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Injured South Korean boxer declared brain dead - Boxing - Yahoo! Sports

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Injured South Korean boxer declared brain dead

By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer
January 2, 2008

AP - Jan 2, 1:09 am EST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- A South Korean boxer who lost consciousness after winning an WBO intercontinental flyweight bout last week has been declared brain dead.

Choi Yoi-sam was declared brain dead Wednesday after a series of brain tests, said Ko Seung-kwan, a spokesman at Asan Medical Center. Choi 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 shortly before the end of the 12th and final round, but got back up and was declared the winner on points before collapsing.

Doctors were scheduled to remove Choi's organs for transplantation Wednesday night 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.

Choi's family requested that he be officially pronounced dead early Thursday following the removal of the organs, according to the hospital.

"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."

She couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

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.

Always sad when something like this happens. Prayers to the family