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Ray Mancini (born March 4, 1961)  was an United
States|American boxing|boxer from Youngstown,
Ohio, who was given the nickname Boom Boom because
of his whirlwind fighting style.  

Mancini's father, Lenny Mancini, was a top-ranked
contender during the 1940s who was considered by
many to be a future world champion. His dream,
however was dashed after he was wounded during
World War II.  He returned to boxing, but his
physical problems prevented him from fulfilling
his potential.

Lenny became young Ray's inspiration and Ray
started going to the gym at a young age. Ray had a
stellar amateur career and in 1978, he made the
jump to the professional ranks. His whirlwind
punching style caught the eyes of network
executives at several American television
networks, and he became a regular on their sports
programming. 

Ray during this time beat some very good boxers,
like former United States champion Norman Goins, 

His first world title attempt came in his next
bout, vs. Alexis Arguello. It was chosen by many,
including Ring Magazine and ESPN as one of the
most spectacular bouts of the 1980s, and Mancini
gave Arguello trouble, but the more experienced
champion used his experience to his advantage and
took out the challenger in 14 rounds. Mancini was
saddened by his first defeat, but not about to
give up on his dream.

Six months later, he challenged the new world
champion, Arturo Frias, for the world title. It
was one of the most spectacular first rounds of
history, and up until the Marvin Hagler-Thomas
Hearns bout 3 years later, it was recognized as
"the" most spectacular first round ever. 15
seconds into the fight, the fast starting champion
caught Mancini with a right to the chin and
Mancini shook. Another combination made Mancini
start bleeding from his eyebrow. Mancini stormed
back and dropped the champion right in the center
of the ring with a spectacular combination. Dazed
and surprised, Frias got back up, but Mancini went
after his prey with a fury, and was on top of him
the moment the referee said they could go on,
trapping him against the ropes. After many
unanswered blows, the referee stopped the fight,
and the Mancini family finally had a world
champion: Ray Boom Boom Mancini. 

Before his confrontation with Frias and during
training camp in Tucson, Arizona|Tucson, three
unwanted visitors, gunmen, paid a visit to Mancini
at his hotel. The gunmen were told he was not
there, they never came back, and Mancini trained
with police surveillance until the fight. 

Mancini's first defense, against former world
champion Ernesto Espana, went smoothly with a
Mancini knockout win in 6 rounds, but his next
defense would change both his life and the face of
boxing: On November 13th, 1982, he met South
Korean challenger Duk Koo Kim. Kim had to lose
several pounds before the fight to make the
weight, and was dehydrated. By fight time, Kim was
spent. It was, according to many observers, a
fight filled with action, but Mancini had an easy
time hitting Kim during the 14 rounds the fight
lasted. Kim's sustained brain injuries that led to
his death 5 days later. The week after his death,
the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine showed
Mancini and Kim battling, under the title Tragedy
In The Ring.

Mancini went to the funeral in South Korea, but he
fell into a deep depression afterward. He has said
that the hardest part is when people approach him
and ask him if he was the boxer who "killed" Duk
Koo Kim. As a consequence of the fight, studies
were carried out, which revealed that usually a
boxer receives most of his or her punishment after
round 12, and because of that finding, the World
Boxing Council|WBC soon shortened its title bouts
to a 12 round distance. The World Boxing
Association|WBA and WBO followed in 1988 and the
International Boxing Federation|IBF did in 1989.

Mancini began the process of getting his life back
together by putting on gloves, and he went to
Italy to fight United Kingdom|British champion
George Feeney, a tough guy from England. Mancini
won a 10 round decision, but he was not the Ray
Mancini of old. 

He defended his title twice more, including one
against double world champion Bobby Chacon on Home
Box Office|HBO. The overmatched Mexican boxer
lasted only 3 rounds and, to the fans at least,
the old Boom Boom seemed to be back. He was,
however, planning to get out of the sport and into
a less violent trade: Acting. 

In June of 1984, Mancini, obviously still feeling
the effects of the immediate shock after the
tragedy, put on a brave effort to retain his title
in a wild slugfest vs Livingstone Bramble in
Buffalo, New York. It was to be another Mancini
all-out style bout, this time he came on the
losing end, defeated after 14 intense rounds. He
gave up his title, but not before a brave effort,
the immediate result of which was an overnight
stay at an hospital and 71 stitches around his
eye.

Mancini was not done, and he would come back twice
again for world title attempts, one of which
produced the now famous phrase of his: 'If you
stop it, I'll kill ya!!!'. He said that to referee
Mills Lane, who refereed his rematch with Bramble,
which he lost after another noble effort by a
close but unanimous 15 round decision in 1985. His
next attempt would come in 1988, but this time he
was outboxed by Hector Camacho|Hector 'Macho'
Camacho, losing a unanimous decision.

Mancini retired officially in 1993, leaving a
record of 29-5 with 23 knockouts and a very
touching and inspiring story as a brave world
champion who won the title for his family, as well
as for himself.

He has also realized his Hollywood dreams and has
acted and produced in a handful of movies. He
resides currently in Beverly Hills, California.

He remains very accessible to his fans and loves
taking photos, talking to them and signing
autographs for them.

Warren Zevon wrote a song featuring him, up until
his fight with Bobby Chacon, titled Boom Boom
Mancini.

== External links ==

*
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=0
01639 Career Record
* imdb title|id=0089261|title=Heart of a Champion:
The Ray Mancini Story
* http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541509/ Ray Mancini
at the Internet Movie Database