Jung Hyun Lee is proving to be the next major prospect coming out of South Korea. In the headliner of ARC 5 on Saturday night in Seoul he took on Min Soo Jo in a catchweight affair that turned out to be a complete mismatch.
The two were only matched together because two fighters pulled out and the bout started at a furious pace which did did not dwindle until the bell rang in the final round. Lee attacked the calf obsessively, ripping inside and outside kicks to debilitate his foe.
He knocked down Jo early in the first round and the pressure was on. As the kicks landed, the punches came over the top and landed on multiple occasions. Lee was visibly gaining confidence and even taunting his adversary in the center of the cage.
Clearly outclassed
Entering the second Jo’s calf was bearing the brunt of the damage and his movement looked labored. Lee was scoring with combinations of punches and kicks but his opponent did sneak through a couple of punches, albeit nothing significant enough for the judges to take notice.
In the third, Lee picked up the pace even more and put together combinations that drew blood. More and more calf kicks and five punch combos followed with Jo clearly outclassed in the striking department.
With 20 seconds left in the final round Jo was able to get the fight to the ground. But Lee reversed and finished the fight throwing shots from top position.
It was a clean sweep on the scorecards for Lee who remains undefeated and improves to 4-0. Jo remains winless and his record slips to 0-2.
Completely unconscious
The co-main event was an openweight clash. Coming off three straight knockout losses, Jae Hyeok Heo was very timid in his approach at the beginning but after Ki Hoon Ryu landed a couple of kicks to the midsection, the exchanges on the feet picked up.
At the one-minute mark, they got tied into the clinch and Heo connected with a few left hooks while Ryu blasted knees to the breadbasket. Once they separated, Ryu landed a lead left hook and backed off.
Ryu faked a takedown to close the distance which created an opening for the right hook. It dropped Heo like a sack of potatoes, he was completely unconscious in the middle of the cage.
Ryu obtains the first finish of his career and wins his second straight fight to move up to 2-2. Heo’s career appears to be heading in the opposite direction as he is knocked out for the fourth time in a row and drops to 1-4.
Full blast
Earlier in the night, Hyun Woo Kim and Young Min Ji went full blast to entertain the viewing audience and it was the former combatant that walked away with a victory.
After a wild grappling exchange on the canvas, Ji rocked his opponent three times with the counter right hand throughout the first frame undoubtingly putting him up on the judges’ scorecards. Yet, Kim did not show any signs of fading.
The Team Finish product was able to draw Ji into a brawl and by the midpoint, the tables had turned. While Ji swung big and missed with many of his strikes, Kim began to connect more with his punches. Slipping and ripping for the final sixty seconds of the round, Kim got into a groove.
The final round was a continuation. Even though Ji was fighting back with every punch, it was Kim who landed the more damaging shots which led to the unanimous decision.
Kim keeps his unblemished record intact and moves to 2-0 after turning pro earlier this year, meanwhile Ji snaps a two-fight win streak and drops to 3-3.
ARC 5, Seoul, June 12
Jeong Hyun Lee def. Min Soo Jo via Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of Round 3
Ki Hoon Ryu def. Jae Hyeok Heo via Knockout (Punch) at 1:39 of Round 1
Judo: Young Hwan Kim def. Dong Hyun Bae at 3:33 of Round 1
Hyun Woo Kim def. Young Min Ji via Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of Round 3
Ji Un Choi def. Kyung Bin Jang via TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage) at 0:48 of Round 3
Tae Young Yoon def. Sang Kwon Han via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:45 of Round 1
Yoo Jeong Kim def. Hyun Joo Baek via Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of Round 3
Dong Hyeok Ko def. Jin Kuk Kim via Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of Round 3
