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Duk Koo Kim or Deuk-Koo Kim or Deuk-Gu Kim
(1959-1982) was a South Korea|South Korean
boxing|boxer whose unexpected death following a
match versus Ray Mancini changed the sport of
boxing in many ways.

== The story ==

Kim was undefeated in 13 bouts when he was
assigned by the World Boxing Association|WBA as
the world's number 1 challenger to world
Lightweight champion Ray Mancini. However, of his
former 19 contests prior to the Mancini bout, 18
had been in his native country, against somewhat
obscure opposition, and he had been a
left-handed|southpaw boxer. Many boxers, even
experienced ones, simply hadn't been trained to
fight a left-handed opponent like Kim. His only
overseas bout before the Lightweight championship
challenge took place in the Philippines. His
opponent, Tony Flores, was also not very
successful (3-7-0 his entire career, 3-2-0 at that
time).

Kim had to struggle mightily to lose weight on the
days prior to the bout so that he could weigh in
under the Lightweight's 135 pound limit, or, as
they say in boxing, "make weight". Prophetically,
he wrote the message "kill or be killed" on his
Las Vegas hotel room's mirror only days before the
bout.

Mancini and Kim met in an arena outside Caesar's
Palace on November 13, 1982. In what many ringside
observers have described as an "action-packed"
fight, Mancini and Kim went toe to toe for a good
portion of the bout, but by the latter rounds,
Mancini began to dominate the young challenger.
Spent and battered, Kim went into round 14 with
little left and Mancini dropped him. He got up,
but the fight was stopped and Mancini retained the
title.

Minutes after the fight was over, Kim collapsed
into a coma, and was taken to a hospital.
Emergency brain surgery was done there to try to
save his life, but that effort proved to be
futile, as Kim lost his life 5 days after the
bout, on November 18. The week after, Sports
Illustrated had a photo of the fight on their
cover, under the heading Tragedy in The Ring.

Kim had never had a 15-round bout before. He had
been to round 12 only two times before his deadly
last bout. In contrast, Mancini was much more
experienced at the time. He had fought 15-round
bouts for three times, went on to round 14 for one
time. Mancini also had won a 12-round bout with
another excellent southpaw boxer Jose Luis Ramirez
(71-3-0 at that time, 102-9-0 career record). Kim
compiled a record of 13 wins and 1 loss, with 10
knockout|knockouts.

== The aftermath ==

Not only did Kim lose his life after the Mancini
fight, but the lives of many others who were
involved were affected too: Mancini went through a
period of reflection, as he blamed himself for
Kim's death. After friends helped him by telling
him that it was just an accident, Mancini was able
to go on with his career, but Kim's death would
always haunt him. The bout's referee, Richard
Greene (referee)|Richard Greene, committed suicide
in February of 1983, and so did Kim's mother, four
months later.

Many reforms in boxing took place after this
fight. The World Boxing Council|WBC, which was not
the fight's sanctioning organization, was the
first one to step up and admit, during their
annual convention of 1982, that many rules and
areas concerning fighter's medical care before
fights needed to be changed to improve a fighter's
chance of surviving a fight. WBC president Jose
Sulaiman declared that, immediately after the
Mancini-Kim bout, the WBC and their medical
advisors had conducted a study that revealed that
most fighters get injured more severely during
rounds 13, 14 and 15, so the organization
immediately decided to reduce the number of rounds
in their championship bouts from 15 to 12. The WBA
and the International Boxing Federation|IBF
followed the WBC in 1987. When the WBO was formed
in 1988, they immediately began operating with 12
round world championship bouts.

Apart from the round reduction, the years after
Kim's death would bring such new implements on a
fighter's check up before fights as
electrocardiograms, brain tests, lung tests and
other medical tests. As one boxing leader put it,
"A fighter's check-ups before fights used to
consist of blood pressure and heartbeat checks
before 1982. Not anymore."

== Popular renditions ==

The story of Kim's life was taken to the big
screen in his native South Korea: Director Kwak
Kyung Taek directed the movie named Champion, and
actor Yu Oh Seong starred as the fallen boxer.

Kim is mentioned in Sun Kil Moon|Sun Kil Moon's
song named for him on the album Ghosts Of The
Great Highway. It happens to be 14 minutes long,
the number of rounds he lasted in his final bout.

Kim is mentioned in a Warren Zevon song, titled
Boom Boom Mancini, on the 1987 album Sentimental
Hygiene.

==See also==
*List of Korea-related topics

==External links==

*
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=0
12186 Career Record
* http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0325165/ Champion
(IMDB)
*
http://www.cineline.net/browse/movie_detail.asp?co
de=1408&mode=review&num=19130 Film Review:
Champion (in Korean)
*
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:sx7QI_J1wJcJ:
www.sisachinese.com/online_study/online_list_11/on
line_aju_12.htm+%EA%B9%80%EB%93%9D%EA%B5%AC+%E9%87
%91&hl=zh-TW Film Review: Champion (in Korean and
Simplified Chinese)