The Fight That Changed Boxing Forever: Ray Mancini vs Duk Koo Kim 

SO respect what you wrote there - I was 10 and recall that Saturday afternoon very similarly. Respect to how it impacted you

I saw the fight live on TV, too. Had no idea we were watching something so historic. Maybe it's memory playing with me, but seems like there was commotion in the post-fight about Kim collapsing and losing consciousness. So, even though he died days later, there was an awareness on live TV that something bad just happened. And they pronounced Kim's name as "duke" not "duck."

Look up Emile Griffith v Benny "The Kid" Parrett - apologies if my spelling is wrong. That footage is horrifying but I think it was the 1st fight televised live to result in one of them dying (1962 perhaps?). See the footage and Parrett gets caught on the ropes while unconscious and they hold him up so not a knock down and the ref is too slow stepping in and either stopping it or starting 8 count but Griffith kept landing powerful headshots (something like 15-20 consecutive blows to the head in about 5 seconds - GAME OVER!) which accumulated and ultimately resulted in Parrett's death from SEVERE concussion and subdural haematoma (again apologies if spelling is wrong). Like Mancini, Griffith wasn't the same afterwards and lost his killer instinct, ironically, by killing someone. I remember a movie, think it was called "Ring of Fire - Emile Griffith Story" Such a heartbreaking story - I cried for Griffith watching that. Parrett taunted Griffith for being homosexual and Griffith was PISSED at Parrett, wanted to punish him but didn't want to kill him - Parrett was hyping the fight, much like Ali for Thriller in Manila where he racially taunted Frazier (ironic for a black man to call another a gorilla because of how it rhymed and Frazier inflicted SEVERE damage on Ali as a result and would have undoubtedly contributed to his parkinsons- BOTH nearly died from that fight and there was MAJOR bad blood between them for decades afterwards - keep in mind if the movie "Ali" is to be believed [Will Smith played Ali] Frazier supported Ali financially while Ali was exiled because he refused the draft and Ali tried humiliating Frazier to hype their fight. I lost respect for Ali for that and gave it to Frazier - such an incredible boxer who hasn't received enough credit in my book, MY #1 GOAT!) Found it in full! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kMlzjWGK808.htmlsi=JVSWBhHBCYeBL7vd 😢 have tissues within reach.

I was 14 at the time, I always remembered this fight. As you know back then the weekend afternoon boxing was very popular, many people saw this fight. Very sad.

Ray Mancini is from my home town. I grew up watching him in his boxing career

I lived next door to Ray’s brothers girlfriend on the North side. Ray and his new Trans Am would come by when we were kids and that was so cool. His brother Lenny was killed and Ray never came back again.

Trans Am? Was the Am given a Budlight?

What school did you go to?

I met him in LA at a mutual friend’s wedding, then ran into him on Sunset about a year later. What a cordial and classy man! I’m a fan.

@@SuperPeterokserious thimbledick energy

Mancini's still alive. I think you and your brothers do not talk about him at all. In fact, I think you simply saw this footage of a fighter in a fight over 40 years ago and presumed he'd be deceased and wanted to look like you were a dedicated fan and it backfired.

@@JackBarrett7 the R.I.P. at the end of my comment was for Duk Koo Kim! Unfortunately at the time I wrote it I did not know how to spell his name. There now you know my dark secret😮. Actually since the story is about a fighter who died I thought most people would be able to figure out the meaning of the R.I.P. We also speak of the ONLY undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, and yes he was before our time but we are still fans🤨🥊🤣😆

@@johnleos1687 THATS it?!? REALLY?! THATS the story youre going with?! The old "I did not know how to spell his name" bit WHILE .referring to someone whose name is IN THE TITLE of the video on which the comment was left? Do you see NOW why you should not lie..while no one should lie out of morality and maturity, you specifically should not because youre simply not intelligent enough to pull it off.. Again I will clarify: you either thought you'd heard somewhere (or else simply presumed) that Mancini had died AND now you are not only too immature and undignified to own up to it, but you THEN double down and tell ANOTHER transparent falsehood trying to justify the first. Boy, I have to tell you, if youre not in politics youre in the wrong racket bc youve a natural knack for it.

I just turned 60 and remember this sadness 💔

Why the hostility? I understood exactly who his RIP was meant for. I'm 57 and I also talk a lot of old boxing with my friends.

Mr Paul you are right on target 🎯 Warrior 💀. 🥊 To the End so sad Back then with 14 and 16 rounds I mean damn that’s way too long to push your body and brain at that level🥊. Of exertion and punishment God rest your soul, Mr. Kim.💪🏽

I watched that fight live as a sophomore at Michigan State University. The toughest athlete I ever saw. Attempted to rise from a brain hemorrhage to continue fighting. Tragic but a true warrior.

@@CarlosAlvarado-sf6km 15 rounds not 16 lol

I think the greatest moment Gotti vs Ward's 3 fights the never stopped ✋️

@@CarlosAlvarado-sf6km 15 rounds, not 16, the fight was over for Kim in the 14th.

THANK YOU THAT IS A VERY NICE GESTURE , GOD BLESS YOU SIR. SAD AND VERY TRAGIC.

