I personally think he was extremely talented and a very good fighter. Just not dedicated enough to match his speed and skills. He only thought three ranked fighters, and had a record of 2-3-1. Arguably having gotten a rough shake in the rematches with Oguma - I definitely thought he deserved the second - and having arguably received more than be deserved in the Canto rematch, it's important to place this modest record in context. The two wins were absolutely scintillating, with a near shut-out over Miguel Canto, and a second round KO over the brilliant Guty Espadas. How do you think he'd get on against some of the other fellas in his era. Vargas, Gonzalez, Avelar, Hanagata, Salavarria, Borkhorsor or Obha?
I've seen his wins over Canto and Guty, maybe like 5-6 years ago, but when I watched it was late at night and I was pretty tired. In other words, it probably deserves a fresh viewing... maybe today. I hold Ohba in pretty high regard. I would pick Ohba over Arbachov and Too Sharp, and my initial thoughts are that he'd beat Park. But I should rewatch Park-Canto.
Incredibly talented, yet mentally lazy / weak and not much given to training. His team knew it too, so rushed him to the top as quick as they could. He would have massive success against anyone he could box against, frustrate or out-talent. Guys who would dog him, take no shit and are hard fought, teak tough and crafty would give him immense trouble and likely beat him. It's frankly ridiculous that you can label him an underachiever and somewhat of a glass cannon, but that's what he was. Probably the best of the Korean stylist brand of Boxing.
Park imo, was an extremely talented fighter. He had a great lead-hand, and was always ready to strong together some beautiful combinations. His cross/lead was as good as anyone's, and I really enjoyed watching him use it against Canto and Espadas. Look at how he picks his shots and spears Espadas with that rapier-like jab down the centre. Espadas isn't an easy man to nail either, and Park made it look like shooting fish in a barrel. His arsenal could be a little wild, but my God was it fast. I think his tendancy to get a little wild is what causes him to be dropped against Espadas, countered vs Canto, and worked vs Oguma. He gave other fighters too many opportunities, he was just good enough to get away with for a while. He could be very inconsistent in the ring too. Not just in terms of giving poor performances, but also just in terms of his application. Sometimes he'll be a picture of perfect technique, and other times in the same round, he'll be wild, jittery and off balance. He also could change things up by going from steady and tactical, to frantic aggression. You can see vs Canto how quickly he went from working well to playing around, doing little dances or waving his hands around strangely. His performance vs Canto was excellent. Even if he didn't land too much of genuine, fight threatening significance, he did shut down Canto's brilliant offense and managed to make el gran maestro resort to purely defensive work. His weird, off-kilter, probing lead seemed to spook Canto and stop him from working his own jab. When he did, he was met with a back-hand and a full body collision as Park barrelled on with the shot and the snappy hooks which came with it. He cut the ring off brilliantly though, and really did a brilliant job in taking away Canto's best tools. By the time he fought Oguma, he had stopped taking things so seriously, and I think there's a marked difference in how he looked between the first, second and third fights. He seemed disinterested the first time, geared up for the second and seemed to have fizzled out by the time of third. He had his issues with Oguma's longer style - despite their equal TOTT's - and southpaw style, but he seemed to have it figured out by the time of the second fight. Actually, in the early rounds of their second fight, he seems (comically) surprised at how much easier things were. I'd take a focused Park from the first Chang or Espadas fights to beat Oguma, tbh.
I don't think Park was weak mentally. I think he was just lazy. He toughed out too many hard moments against elite fighters to be called mentally weak IMO.
