On This Day in Boxing… July 3rd
1993: Via a close 12-round split decision, the tough South Korean Sung-Kil Moon retained his WBC world super flyweight title by defeating the gritty Argentine challenger Carlos Salazar. The bout, full of drama and a clash of styles, took place at the Education Culture Center in Seoul, South Korea. This marked Moon’s ninth and final successful defense before losing the crown later that year.
The referee for the match was Toby Gibson, while the scorecards of judges Rudy Jordan, Malcolm Bulner, and Karl Milligan sealed the local victory. Salazar, for his part, would prove his tremendous quality years later by becoming a flyweight and super flyweight world champion.
1993: The legendary and undefeated Mexican Ricardo “Finito” López gave a masterclass in boxing and power by successfully defending his WBC world strawweight title, stopping the dangerous Thai Saman Sorjaturong via technical knockout in just the second round. The bout took place in a vibrant arena in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
With this brilliant exhibition, “Finito” added the seventh defense of a reign that would become historic. As a curious fact, the Thai Sorjaturong did not sit idly by in his career: some time later he moved up to the light flyweight division to dethrone another Mexican great, Humberto “Chiquita” González.
