A Pictorial Tale of Tragedy in the Ring (12-25-07)

Yo-Sam Choi, 32-5, is a little known South Korean fighter who won his first world championship in his 22nd professional fight. Choi does not have great power, but has good boxing skills and relies on those skills to win fights. He traditionally fights in the Far East .

Here he goes to war against Indonesian Heri Amol, 22-8-, in Seoul on Christmas 2007 for Choi’s WBO Inter-Continental flyweight title.

In the fight which Choi controlled, there had been several clashes of heads. Choi was dropped by a right to the jaw with five seconds remaining in the twelfth and last round and barely beat the count. But just before being hit, he reportedly gestured to the right side of his head. He was declared the winner by unanimous decision, but collapsed and lost consciousness immediately after the decision was announced. He was then rushed to the Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Hannam-dong and had brain surgery. He now remains in a coma.

Colleagues help the unconscious champion.

"Right now we are relying on drugs to relieve intra-cranial pressure and stop the bleeding but we can't say he is in any better condition than he was (on Tuesday)," Dr. Park Hyeong-ki told The Korea Times. "It will take at least a week to tell whether he will ever regain consciousness."

"We never expected this to happen. As soon as Choi Yo-Sam recovers, the boxing committee will discuss safety measures," said an official of the Korean Boxing Commission.

Since losing his title to Jorge Arce in 2002 by TKO, he has gone 8-3 but his wins have come against limited opposition and his losses have come when he has stepped up.

Choi’s diary reveals troubled man

Sam Kim, a reporter for Korea’s Yonhap News Service, describes the log as crude and written in black pen. The diary reveals Choi’s feelings of isolation in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis of nearly ten years ago that nearly ruined boxing in the country, which prevented fighters from being paid. Many of Choi’s friends left in light of the financial collapse.

Choi then goes on to lament that the parting of his friends led to mental illness that required medical attention.

“There are wounds in my heart, I need treatment,” he writes, alarmingly.

The final entry reads of being ready to give his all to retain his championship and one day realize his dream of living a more simple life.

“One step back, then I die. This is a match on the brink. I just want to live a simple life in a pretty house on a green landscape with someone I love. Now, I don’t like the smell of blood anymore. I’m just afraid of tomorrow.” (Hurley, Matthew, “ Yo Sam Choi: Diary of Stricken Boxer Reveals Troubled Young Man,” Eastsideboxing.com. December 29, 2007)

Postscript
Sadly, on January 2, 2008, Ko Seung-kwan, a spokesman for the Seoul Asan Hospital said that a panel of nine doctors led by a neurosurgeon determined the fighter to be brain dead after two examinations. Upon notification of the diagnosis, Choi’s relatives said that he would be disconnected from a life support system on Thursday night, January 3rd, the anniversary of the death of his father.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the thirty-three year old former champion.

Eternal rest, grant to him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.

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Copyright 2007, Ted Sares. All Rights Reserved