Dealing with aftermath of tragic fight

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT

Today is a sacred day in the life of Ray Mancini.

When ESPN set to make a documentary movie around the events on this day 25 years ago, Boom Boom wanted no part of it.

On this day in 1982, Mancini fought South Korean Deuk-Koo Kim, who would collapse in the ring and die four days later.

When the ESPN project shifted to telling the tale of Mancini’s life and career in Youngstown, Mancini liked the idea.

He also liked the thought of helping his children know the real story. To this day, Mancini says his children are picked on because of Kim’s death.

“[My children] have been abused over the years from comments people have made to them, and people still are mean to them,” said Mancini. “I’m tired of the comments made to my kids. They are untrue. I said that I liked that [documentary] idea for my family and kids.”

“Triumph and Tragedy: The Ray Mancini Story” will air tonight on ESPN Classic (8 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.)

The hourlong program was motivated by Mancini’s tragic WBA lightweight championship fight against South Korean Deuk-Koo Kim.

It took place on Nov. 13, 1982, in Las Vegas and was televised over national television on CBS. The historic bout was Mancini’s second title defense.

Mancini, then 21, knocked out challenger Kim, 23, in the 14th round. Kim got up and went to his corner only to collapse on his chair.

He was rushed to a hospital.

Four days later, he was brain dead.

Mancini was devastated, and the devastation would continue.

Kim’s mother, overcome by grief, committed suicide 11 weeks after her son’s death.

That next summer, the bout’s referee, Richard Greene, committed suicide.

The fight supposedly has spawned reforms to the brutal sport of boxing to make it safer.

The documentary is supposed to mark the milestone with a correct assessment of what actually took place.

Mancini, who now lives in Santa Monica, Calif., and has been involved in acting and film direction, said that when he was approached by ESPN to be part of the documentary, he declined the proposal because Nov. 13 is a sacred day of remembrance in his life and he didn’t want to capitalize on such a tragedy.

“They said, ‘We are going to do it anyway.’ So rather than have someone put my point of view into the documentary, I agreed to be part of it,” said Mancini. “And they said that it would be a complete story about my life and career and Youngstown. So I agreed to be a part of it.”

Mancini wants the correct version of what happened that fateful day to be aired to the world for the sake of his family and children.

“They finally are going to show [film of] the last two rounds of the fight. These last two rounds never were aired to the public before,” he said. “The public is going to see that it was not a one-sided fight. It was a battle.”

Mancini said his children have been mocked and disparaged by other children, claiming that Mancini was responsible for Kim’s death. He said they now will know the truth when they watch the film of the last two rounds.

The show will include Mancini’s first extended interview regarding Kim’s death.

Mancini cooperated fully with the production of the documentary, which will be narrated by actor Stacy Keach. It will include interviews and footage of the fight, and footage as well of South Korea, where ESPN Classic crews talked with Kim’s friends and associates.

Mancini believes that it was his final punch that caused Kim’s eventual death.

“The fans don’t realize what a brutal and nip-and-tuck fight it was,” said Mancini.

He emphasized that “referee Richard Greene didn’t do anything wrong” by not stopping the fight.

“There was nothing he could have done. It was the last punch that did it. The doctor told me it was the last punch that did it. That punch that knocked him out,” Mancini said. “This is no one’s fault. It is something that just happened.”

Mancini remembers Kim being a formidable adversary the last two rounds.

“He was competing against me those two rounds. He was pushing me back. We were brawling.”

Although Mancini compromised with ESPN to be part of documentary, he declined to make a live appearance on the show.

“I told them that out of respect for that date, that I can’t come in and do a live interview. It wouldn’t be dignified for me to come in to promote that event solely,” said Mancini.

Mancini said ESPN also sweetened the pot by saying they would repeat the documentary in mid-December on prime time TV.

“And I agreed also to make a live appearance with a repeat of the documentary on ESPN on prime time in mid-December” — because it wasn’t the anniversary of the fight.

Mancini said that when he makes a live appearance with the documentary in mid-December, that he plans to refute the purported value of the reforms that were made following the tragedy, and offer his own recommendations how to make boxing safer.