Il-Suh Kang: A Boxing Legacy
Kang Il Suh was a South Korean professional boxer active from 1961 to 1972. His best-known international result came in Los Angeles in 1967, when he defeated unbeaten young lightweight contender Mando Ramos over ten rounds.
A South Korean Career
Boxing record sources list Kang as a South Korean super-featherweight who made his professional debut in April 1961. His documented record spans 52 bouts, with 41 wins and 11 losses. Records for fighters from this period can differ in spelling and transliteration, so the name appears in several forms, including Kang Il Suh and Suh Kang-il.
The Mando Ramos Upset
On July 6, 1967, Kang met Mando Ramos at Los Angeles’s Olympic Auditorium. Ramos entered with a 17–0 record; Kang won their ten-round contest by unanimous decision, handing the young American his first professional defeat. Ramos later became a world lightweight champion, making this an especially notable result in Kang’s career. The fight is also a useful reminder that a boxer’s significance is not measured only by world-title wins: Kang’s victory came against a future champion at the beginning of his rise.
Record and Context
Kang continued boxing after the Ramos bout, competing in South Korea and abroad through the early 1970s. The surviving online records document his opponents and results more clearly than details of his personal life or later years. This account therefore focuses on the verifiable record and avoids filling those gaps with speculation.
Selected Recorded Results
- 1972-04-29: Il-Suh Kang won against Sung Yuh in Busan.
- 1970-10-24: Il-Suh Kang won against Isao Ichihara in Seoul.
- 1969-09-13: Il-Suh Kang won against Arthur Persley in Seoul.
- 1968-06-13: Il-Suh Kang lost to Yoshiaki Numata.
- 1968-04-10: Il-Suh Kang won against Roman Blanco in Seoul.
- 1968-02-24: Il-Suh Kang won against Hiroshi Shoji in Seoul.
- 1967-09-14: Il-Suh Kang lost to Raul Rojas in Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles.
- 1967-08-03: Il-Suh Kang won against Placido Rodriguez in Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles.
Sources
BoxerList; BoxRec: Mando Ramos bout record.
Article Tags
Il-Suh Kang, Boxing, Sports History
