Posted at 12:13 p.m., Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Boxing: So. Korean boxer declared brain dead after win
By Kwang-Tae Kim
Associated Press
Brain tests Wednesday confirmed the death of Choi Yoi-sam, said Asan Medical Center spokesman Ko Seung-kwan. The 33-year-old fighter had been in a coma since shortly after last week's decision over Indonesian challenger Henri Amol.
Choi's family requested that he be officially pronounced dead early Thursday following the removal of the organs, the hospital said.
"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.
Choi was knocked down before the end of the 12th and final round on Dec. 25 in Seoul. He got back up and was declared the winner before collapsing.
Doctors were to remove Choi's organs for transplant Wednesday night after getting approval from the prosecutors' office, a legal requirement before organs can be removed, Ko said.
In 1982, South Korean lightweight Duk Koo Kim died four days after being knocked out by Ray Mancini in a title fight in Las Vegas. Another South Korean fighter, bantamweight Lee Tong-choon, died of acute brain swelling in 1995, four days after losing consciousness following a fight against Setsuo Kawamasu in Tokyo.
