South Korean champ Choi brain dead

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean boxer Choi Yo-sam, who lapsed into a coma last week defending his World Boxing Organization title, has been declared brain dead and will soon go off life support, a hospital official said on Wednesday.

Choi, who won the December 25 intercontinental flyweight title fight on points, was sent to the canvas just seconds before the end of the 12th and final round by a hard right to the jaw from Indonesian challenger Heri Amol who landed a flurry of punches before the bell.

Choi, 33, staggered to his feet but collapsed shortly after the bout. He left the gymnasium on a stretcher and never regained consciousness. Doctors said he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

"Choi will go off life support after midnight (10:00 a.m. EST), due to the family's wish that he not die on the same day as his father, which is January 2," said a spokesman for the Asan Medical Centre, the Seoul hospital that has been treating the boxer.

Choi's family has requested that his organs be donated, the spokesman said.

The fight brought back memories of a 1982 title bout in Las Vegas between lightweight champion Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini of the United States and Kim Duk-koo, where the South Korean challenger died from injuries sustained in the fight.

(Reporting by Mee Hyoe Koo; Writing by Jon Herskovitz, editing by Martin Petty)