By John Streit, Correspondent
Professional boxer Mark Chang picked the right coach for his North American Boxing Council U.S. junior middleweight championship bout.
Chang knew he'd need somebody to help him with his unusual situation - someone who could adapt and formulate a winning strategy - against seasoned veteran Craig Houk.
That man was Beach martial arts and boxing trainer Yoon Lee.
"I tend to think from outside of the box," said Lee, who owns Fitness Kicks. "I see a lot more than a typical boxer looking at it from a boxing standpoint."
Chang defeated Houk Nov. 17 in an 11-round unanimous decision, including a knockdown in the ninth round, at the Millennium Center in Winston Salem, N.C. However, Chang had more to battle than a fighter who has tangoed with world champions Hector Camacho, Julio Caesar Chavez and Meldrick Taylor.
Lee's fighter had broken bones in his right hand and wrist, forcing him to wear a cast as late as June and taking away the right-handed boxer's most damaging asset.
Chang (13-2-0) knew he'd have to go southpaw when delivering his power blows in order to have a chance of defeating Houk (67-36-0).
Only one problem: Most boxing coaches are reluctant to switch a fighter from orthodox form.
However, Chang, a college friend of Lee who lives in Washington, knew he could call on his Beach colleague to make the transition work.
"Having an idea of how the other guy would fight and my guy being a southpaw, I just suggested working one particular punch," Lee said.
"I train all my guys to be ambidextrous. It brings on better knowledge of different angles. If you watch major fighters like Mike Tyson, they switch stances as well."
The experiment worked well.
Among three judges, Chang compiled an advantage of 350-331 in the bout. The knockdown in the ninth round served as the strongest evidence that the switch to left handed could work.
Lee s aid his background in karate and other martial arts led him to be an innovative trainer of conventional western boxing. Even with the explosion of popularity for mixed martial arts fighting in the past decade, boxing is still one of Lee's passions.
"A lot of times, because I'm Asian, some people think, 'Oh, he just does Asian boxing. ' So, as a trainer, I have to earn their respect anyway," said Lee, who earned his black belt in 1976 by studying under iconic martial arts figure Jhoon Rhee, who is best known for his kicking work with Bruce Lee.
"To me, fighting's fighting, you just have to understand the different rules," Lee said.
John Streit, 639-4805 or
vb.beaconsports@yahoo.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
