Comatose Boxer Choi Pronounced Brain Dead

Boxing champion Choi Yo-sam has been known as an unyielding champ, but this time, he has yielded to fate.

The 36-year-old comatose boxer was pronounced brain dead Tuesday by Asan Medical Center. He had fallen into a coma during a defense of his WBO flyweight intercontinental title on Christmas Day.

Ironically, his father Choi Seong-ok died on the same day in 1996 of brain hemorrhage. Prior to his last match, the boxer said, “My late father will help me through this.”

The official pronouncement requires his family’s consent, and the Chois have agreed to do so. The family have mostly maintained a sense of calm. Choi’s brother Kyung-ho said, “My brother wished to help others even after he died. He wanted to donate his organs to as many as nine people. He didn’t want to spare anything."

"When his organs breath in other people, we will feel that he lives somewhere with us through that mechanism. We all have to leave. The time came earlier for my brother. My brother never got married, and had no child of his own. Still, until his last minute, all of my fellow Koreans loved and cherished him. And he returned the favor and love through his last wishes. He finished a winner in life, I believe.”

Choi’s family had expected the worst even before the announcement. A couple of days ago, the boxer`s face swelled excessively and organs such as his liver and kidneys began to deteriorate. On New Year’s Eve, he was transferred to Asan Medical Center from Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital.

When he was pronounced brain dead, however, his brother cried, “My brother is alive until we sever life support. But we have to make an agonizing decision. It’s like agreeing to kill my brother.”

Gathering to remember the boxer were numerous luminaries of the sport, all of whom broke into tears.

Korea Boxing Council Secretary-General Lee Sang-ho said the council will hold an official funeral for the late boxer.

Choi Yo-sam is the fifth Korean boxer to die during or right after a match. In 1995, Lee Dong-chun died right after fighting a Japanese opponent, and Kim Duk-ku did so in 1982 after fighting Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini of the United States in a title bout.

Choi’s funeral will be held for three days at Asan Medical Center. After his body`s cremation Saturday, his ashes will be stored at Utopia Memorial House, a public mausoleum in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province.

bluesky@donga.com