{{Short description|Korean male boxer (born 1965)}} {{family name hatnote|Park||lang=Korean}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Park Si-hun | fullname = Park Si-hun | country = {{flag|South Korea}} | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|12|16}} | birth_place = Haman County, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea | death_date = | death_place = | hometown = | residence = | training = | height = | event = Men's boxing | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's boxing}} {{MedalCountry | {{KOR}} }} {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} {{MedalGold| 1988 Seoul | Light Middleweight}} {{MedalCompetition|Asian Amateur Championships}} {{MedalGold| 1985 Bangkok | Light Middleweight}} {{MedalGold| 1987 Kuwait | Light Middleweight}} }}
'''Park Si-hun''' ({{ko-hhrm|박시헌}}; born December 16, 1965) is a retired South Korean boxer. He won a gold medal in the men's light middleweight category at the 1988 Summer Olympics, being awarded victory over Roy Jones Jr. of the United States even though most observers considered that Jones had clearly won. The result was widely condemned and led to reforms in the way boxing is scored at the Olympics.
== Career == Park's first major success came in 1985 when he won the light middleweight gold at the Boxing World Cup, defeating 1985 European Champion Michael Timm and 1984 US national champion Kevin Bryant.
Park competed for South Korea at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. In Park's quarterfinal bout against Vincenzo Nardiello of Italy, Nardiello easily won the first two rounds, but because Park won the third round by a large margin, he was given the fight. Nardiello then had to be dragged out of the ring, shouting at the judges.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition |last= Wallechinsky |first= David |author2=Jaime Loucky |year= 2008 |publisher= Aurum Press |isbn= 978-1-84513-3306 |pages= 466–467 }}</ref>
In the finals for the men's light middleweight, Park fought American boxer Roy Jones Jr. Park was named the winner of the bout following a 3–2 decision by the judges. Later, scoring indicated that Jones had landed 86 punches to Park's 32.<ref name="times">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/26/sports/sports-of-the-times-nice-gesture-substitutes-for-justice.html|title=Sports of The Times; Nice Gesture Substitutes For Justice|first=George|last=Vecsey|work=The New York Times |date=26 September 1997|publisher=|accessdate=5 May 2017|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> Jones has said that Park apologized to him afterward.<ref name="times" /> Several journalists made sworn statements that judge Hiouad Larbi of Morocco said after the match that he acknowledged that Jones had won easily but ruled in favor of Park in order to placate the South Korean spectators.<ref name=latimes>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-09-sp-olycontroversy09-story.html|title=The Justice Department|first=ALAN|last=ABRAHAMSON|date=9 February 2002|publisher=|access-date=5 May 2017|via=LA Times}}</ref><ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/22/sports/sports-of-the-times-roy-jones-jr-still-fighting-for-the-gold.html|title=SPORTS OF THE TIMES; Roy Jones Jr. Still Fighting For the Gold|first=Dave|last=Anderson|work=The New York Times |date=22 March 1989|publisher=|accessdate=5 May 2017|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> Two of the three judges voting for Park were eventually banned from the sport for life.<ref name="times" />
The Jones-Park incident, along with another highly disputed decision against American Michael Carbajal in the same games, led Olympic organizers to establish a new scoring system for Olympic boxing.<ref name="times" />
Jones and Park met face to face in May 2023, with the South Korean boxer giving his Olympic gold medal over to Jones as a gesture of justice over the controversy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=35 Years Later, Park Si-Hun Gives Roy Jones Jr. His Olympic Gold Medal {{!}} BoxingScene |url=https://www.boxingscene.com/articles/roy-jones-jnr-receives-olympic-gold-decades-after-controversial-loss-to-park-si-hun |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=www.boxingscene.com |language=en}}</ref>
==Coaching career== After the 1988 Olympics Park retired from boxing without turning professional, saying he felt that if he were to go professional no one would take him seriously over the Olympic controversy. He earned a bachelor's degree in physical education at Kyungnam University and served as a high school physical education teacher in Jinhae, Gyeongsangnam-do until 2001, when he was named an assistant coach of the South Korea national amateur boxing team. He was also named an assistant coach at Pohang Poseidons. Later{{when|date=May 2021}}, he became a head coach of the South Korea Olympic team.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}
== Results == {| style='font-size: 85%; text-align: left;' class='wikitable' width='45%' !colspan=5|1985 Boxing World Cup |- !style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3; width: 20%'|'''Event''' !style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3; width: 20%'|'''Round''' !style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3; width: 10%'|'''Result''' !style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3; width: 38%'|'''Opponent''' !style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3; width: 12%'|'''Score''' |- |-align=center |rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Light Middleweight |align='center'|Quarterfinal |{{yes2}}Win |align='left'|{{flagicon|PUR}} Freddy Sanchez |align='left'|RSC 2 |- |-align=center |align='center'|Semifinal |{{yes2}}Win |align='left'|{{flagicon|GDR}} Michael Timm |align='left'|5-0 |- |-align=center |align='center'; bgcolor="gold"|Final |{{yes2}}Win |align='left'|{{flagicon|USA}} Kevin Bryant |align='left'|4-1 |- |}
{| style='font-size: 85%; text-align: left;' class='wikitable' width='45%' !colspan=5|1988 Summer Olympics |- !style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3; width: 20%'|'''Event''' !style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3; width: 20%'|'''Round''' !style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3; width: 10%'|'''Result''' !style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3; width: 38%'|'''Opponent''' !style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3; width: 12%'|'''Score''' |- |-align=center |rowspan="6" style="text-align:center;"|Light Middleweight |align='center'|First |colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|''bye'' |- |-align=center |align='center'|Second |{{yes2}}Win |align='left'|{{flagicon|SUD}} Abdullah Ramadan |align='left'|RSC 2 |- |-align=center |align='center'|Third |{{yes2}}Win |align='left'|{{flagicon|GDR}} Torsten Schmitz |align='left'|5-0 |- |-align=center |align='center'|Quarterfinal |{{yes2}}Win |align='left'|{{flagicon|ITA}} Vincenzo Nardiello |align='left'|3-2 |- |-align=center |align='center'|Semifinal |{{yes2}}Win |align='left'|{{flagicon|CAN}} Ray Downey |align='left'|5-0 |- |-align=center |align='center'; bgcolor="gold"|Final |{{yes2}} Win |align='left'|{{flagicon|USA}} Roy Jones Jr. |align='left'|3-2 |- |}
==References== <references/> {{Footer Olympic Champions Boxing Light Middleweight}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Si-Hun}} Category:1965 births Category:Boxers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Living people Category:Middleweight boxers Category:Olympic boxers for South Korea Category:Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Category:Olympic medalists in boxing Category:South Korean male boxers Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:South Korean Buddhists Category:People from Haman County Category:Martial artists from South Gyeongsang Province Category:20th-century South Korean sportsmen