Moon Sung-kil

Moon Sung-kil
문성길

Personal information
Full name	Moon Sung-kil
Nationality	South Korean
Born	July 20, 1963 Yeongam, South Jeolla Province, South Korea
Height	1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	54 kg (119 lb)
Sport
Sport	Boxing
Rated at	Bantamweight
Medal record World Amateur Championships 1986 Reno Bantamweight Asian Games 1982 New Delhi Bantamweight 1986 Seoul Bantamweight

Moon Sung-kil (born July 20, 1963 in Yeongam, Jeollanam-do, South Korea) is a former two-division world champion boxer from South Korea. 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 bantamweight gold medal at the Asian Games in New Delhi, knocking out Wanchai Pongsri of Thailand with one blow in the final.

In the 1984 Summer Olympics, Moon was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Pedro Nolasco 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 champion Paul Banke by a third round referee stopped contest (RSC) at the USA-Korea Amateur Boxing Championships held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In November 1985, Moon won the gold medal at the Boxing World Cup, manhandling all the opponents by KO.

In 1986, Moon became the first South Korean amateur boxer to win a gold medal at the World Amateur Boxing Championships, beating future Olympic silver medalists Aleksandar Hristov and Arnaldo Mesa in the tourney.

Results

1984 Summer Olympics
Event	Round	Result	Opponent	Score
Bantamweight	First	bye
	Second	Win	John Hyland	KO 3
Third	Win	Robert Shannon	RSC 3
Quarterfinal	Loss	Pedro Nolasco	RSC 1

1985 Boxing World Cup
Event	Round	Result	Opponent	Score
Bantamweight	Quarterfinal	Win	Bernard Price	KO 1
	Semifinal	Win	Ljubisa Simic	RSC 2
Final	Win	Jose Rodriguez	KO 2

1986 World Championships
Event	Round	Result	Opponent	Score
Bantamweight	First	Win	Fabrizio Cappai	KO 1
	Second	Win	Johnny Vasquez	5–0
	Quarterfinal	Win	Aleksandar Hristov	RSC 2
Semifinal	Win	Arnaldo Mesa	3–2
Final	Win	Rene Breitbarth	3–2

Pro 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 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 on January 20, 1990 for the WBC 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 Super Flyweight Champion Gilberto Roman, a fourth-round KO over Konadu in their rematch, and a first-round KO over former two-time WBC Light Flyweight and one-time 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.

On November 13, 1993 Moon lost a split decision to Jose Luis Bueno 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's current project, Sun Kil Moon, is named after Sung-Kil Moon.

References

• Professional boxing record for Moon Sung-kil from BoxRec
• sports-reference