Choi Hyun-mi (; born November 7, 1990) is a South Korean female
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
. She is a two-weight world champion, having held the
WBA female
super-featherweight
Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and .
The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...
title from 2013 to 2023 and previously the WBA female
featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...
title from 2008 to 2013.
Biography
At age 13, Choi was asked to prepare to compete in the 2008
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
as a member of the North Korean team; eventually the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
decided against including women's boxing in the competition.
In 2004 her father, a successful businessman in North Korea, fled the country, followed by his family, who traveled first through China, then were smuggled through Vietnam before settling in South Korea, where Choi's promoters advertised her as the "Defector Girl Boxer".
Choi entered the amateur ranks in South Korea in 2006, winning five domestic titles before turning professional.
In her pro-debut on October 11, 2008, Choi won the vacant
WBA female featherweight World championship by beating Xu Chunyan of China.
Choi won the vacant interim
WBA female super-flyweight title thanks to a unanimous decision win over
Emiko Raika
Emiko Raika (来家 恵美子, born January 24, 1975, in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese female professional boxer and mixed martial artist.
Although more Japanese women have taken up traditionally male sports such as karate, kickboxing and wrestlin ...
from Japan on 15 August 2013. She was subsequently upgraded to full champion status.
[
]
She won the vacant
WBF female super-featherweight World title on 21 May 2016, defeating South Africa's Unathi Myekeni by unanimous decision.
In December 2023, the WBA made Choi "Champion in Recess" after she filed a medical exemption and was ruled unfit to defend her title by the sanctioning body’s annual convention in Orlando, Florida, USA.
After 22 fights unbeaten spanning almost 16 years, Choi suffered the first defeat of her professional boxing career on 27 April 2024, losing to Canada's
Jessica Camara
Jessica Camara (born 18 April 1988) is a Canadian professional boxer who currently holds the WBA female lightweight Gold title.
Professional career
Camara made her professional debut on 30 March 2017, scoring a four-round unanimous decision ...
by split decision in a contest for the vacant
WBA female
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing.
Boxing Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...
Gold title at Ajou University, Suwon, South Korea.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
List of female boxers
This is a list of notable female Women's boxing, boxers. For a list of notable male boxers, see List of male boxers.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
See also
{{Portal, Martial arts ...
References
Notes
The Korea Times, 10-12-2008
External links
Hyun-mi Choia
Awakening Fighters*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Hyunmi
1990 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Pyongyang
South Korean people of North Korean origin
South Korean women boxers
North Korean women boxers
North Korean defectors
Super-featherweight boxers
World boxing champions
21st-century South Korean sportswomen