[Power K-Women] 'Doctor Boxer' Seo Ryeo-kyung "Sincere About Both Work and Exercise"

Seoryeokyeong, Professor of Pediatrics and Adolescents at Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital
KBM Women's Light Flyweight Champion
Struggled Balancing Work and Training, Often Cried
Wants to Remain a Neonatologist in the Future
"Boldly Dive into What You Love"

"The mindset for boxing is sincere regardless of profession. In sports, what you do for a living doesn't matter."

The professional world is like the wild. It is not easy to surpass the extraordinary talent and years of training that athletes have accumulated in an instant. For an office worker to debut as a pro boxer after starting late is an even more dreamlike story.

Seo Ryeo-kyung is currently a professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescents at Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital and the Korean Boxing Commission (KBM) Light Flyweight Champion. She seems busy enough handling just one job, but for her, there is no concept of primary or secondary occupation. She approaches both professions with equal sincerity. On August 15th last month, she also fought a Korea-Japan match against Japan’s Maehara Kana to commemorate Liberation Day.

On the 26th of last month, we met Professor Seo Ryeo-kyung after she finished her hospital duty and returned to the gym. When asked if it was difficult to balance being a doctor and professional training, she laughed brightly and said, "After repeated practice, your whole body becomes like diamond armor, so you don’t feel that difficulty." Although she can smile easily now, she said she polished countless boxing gloves, fought against the prejudice of "What does a doctor have to do with boxing," and cried many times while juggling hospital work and training. Yet, she has never thought of giving up. Professor Seo emphasized, "The challenge to become a world champion will continue."

-You had a Korea-Japan match on Liberation Day last month. It ended in a draw. How do you feel about that?

△The opponent also performed well, so I am satisfied with the result. Honestly, I thought my punches caused more damage in the ring, so I expected to win. But the players and referees can see things differently. I don’t dwell much on the result. I want to show better performances going forward.

-Being a doctor and a professional boxer itself became a big topic. How did you start?

△A close senior doctor who was a drinking buddy recommended it. He invited me to his gym, so I started at the end of 2018. Our gym isn’t one of those diet boxing places popular these days; it’s a completely classic gym. I think I would have been shy if I had gone alone. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have gone.

Everyone who works gets stressed, right? It was the right timing to release that stress. I was originally good at running and had decent athletic ability, so it fit perfectly, and I thought, "This is the sport for me." I took the pro test in 2020 and debuted as a pro on November 14th of the same year. Since stepping into the gym, my boxing experience is five years in Korean age.

-What do you think is your strength?

△Power. When I fight, my opponents bleed a lot, but I rarely bleed. Instead, my knuckles get bruised. Since I have strength, I am focusing on developing precise skills.

-The nickname "boxing doctor" is unprecedented, but it must have come with many challenges.

△Yes. Nowadays, many people recognize me, but in the past, many had prejudices focusing on the fact that I was a doctor. Early in my pro career, some people at the hospital disapproved, saying, "Why are you wandering around boxing?" On the other hand, when I boxed, many doubted my skills because I was a doctor. It was strange. I am a professional boxer and train more than most athletes. Even after a match, people would say, "For a doctor, this is good," or if I made a mistake, "She’s a doctor, so she can’t do well," as if these labels were attached to me.

-You must have made great efforts to overcome this. What is your daily routine like?

△After hospital duty, I go to the gym. I jump rope, warm up, shadowbox, hit the sandbag, and when the coach holds the mitts, I hit hard. There’s nothing special about pro training; I focus on the basics. Even basic training produces different output between amateurs and pros. After training, I go home and sleep. My fingers hurt so much that I don’t even want to hold the remote. On days off from the hospital, I add running in the morning. Mike Tyson reportedly repeated running and boxing training three times a day, so what I do isn’t extreme training.

-Humbly speaking, there must have been tremendous effort behind this. Is there anything that shows how far you’ve gone?

