My fourth visit to Korea was certainly an adventure of note. Starting with a ten hour flight from Cape Town to Dubai, a few hours on the Ipad waiting, and then the second ten hour flight from Dubai to Seoul. I have to say that the technology on board Emirates was outstanding, with passengers having access to live football, internet as well as Skype – which collectively resulted in zero hours sleep.
Added to this, our outstanding WBF referee Darryl Ribbink had been booked on a different flight to Korea and thus as usual I had a small panic as to whether Darryl, well known for getting lost on boxing assignments, would arrive. To his credit, Darryl arrived in Seoul a few hours after me, and after some strong coffee, our driver took us on the four hour journey to Jinju, where the event was being hosted.
Meeting my friends, the director of KBA Hoosik Choi and President of KBA Jung Pyo Kim, many hugs and smiles took place and we started to discuss the growing relationship between the KBA and the WBF. Now perhaps one might wonder about the cultural differences, let alone the language barrier but as is the case in boxing – boxing is almost a universal language on its own, and boxing has its own way of bringing problems in culture and language to an end, thus uniting people from all over the world.
After four days of incredible hospitality, current WBA world champion Hyun-Mi Choi, herself a fantastic character, won our WBF Super Featherweight title with a comfortable decision over the tenacious Unathi Myekeni of South Africa.
The time in Korea simply enforced the growing relationship we have with the Korean society and, of course, the KBA. Much credit must go to the hard work of KBA director Hoosik Choi and KBA chairman Jung Pyo Kim for their professionalism, dedication and their vision in seeing Korean boxing grow bigger and bigger together with the WBF.
A beautiful country, kindest and most respectful people, some outstanding boxers, and a country with some of the most interesting food in the world! I look forward to returning to Korea on August 27 for our next world title fight, and to all the people who looked after us with such dedication and enthusiasm, I say from the bottom of my heart – thank you!
Until next time, keep boxing.
Howard Goldberg
PRESIDENT: World Boxing Federation
