Kim claimed a unanimous victory in the World International Boxing Council light flyweight championship
During her match, boxing star Kim Ju-hee had the fierce fire of a champion burning inside. Her vision was obscured by a swollen left eye, but with each passing round she went at her adversary more viciously. Even her trainer, Jung Mun-ho, said, “I have no idea where this strength is coming from.” After giving her last ounce of strength to claim her fifth championship belt, she put others before herself, saying, “I am going to do everything I can in the future so that younger people dreaming of becoming boxers can do it in a better environment.”
Boxing star Kim Ju-hee, 24, of Guoin Association now holds the title of the champion for the world’s top five boxing organizations. In Saturday’s World International Boxing Council (WIBC) light flyweight championship bout at the Farmers and Fisherman Sports and Cultural Center in Wando, South Jeolla, she had her Thai opponent, 20-year-old Fahpratan Looksaikongdin, pinned throughout before claiming a unanimous victory by decision with a score of 3-0 (100:90/99:89/98:93).
With this, Kim added a fifth championship belt to her current Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA), Women’s International Boxing Federation (WIBF), Global Boxing Union (GBU), and World Boxing Federation (WBF) titles to complete the sweep. If the 2004 International Female Boxers Association (IFBA) and 2007 World Boxing Association (WBA) championships she claimed but later surrendered are taken into account, she has accomplished the feat of taking championships with the top seven organizations. She is the only female boxer in the world to have conquered six or more different organizations’ championships in the same weight class. Her personal record is 15-1-1, with six knockouts.
Kim pinned Fahpratan aggressively beginning in the first half. In the second round, she seized the initiative with a straight left to the face. From the third round on, Kim maintained tight control of the bout, focusing her onslaught on Fahpratan’s sides. She maintained the aggression in the second half against her rapidly flagging Thai opponent, with two straights in a row finding their mark. Kim stayed in control into the late stages, finishing the bout with a successful barrage in the tenth round.
“I’m very happy to have accomplished my goal of becoming five-organization champion,” Kim said. “Now I plan to tackle even bigger goals.”
For Fahpatan from Thailand.
