Whisper
January 2nd, 2008, 11:00 AM
A South Korean boxer who lost consciousness after winning a WBO intercontinental flyweight bout last week has been declared brain dead in Seoul, a hospital spokesman said Wednesday.
Choi Yoi-sam had been in a coma since shortly after winning the fight against Indonesian challenger Heri Amol in Seoul on Dec. 25. The 33-year-old Choi was knocked down in the 12th and final round of the bout.
Doctors were scheduled to remove Choi's organs for transplantation after getting approval from the prosecutors' office, a legal requirement before organs can be removed, said Ko. South Korean media reported that Choi had said he would donate his organs.
"He has lived a hard life," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted Oh Soon-hui, Choi's 65-year-old mother, as saying. "I hope he has gone to a peaceful place."
South Korea's boxing commission had no immediate comment.
In 1982, South Korean lightweight Duk Koo Kim died four days after being knocked out by Ray (Boom Boom) Mancini in a title fight in Las Vegas.
Another South Korean fighter, bantamweight Lee Tong-choon, died of acute swelling of the brain in 1995, four days after losing consciousness following a fight against Setsuo Kawamasu in Tokyo.
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/photos/2008/01/02/boxer192-cp.jpg
South Korean champion Choi Yoi-sam, right, is knocked down by Indonesian challenger Heri Amol during the final round of a flyweight title bout on Christmas Day. Choi went into a coma shortly afterward.
(Ahn Young-joon/Associated Press)
Choi Yoi-sam had been in a coma since shortly after winning the fight against Indonesian challenger Heri Amol in Seoul on Dec. 25. The 33-year-old Choi was knocked down in the 12th and final round of the bout.
Doctors were scheduled to remove Choi's organs for transplantation after getting approval from the prosecutors' office, a legal requirement before organs can be removed, said Ko. South Korean media reported that Choi had said he would donate his organs.
"He has lived a hard life," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted Oh Soon-hui, Choi's 65-year-old mother, as saying. "I hope he has gone to a peaceful place."
South Korea's boxing commission had no immediate comment.
In 1982, South Korean lightweight Duk Koo Kim died four days after being knocked out by Ray (Boom Boom) Mancini in a title fight in Las Vegas.
Another South Korean fighter, bantamweight Lee Tong-choon, died of acute swelling of the brain in 1995, four days after losing consciousness following a fight against Setsuo Kawamasu in Tokyo.
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/photos/2008/01/02/boxer192-cp.jpg
South Korean champion Choi Yoi-sam, right, is knocked down by Indonesian challenger Heri Amol during the final round of a flyweight title bout on Christmas Day. Choi went into a coma shortly afterward.
(Ahn Young-joon/Associated Press)