surprised the world by upsetting Koshimoto, so he may repeat stunning it by turning the tables against the heavily favored Chi. Lopez has been strenuously training with Marco Antonio Barrera, whose brother Jorge will be the chief second along with Marco’s main trainer Rudy Perez. Lopez is said to have rapidly progressed so technically and mentally that he may defeat Chi with his energetic attack in the close quarter. He has a suspect chin, as previously stopped by Carlos Garcia just a year ago. But he seems to have had better condition than Chi since he has no weight problem. Lopez will have to show that his coronation wasn’t a fluke though Koshimoto then had pains on both shoulders on his last appearance (Koshimoto retired after yielding his belt to Lopez).
The title bout will start at 2 pm, as Korean MBC TV couldn’t schedule it at prime time. The future of Korean boxing will largely depend on the outcome of tomorrow. In this regard we have to watch the WBC feather title bout tomorrow.
This show is presented by Poong San Promotion, and it will be telecast live to Mexico.
(12-16-06)