I FEEL SO BAD FOR RAY MANCINI 😢.

@@dennissaunders5247 yes Ray was never the same after that In fact I think he took beatings in the ring because he didn't want to go For it 100 percent and risk seriously injuring someone else

R.I.P

def much respect thats what you call leaving it all in the ring and giving everything you have, literally!! rip warrior!

I´D PAY ANYTHING TO WATCH A FIGHT BETWEEN Ray "Boom Boom" VS FLOYD MAYWETHER! xD

@@seudotrofio As much as I respect Mancini as a fierce warrior/legend, I suspect it would be a boring Floyd UD victory, where he spends the entire fight on the back foot, using the shoulder roll to block and evade punches, and doing enough to steal rounds with counters and single shots.

Absolutely

Kim was a bully. So he got what was coming to him.

@@TheGameGallowsPlay Triggered Troll.

Absolutely

Why did your parents name you Gwen as a man?

@@lawrencehan5591 Why didn’t your parents use a condom? Big mistake

@@lawrencehan5591 Why didn’t your parents use birth control?

and yet we have idiots like Wilder saying he wants a body on his record

@@4879daniel true ignorance.

​@@4879daniel so immature

Just to get some perspective here; that "poor grieving mother" had a son who was a known bully on the streets where they lived. What did she do about that? Did she care about those her son was bullying? How would she have felt if the tables were turned & Boom Boom had been hurt? Would she have spared a thought for him?

@@rosiemason-rk4cm well, she and her son are dead so we will never know. For shits and giggles where is this bullying information you seem to have?

You cheered for a murderer

​@@cobra4642When you get in the ring you know the risk.

@@cobra4642 That's uncalled for, and total garbage.

@@cobra4642 You're an idiot if you actually believe that.

@@RockPolitics that was cold-blooded murder

Me too, It was a sad day for boxing for sure.

Me,too. I remember the pre fight interview with Mancini.

this and the johnny owen death at the olympic auditorium (i'm in LA) at about the same time dulled my interestin boxing, and it never has really returned.

He's my grandfather

​@@MrEgofreakAll 3 of their fights were awesome. They don't make them like that anymore.

They don't

​@@MrEgofreak Brutal fight

Why would someone be willing to die in the ring.

agree to disagree: had DKK had the say fighting experience RM had when he entered the ring and fought with that same conviction, this fight would have had an entirely different outcome. This was an amateur fighter going against a pro and the amateur fighter gave this pro a run for his money unlike anyone did before him.

Kim was no amateur, he had 19 professional fights and was a pro for 5 years with a record of 17-1-1 going into this fight.

Can’t get over how much Mancini had in his tank! Dude never got tired! Incredible

I've spoke with Ray --- he is fine

also changed the Round Distance from 15 to 12.

I know MMA fans and casuals say boxing is boring, but the sport went through these times. And with all its rich history, saw fighters punch drunk way too early. Fighters today have adjusted, and 12 rd decisions are so much more common because matches don't emphasize these kind of slug fests. MMA is still an infant compared to boxing, but I think something bad has to happen and this generation of fighters will display the same kind of damage. Elbows and knees to the head, aren't magically less damaging.

Yeas it was on CBS sports i was 17 and watched it myself. Ill never forget that match.

americans already knew Korea in 1950

@@oscaralegre3683 not really.

@@onemanfourtanks5556 yes really. Korean war 1950-1953

了啦😕🌷🍃

If I remember, Howard Cosell said it was the death of Kim that caused him to no longer be a the ringside announcer, nor did he watch boxing again...He realized it was too brutal and no longer want to be a part of it..

​@ponchai allen no was not that fight Howard cosell worked for abc wide world of sports that fight was on CBS sports spectacular and the fight your talking about was larry holmes vs tex Cobb that fight was also brutal larry put a really bad hurting on tex cobb..I've been following the sport since the late 70s..

@@mythai05 👍💯😊👍

Seen it too. What a fight. Feel sorry for Kim and family.

Howard Cosell said during the Cobb/Holmes fight, that if the ref. didn't stop it,he would never Commentate another Pro fight.....and he never did!

@@jimbo1959 , He didn’t a professional fight but he covered the Olympics and before that the Box offs. The Holmes vs Cobb match probably should have been stopped after the 10th or 11th round. The problem was Cobb continue to come forward and throw punches even though he was outgunned. Tex went out and partied after the fight into the wee hours of the morning. Tex continued to fight and did ok but never really got that many more opportunities to fight on network tv against another ranked Heavyweight. Mainstream TV I am talking about not some cable network.

@@curtismcneil8695 He was really a kickboxer,not a boxer to start with, and after boxing he made a feeble attempt at acting.

I don't think anybody really criticized Mancini or gave him a 'bad rap' for this. Other than himself. Fight tore him up. I don't know if he ever would have had the firepower to overcome somebody like Bramble, but after this fight? No way. He had a tough time forgiving himself.

@@bauerj3398He’s said before people would make comments like the OP described, and his kids were even picked on at school over it.

I was 23 years old at that time. It was on Wide World of Sports on CBS channel 11 here in Dallas Tx...... I'll never forget it.

