The saying goes that, winning isn’t everything, but it sure as hell beats losing. If losing gracefully was an Olympic event, Byun Jong Il would have punched the referee in the nuts during the qualifying rounds. To explain, Byun Jong Il was a South Korean bantamweight boxer, who during the 1988 Olympic games didn’t agree with an official decision. That decision being that straight up head-butting an opposing player when you’re supposed to be representing the best your country has to offer and setting an example to the entire world is kind of a bad idea. In case you’re wondering, that’s exactly what Jung did. However it’s what he did after the event that we want to discuss.
Whereas most boxers or indeed athletes would accept their loss with dignity and accept responsibility for physically assaulting another competitor, which all things considered is actually pretty impressive in a sport where punching is encouraged, Jung decided to sit in the middle of the ring and sulk. His coach however decided that the referee was obviously crooked as hell, mainly due to the fact they mistook him for a totally different referee that had made a bad call the day before, though in fairness, all white guys look alike so we can let that one slide. Keith Walker (the referee) was immediately set upon by angry Korean officials, one of whom delivered a teakwondo kick to his face that was so powerful it bent a solid metal bar behind Walker’s head. Luckily the kick missed, but the damage had been done. Walker was so shaken he literally went straight to the airport and flew home. Jung on the other hand stayed in the ring to protest the decision. Seemingly to clarify that this sure as hell wasn’t going to happen, the officials actually turned off the lights. So the next time you want to call someone a sore loser, picture the image of a professional boxer sat in the dark sulking about the fact he was told off for head-butting someone. Or better yet, come back to this article and look at this photo.
Note the people leaving in the background. Even they know that this isn’t going to end with dignity and they just paid to see people punch each other.
Source. Source.
