Boom Boom Mancini…….

I am a big fan of Warren Zevon's music. One of my favorite things to do when I take the S.O.'s car to work is to put on the CD player and listen to his music as wind my way through Shopping Mall on my way to work. One of my favorite songs is this one about a boxer: Boom Boom Mancini:

Hurry home early – hurry on home Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon

Hurry home early – hurry on home Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon

From Youngstown, Ohio, Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini A lightweight contender, like father like son

He fought for the title with Frias in Vegas And he put him away in round number one

Hurry home early – hurry on home Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon

Hurry home early – hurry on home Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon

I became interested in the history of the man-so I started doing some digging. Turns out Ray, Boom Boom, Mancini was from Youngstown and he was in fact a boxer like his father. His father encouraged him and in 1978 he became a professional boxer.

When Alexis Arguello gave Boom Boom a beating Seven weeks later he was back in the ring

Some have the speed and the right combinations If you can't take the punches it don't mean a thing

Hurry home early – hurry on home Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon

Hurry home early – hurry on home Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon

The song implies that Mancini fought Frias first, the Arguello, actually it was the other way around. According to Wikipiedia, before his confrontation with Frias and during training camp in Tucson, three 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. Of course, the most famous and also infamous moment of Mancini's career occurred when fought Du Koo Kim from Korea:

When they asked him who was responsible For the death of Du Koo Kim

He said, "Someone should have stopped the fight, and told me it was him."

They made hypocrite judgments after the fact But the name of the game is be hit and hit back

Hurry home early – hurry on home Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon Hurry home early – hurry on home

Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon

 

The "him" was the referee Richard Green. Evidently Mr Green agreed. Once again from Wikipedia:

His next defense would change both his life and the face of boxing: On November 13, 1982, a 21-year-old Mancini met 23-year-old South Korean challenger Duk Koo Kim. Kim had to lose several pounds before the fight to make the weight, and was dehydrated. The title bout, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, was televised live at 1pm PST on CBS Sports. 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 sustained brain injuries that led to his death five days later.[5] 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 afterwards.[3] He has said that the hardest moments came when people approached him and asked if he was the boxer who "killed" Duk Koo Kim. Mancini went through a period of reflection, as he blamed himself for Kim's death. In addition, Kim's mother committed suicide four months after the fight, as did the bout's referee, Richard Green, in July of 1983.[6]

As a result of this bout, the WBC took steps to shorten its title bouts to a maximum of 12 rounds. The WBA and WBO followed in 1988 and the IBF did in 1989.

Mancini retired officially in 1992, leaving a record of 29–5, with 23 knockouts. " Thanks to expert legal advice, the former champion was also able to keep 75 percent of his $12 million in purse money, which enabled him to pursue a broad range of interests in retirement." And unlike Warren Zevon, Mancini lives on doing work as producer and fight analyst. Zevon's song, though, is pretty good. Make sure you turn your speakers up: