Injury Forces Baik Out
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
South Korean lightweight boxer Baik Jong-sup withdrew from the Olympic quarterfinals Tuesday due to chest pains.
The 28-year-old was scheduled to face Armenia's Hrachik Javakhyan later in the day, but his coaches and team doctors agreed that it was best for him to quit the contest.
``Baik had been complaining of pain and stiffness in his neck and chest after winning his bout in the round of 16 and had been checked by team doctors and at local hospitals,'' said Chun In-ho, Baik's coach, who added that the boxer's condition would have been potentially life-threatening if he had continued fighting.
Baik's difficult win last week over Thailand's Pichai Sayota has proven costly. CT scans showed damage to Baik's bronchus, which allowed air to leak out and fill the chest walls near his heart.
``Baik was determined to fight again, saying he would rather die in the ring, but doctors were concerned that another bout could be fatal,'' said Chun. ``Baik will rest for two or three days here and return home.''
Baik's setback means that one of the country's most skilled boxers of his generation could end his solid amateur career without Olympic hardware for his cupboard.
Baik, a prototype in-fighter, was always considered a top technician, but never managed to get over the quarterfinals hump in major international events.
He had the misfortune of meeting two-time Olympic champion Mario Kindelan in the quarterfinals of the World Amateur Boxing Championships in 2003. Baik expected to contend in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, but suffered a first-round knockout in the quarters by Britain's Amir Khan, who ended up winning the silver behind Kindelan.
A silver medal at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan remains as Baik's top achievement.