BOXING After long career road, Chaney grad Koranicki looking to reclaim past

The former heavyweight finished 27-9-2 as a professional.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
At 6-foot, 4-inches and 210 pounds, Mike Koranicki would make a Jack Lambert-like linebacker in football, a good swingman in basketball, an excellent goalie in soccer and a scary sight in a dark alley.
But this isn't about Halloween, it's about Thanksgiving.
And it's not about football, basketball or soccer; it's about a former pro boxer who's still in good enough shape to whip tail.
These days, Koranicki, a former World Boxing Association ninth-ranked heavyweight who will be 52 on New Year's Day, covers about 10 miles a day on foot around Youngstown.
He lived in South Africa for several years while slowly working his way up the ring ladder.
At this time of year, he's melancholy -- for the two people he loved most, his parents, and for a career that lasted 10 years -- from 1973 to 1983.
When he thinks of his father and the recent anniversary of his death, he cries. When he thinks of his mother, he cries.
Ties to his past
With those things gone from his life, there's a void.
But Koranicki, a Chaney High graduate who later attended Youngstown State, is hoping to find ties to the past. He's looking to rekindle old acquaintances, both family and friends, especially as the holidays approach.
When Koranicki talks about his past inside the ropes, he jumps into a boxing stance with both fists raised and starts bobbing and weaving.
He'll even dare you to feel his rigid biceps of 2003.
The memories go back to his father's days as a southpaw Golden Gloves champion in 1939.
They go back to when Mike Koranicki worked as a sparring partner in former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier's camp on Broad Street in Philadelphia.
They go back to when he was 27 and scored a 10th-round knockout of Kallie Knoetze in Capetown, South Africa.
They go back to the fights leading up to a $125,000 payday against Gerrie Coetzee in Johannesburg in 1980.
On April 19 of that year, the Youngstowner (25-6-2) got knocked out in the first round when he weighed 209 -- 13 pounds lighter than the South African (23-1).
Ups and downs
In all, he says, the former fighter of Ukrainian and Polish descent had over $250,000 in earnings over the pro span.
His final 38-bout pro record, according to Boxing Records Archive, was 27-9-2 with 15 KOs.
Like many fighters whose ring days were once financially rewarding, Koranicki has very little to show for it now.
The glove-to-head exchanges through the years, too, have taken a toll.
Koranicki traveled thousands of miles when he flew around the country and overseas because of his fists. Now, his primary mode of transportation is on foot, sometimes to visit the soup kitchens.
Once high-flying, healthy and seemingly on top of the world, Mike Koranicki has changed.
But he doesn't complain.
In that respect, Koranicki hasn't changed.
For that, he keeps giving thanks.
bassetti@vindy.com