Hongman Choi
South Korean martial artist
Choi Hong-man (Korean: 최홍만; born October 30, 1980), often anglicised to Hongman Choi, is a South Korean kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and former ssireum wrestler. In Asia, he is called "Che Man", "Techno Goliath", "Korean Monster" and "Korean Colossus". He won the 2005 K-1 Seoul Grand Prix beating Kaoklai Kaennorsing in the finals. He stands 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) and weighs 160 kg (350 lb; 25 st 3 lb).
Career
Ssireum (until 2004)
At the 2003 Ssireum Championships, he won the title against his long-time rival Kim Young-hyun (often anglicised to Younghyun Kim). A year later, he reached the final again, where he was defeated by Kim. Across all Combat sport styles, there has never been anywhere a fight of such physical proportions between two athletes. Choi weighed 175.5 kg (387 lb; 27 st 9 lb) standing 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) tall, Kim weighed 167.8 kg (370 lb; 26 st 6 lb) standing 2.17 m (7 ft 1 in) tall.
This even surpasses the WBA heavyweight championship between Nikolay Valuev (2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) at 146.2 kg (322 lb; 23 st 0 lb)) and Jameel McCline (1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) at 121.7 kg (268 lb; 19 st 2 lb)), which is considered a record in boxing in terms of physique. Valuev and McCline brought together 267.9 kg (591 lb; 42 st 3 lb) and 4.11 m (13 ft 6 in), Choi and Kim 343.3 kg (757 lb; 54 st 1 lb) and 4.35 m (14 ft 3 in).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Hongman Choi” is south Korean martial artist. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hongman, Choi and South, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “south Korean martial artist” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q113542. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1980, 2005, 2004 and 2003.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Hongman Choi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.