The Boxer Who Took A Life in the Ring
Ray Mancini was a champion, cultural icon, and a beacon of hope for his downtrodden town, but he struggled to escape the ghosts of his past.
Ray Mancini was the lightweight champion of the world, but he was also a man haunted by ghosts, ghosts that lingered and informed his life even before he stepped into the ring. First was the ghost of his father’s own boxing career. His father, Lenny “Boom Boom” Mancini, was the number one contender for the lightweight crown before he was inducted into the Army. Yet in 1944, Lenny was wounded in action as a shell broke his shoulder and tore up his arm and left leg. He spent the next eight months in hospitals in England, Scotland, and France. Upon returning to America in 1945, he tried to resume his fighting career, and while he was able to win nine of his first eleven fights after being discharged, his weight had ballooned and he was no longer the same.
His second son, Ray, decided to fight himself and win the title his father never had the chance to due to his injuries. But another ghost soon developed after his older brother was shot and killed in February 1981.
Just over a year later, on May 8, 1982, Mancini fulfilled his dream and became lightweight champion of the world by defeating Arturo Frias, with the referee stopping the fight in the first round. He had won the title his father never had. Mancini became a national sensation. Frank Sinatra wanted to meet him, Sylvester Stallone wanted to make a TV movie about his life, and he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
However, Mancini is less known for his triumphs in the ring than for the tragedy that befell his opponent, Duk Koo Kim, during their 1982 fight. After fourteen rounds of furious fighting, which Mancini won by TKO, Kim suffered a subdural hematoma, falling into a coma he would never come out of. Four days later, Kim was dead. The tragedy did not end there as Kim’s mother committed suicide just months after the fight, as did the bout’s referee.
Mancini’s career and reputation both took a massive hit after Kim’s death. No longer was he the hard working man who managed to make the most of his fighting talents. Instead, he was tainted by Kim’s death in the eyes of the public, who saw him no longer as champion of the world, but as the man who killed Duk Koo Kim. He fought four more successful title defenses, but there was a hesitancy in his fighting that had not been there before, a lack of surety that caught up with him on June 1, 1984 when he lost his title to Livingstone Bramble.
Decades later, on June 23, 2011, Mancini had guests at his Los Angeles home for dinner. He sat on his stoop and welcomed Young Mee and Jiwan — Duk Koo Kim’s fiancee and son. Together, with Ed O’Neill of Married With Children fame, and Mancini’s children, they had dinner together. Ray thanks them for coming to America and a ghost that had haunted him for so long is finally put to rest in the midst of she who loved him most and the son who never had the chance to meet him.
In The Good Son, New York Times Bestselling author Mark Kriegel tells the full story of Ray Mancini in evocative and gripping prose, bringing Mancini’s career, struggles, and popularity in full view for those who want to relive it as well as for those who are unaware of it. I had the chance to speak with Kriegel about Mancini, his career, and the writing of this book and am happy to share it with you. Speaking with him was an absolute blast and I hope you enjoy listening to the conversation as much as I enjoyed having it.
Show Notes:
How did growing up in Youngstown, Ohio — a city notorious for its crime — impact Mancini?
What was it about Mancini that made him such a star?
How did the death of Duk Koo Kim affect Mancini personally, and how was he able to find peace?
Where did his desire to become world champion come from?
What made Mancini such a great fighter?
Additional Reading:
“Boom Boom Time Again” (Sports Illustrated)
“Then All the Joy Turned to Sorrow” (Sports Illustrated)
“Families Continue to Heal 30 Years After Title Fight Between Ray Mancini and Duk-Koo Kim” (the New York Times)
Micah Wimmer is a senior writer whose primary interests are sports, literature, and popular music. He’s also the host of Grandstand Central’s newest podcast ‘Pros & Prose’ — the book club for sports fans. You can follow him here.