△When practicing, I think I replace boxing gloves three to four times a year. The padding inside tears and breaks.

-Sports are said to be a mental battle. Your mental strength seems very solid.

△After overcoming the draw in the world championship match last March, I became more composed. I had a brief slump after the match. I felt a lot of psychological pressure, but outside, it seemed like people were trying to tear down everything I had done because of that one draw. I was criticized with comments like, "See, she can’t win against a really good opponent. Her career so far must have been fabricated." I thought I was strong, but I was hurt. Since I started training, I had never taken more than four days off, but then I rested for two weeks for the first time. I couldn’t even leave the house. I didn’t want to meet people.

Doctor boxer Seoryeokyeong (left) is competing against Japanese-born Yoshikawa Riyuna in the Women's International Boxing Association (WIBA) minimum weight class (47.6kg) world title match held on the 16th at the Grand Ballroom of the Swiss Grand Hotel in Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

-What kind of psychological burden did you feel?

△The match result was a draw, but to me, it felt like a big defeat. I naturally thought I would become the world champion and believed I had won the match. It was the first time I truly tasted defeat. When I do something, I literally put myself into it. And until now, I believed that all results never betray that effort. Like studying hard and getting first place to enter medical school. But it felt like that was broken. I had to accept that even with effort, different results can come out, and that was hard.

-Now, you seem unaffected by match results, including the Korea-Japan match.

△After overcoming that hurdle, I realized there’s no need for self-blame. I accepted that people can’t always perform well. Actually, I also calm myself by watching eSports these days. I really like the team T1, and by watching them, I learn how to control my mind and approach sports. Even when their performance is poor and people say "T1’s glory is ending," they ignore it and prove themselves by winning. In sports, players can’t always perform well. There are many unpredictable things. Watching T1, I learn that "There are bad games," and "You can show better performance next time."

-Have you faced other life hardships?

△The biggest hardship was when I was dispatched from Cheonan to Seoul in 2022. I almost ran away from the hospital. I went to a familiar gym, but the coach who usually looked after me wasn’t there, and although my skills shouldn’t have declined, I felt anxious and work was tough. I couldn’t give up work or training, so I repeated the life of working out after work, eating, sleeping, and going back to work. Balancing work and training was so hard that I think I shed all the tears I had in life then.

-Yet you had a comeback match after a year.

△It was really hard to overcome. I hadn’t been able to train properly, so I had gained weight. For the comeback match, I had to start with my body and change all my patterns in a short time.

-What challenges are you currently pursuing? As boxer Seo Ryeo-kyung and doctor Seo Ryeo-kyung.

△As doctor Seo Ryeo-kyung, I want to continue saving lives as I do now. Since I work in the neonatal intensive care unit, I see many babies in critical condition. I find it rewarding to care for these small lives and help them leave the hospital healthy. In fact, fewer doctors are applying for pediatrics these days, so there are fewer hospitals for babies. I think maintaining my position as a neonatal doctor is meaningful. As boxer Seo Ryeo-kyung, my goal is to keep improving my skills and show good matches until I become a world champion.

-Does that mean the challenge to become a world champion continues?

△I will challenge again. I am looking for an opponent in the tournament and setting a match date, so the schedule is not yet finalized. When the match is set, I will step into the ring.

-What would you like to say to women who continue their own challenges like you?

△I hope they immerse themselves in what they like and think they can do well. It will be hard, but consistency is ultimately important. If you don’t give up, time will solve the process afterward. So I hope they boldly dive into what they love without regrets.

Professor Seo Ryeo-kyung,

born in 1991, is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescents at Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital and the Korean Boxing Commission (KBM) Light Flyweight Champion. She started boxing in 2019 and debuted as a professional boxer in 2020, continuously balancing her career as a doctor and boxer. In July 2023, three years after her pro debut, she attracted public attention by becoming the KBM women’s light flyweight champion as an active doctor. She is currently ranked 13th in the world on the official record platform 'BoxRec.'