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WBO Intercontinental flyweight champion Choi Yo-sam suffered a cerebral hemorrhage defending his title against Heri Amol on Christmas Day in Seoul, South Korea, and passed away eight days later.
While Choi was in a coma, his diary was released, and the private thoughts of this public man are revealing. In an entry from August, Choi wrote, “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 any more... I’m just afraid of tomorrow.”
Choi wrote in his diary, one day before his final bout, “One step back, then I die. This is a match on the brink. I will do it without fail. My father will help me along the way. Let’s go the lonely path to where my dream lies.”
The International Boxing Hall of Fame has announced its 11 new inductees for the class of 2008. Leading the pack is former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, 69-6 (44), a first ballot selection in the modern category, along with former junior welterweight champ Eddie Perkins, 75-20 (2) and middleweight Holman Williams, 146-30-11 (36). Middleweights Len Harvey, 111-13-9 (51) and Frank Klaus, 61-10-7 (26), and welterweight Harry Lewis, 101-34-20 (46), are being honored in the old-timer category. And 19th century Irish heavyweight Dan Donnelly, he of the mummified arm, enters the IBHOF in the pioneer class. Joining those illustrious fighters are promoters Frank Warren and Mogens Palle, trainer Bill Gore, jack-of-all-trades Joe Koizumi, and the illustrious Dave Anderson of the New York Times.
Former WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev, the seven-foot-one-inch “Russian Giant,” formerly known as the “Beast from the East,” was found guilty in St. Petersburg’s Kalininsky district civil court of punching a 61-year-old security guard in a parking lot for making rude remarks to his wife, and was fined 130,000 rubles, or $5320.
There’s been no word on the shape of the sexagenarian who got hit by the one-time champ, but, said Valuev, “Just imagine what would have happened to that old man if I really punched him.”
Utah’s highest court has confirmed that justice is indeed blind. Its state Supreme Court recently ruled that the Utah Athletic Commission cannot be sued for negligence in the death of heavyweight Brad Rone, who collapsed and died in a Cedar City ring in the first round of his July 18, 2003 fight with Billy Zumbrun.
At the time of his death, Rone was 34, weighed 259 pounds, had high blood pressure, a record of 7-42-3 (2), and had lost his last 26 fights. He was fighting because he needed $800 to buy an airline ticket to Ohio to attend his mother’s funeral.
The court ruled that the commission is immune to lawsuits under the state’s Governmental Immunity Act. “Only the government can regulate the sport for the common good,” wrote Justice Jill Parrish of the court’s 5-0 decision, “like other agencies rather than for the benefit of a select, financially interested sector of the boxing industry.”
We know the government watches out for its own, but what about everyone else?
The first authorized biopic of former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano is slated to begin production this year. M.E.G.A Films has been given the rights to Rocky’s story, with new information concerning the Brockton Blockbuster provided by his younger brother Lou, who was unhappy with the two versions of the Marciano story in circulation (the 1979 ABC/Tony Lo Bianco and the 1999 Showtime/Jon Favreau concoctions).
“They didn’t have any similarities to my brother,” said Lou Marciano. “He was a very restless, impatient man—very curious and bright, not your typical fighter from the streets.”
The film will plot Marciano’s rise from his childhood in Brockton, Mass., to his untimely death in a plane crash in 1969 at the age of 46. No word yet on who will play The Rock, but we can’t help thinking that it’s too bad Paulie Malignaggi isn’t campaigning as a cruiserweight.