Remember Hubert "Kalbo" Kang? (Or Records Could be Deceiving)
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 29 Aug 2024
Hubert Kang.
Reymart Gaballo and KJ Catarja losing to the same Japan-based Mexican fighter Kenbun Torres who is with already five losses, two by knockout, is instructional on how an opponent's fight record could be very deceiving and hence should not be reason for overconfidence or nonchalance.
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I remember back in September 1967, a bald pated South Korean featherweight fighter named Hubert Kang came to the Philippines for a series of fights. Kang had an unflattering 11 wins, 8 losses and one draw record.
He was coming off from a win in Japan which ended a string of four consecutive losses, all on points anyway to fellow South Koreans. Though his last win was by knockout over a named Japanese fighter, local fight organizers were not impressed.
Hence they put Kang only in the undercard of a main event flyweight fight held at the Araneta Coliseum between Al Diaz and another South Korean Dong ki Cho. They pitted Kang against a veteran Filipino featherweight Marcel Juban.
Kang lost no time in introducing himself to Filipino fight fans and dominated Juban before knocking him out in the sixth round. The main event saw Diaz outpointing Cho.
An instant hit, Kang was immediately arranged for his next local fight before the month was over in Cebu City and he was ranged against a younger opponent named Arthur Fuego in the main support of a promotion topbilled by future world flyweight champion Bernabe Villacampo versus the same Dong ki Cho.
Fuego gave a stiffer fight to the energetic visitor but was steadily worn down and eventually knocked out in the tenth and final round. It was at this time that the local sports media took keen interest in Kang and began calling him Hubert "Kalbo" Kang.
Seeing how dominantly Kalbo Kang dispatched his two earlier local foes, fight organizers arranged for him to battle a rated Filipino junior lightweight contender Raymond Rivera in his third fight set for October of 1967 back in Manila. Kang versus Rivera would be chief support to the main event featuring Flash Elorde in his first comeback fight from losing his world title to Yoshiaki Numata in June of that year.
Rivera would also give a good fight to Kang but Kang proved too strong and durable and went on to score a ninth round knockout. It was a double whammy day as Elorde likewise showed signs of slowing down in losing a 10-round decision to rising Japanese lightweight Akihisa Someya.
Three straight knockout wins in just a space of two months for Kalbo Kang and Filipino fans would want a revenge against the bald pated South Korean.
It was at this point that fight organizers led by Doc Almirante brought Kang back to Manila for a main event bout against rising Filipino junior lightweight Rene Barrientos at the Araneta Coliseum on January 14, 1968.
According to fight reports, Kang and Barrientos fought fiercely with both having their moments. But Barrientos showed more experience and class to pull off a unanimous decision victory although he also showed lumps and bruises for the effort.
Lust for revenge was nonetheless satisfied.
For his gallant victory, Filipino boxing fans hailed Barrientos as some sort of a pride redeemer and looked at him as a potential new world champion after Elorde.
It did not take long and Barrientos indeed became a world junior lightweight champion defeating American Ruben Navarro for the WBC title at the same Araneta Coliseum.
Meanwhile, Kalbo Kang was not over with his shocking surprises.
A year after his Philippine "reign of terror", Kang would bring his act to Japan and win the OPBF featherweight crown by knocking out Katsuo Sato.
A few months later, in his first defense, he would also knock out Kuniaki Shibata--the same Kuniaki Shibata who would later win the world featherweight title over Vicente Saldivar and much later became two division world titlist by upsetting our own Ben Villaflor (which Villaflor would avenge in their WBC junior lightweight title rematch by first round knockout).
Sadly, Kang would not become a world champion. He wouldn't even have the opportunity to fight for a world title, ending his career with a record of 38 wins, 22 by knockout against 18 losses, 3 by KOs and 9 draws.
But Hubert "Kalbo" Kang definitely left his mark among Filipinos as a fighter with deceiving so so record who defeated some of the top Filipino and Japanese fighters in his time. Needing at one point somebody special as Rene Barrientos to stop his rampage.
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Fast forward to the present- who would exact revenge on Kenbun Torres for Gaballo and Cataraja? Who among our remaining top bantamweights would stop his streak versus Pinoys?
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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