A Korean boxer fell into a coma after defending his World Boxing Organization intercontinental flyweight title in Seoul on Tuesday. Choi Yo-sam (33) lost consciousness after challenger Heri Amol of Indonesia threw a right to his jaw seconds before the final 12th round ended. The title-holder was moved to Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Seoul for brain surgery but remains unconscious. His brother Kyungho quoted his doctor as saying Choi’s survival is uncertain and the left part of his brain is so swollen that additional surgery is impossible.
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World Boxing Organization intercontinental flyweight champion Choi Yo-sam is put into an ambulance after losing collapsing following a title-defending match against Hery Amol of Indonesia in Seoul on Tuesday afternoon./ Newsis
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In November 1982, Korean boxer Kim Duk-Koo slipped into a coma and died from injuries sustained during a match against U.S. champion Ray Mancini in Las Vegas. He fell unconscious after being knocked out in the 14th round. He received brain surgery but died four days later.
Choi led in the fight over the Indonesian challenger. He collapsed after Amol threw a punch in his jaw just five seconds before the 12th round ended but stood up again and finished the bout. All three judges declared Choi the winner, but once they had he collapsed again. A CT test revealed an internal hemorrhage in the left part of his brain, and he underwent a two-hour operation at 5 p.m.
The 163 cm-tall boxer won the World Boxing Council lightfly weight title in 1999, defending it four times until 2002. He retired but returned to the ring in December last year. In September this year, he won the flyweight intercontinental championship, a run-up to the world championship in April, which he also hoped to clinch before retiring again.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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