​​​@@marvinalancornell8275 it was CBS channel 2 sports spectacular east cost i was 19 seen it live for free now its called ppv

YES I liked to watch boxing back then as well then it all went to pay per view crap.

Honestly, man, as a huge boxing fan, your videos would be a lot more interesting if you would stop butchering the names so badly. It's so distracting. The fight was so frigging sad, though. Unfortunately, these are the kinds of events that cause reformation of rules and safety practices in all sports.

Horse shit first of all you can’t even pronounce the fighters names right and the 12 round limit has nothing to do with the Mancini Kim fight it started because at that time lots of fights were nationally televised and 12 rounds with fighter bios fit into the 60 minute slots

I wonder if they kept punch count records for this fight?

⁠@@Whoozerdaddy Agreed. The butchering of names is disappointing, and really shouldn't happen. Research the correct pronunciation for the names.

Phonetics aside I enjoyed the video. Please do your homework for the next video and keep the great ideas flowing.

ITS NOT HIS FAULT HE IS A FIGHTER, BOXING IS A HURTING GAME, ITS NOT BOXER BUSINESS TO PROTECT HIS OPPONENT, REF STOP FIGHTS WHEN HE DEEM ITS RIGHT TIME, THE FAULT WAS AT CORNER OF KIM, AS YOU SEE KIM WAS ALREADY GROGGY AND THEY KNOW THAT, THAT MORE OR LESS ONE MINUTE KIM DID NOT THROW A PUNCH IS SIGN SOMETHING WAS WRONG ON KIM, WHY THROW THE TOWEL CLIMB INTO THE RING, THE REF JUST MAYBE HE DIDNT STOP THE FIGHT, HE WAS AFRAID HE WILL BLAME LATER. RIP KIM YOUR A VICTIM OF THE SPORT. NOT BY ANYBODY, AFTER ALL ITS JUST BUSINESS.

Mancini fought gamely in that bout and showed a lot of heart but ultimately Arguello wore him down with his superior experience and stamina.

That ref didn't act soon enough. Why do you think he killed himself? He knew he screwed up. But we are all human and make mistakes.

It's arguable he could have stopped it in the 13th rounds but Kim had been doing great and was winning though he was slowing down. One could also argue his corner could have thrown in the towel but they didn't. Boxing is a brutal sport and fighters are often tired and beat up but they're accustomed to the punishment. He hit his head very hard when he fell and him going through extremes to drop a bunch of weight might also have been a factor. It's all hindsight.

I don’t think the reason was because of Mancini and Kim that the Koreans robbed the Americans in 88. It was more of what they perceived as swindling of their fighters back in the 84 Olympic games and they wanted a bit of revenge.

So if this was a 12-round fight, would Kim win?🤔

@@Ze_Moose Man, I wish it had been a 12 round fight. Whoever would have gotten that decision, both men would have lived to fight another day.

​@@Ze_MooseMancini was ahead in my opinion but it was competitive. It was by no means a one sided fight.

Yup. I watched it live as well.

@@livenhfree Yep me too. This was back when we could watch championship boxing on Saturday afternoons. ABC's Wide World of Sports often carried a championship fight. I think the other networks did as well back then. Being a kid and a young amateur boxer myself, I watched every fight I could back then. I liked Ray and he did give Arguelo some problems early but you kind of just knew Arguelo was taking him to the deep water and it was only a matter of time. I really never heard of Kim before this fight but he was a highly ranked contender. I don't think he had fought much away from his home though. He was a good southpaw as I recall. He won a lot of the early rounds but it was a slug fest. Ray believed he had a duty to give the fans their money's worth and fought non stop. But Kim was countering beautifully. I can't remember which round but at some point the tide turned and Ray was getting the better of most exchanges. He hurt Kim the round before the knockout. And the knockout itself came at the very beginning of the round. Ray charged out like a bull and hurt him quickly. The ref jumped in as fast as he could. Who knows when the internal bleeding may have started though. A person can hit his head and seem just fine only to fall unconscious hours later do to intracranial bleeding.

Cooney/Holmes

@@scottodonnell7121 Exactly... And Balboa/ Lange

Who's that?

@@ericbryant-dz8mj a couple of great boxers with Ruelas last name, look their fights before a guy die,they were good, never the same after that.

Jamie garcia was the boxer that passed on in the ruelas fight I believe it was 1995

Still one of my favorite movies till this day!

@@jyp523there is also a song from the band sun kil moon, based upon this event titled duk koo kim

Thats one thing i disagreed with in this video, the Arguello vs Mancini fight was not a great fight, Arguello was obviously on another level and controlled the fight every round, in fact Arguello was such a good sport and such a humble person he allowed Mancini to stay in the fight because of his respect for Mancinis dad

​​@@vicvega3614 interesting take. I knew Arguello was a talented and experienced fighter but I thought Ray was special. I think I actually saw that fight but I really can't remember it to well.

@@jerrycoggin9434 yea Ray was definitely a good boxer but there are the all time greats like Duran, Arguello, Sugar Ray Leonard etc which are the A class, Ray was a B class but had tremendous heart ❤️