Thursday Throwback: The Fight that Changed Boxing
No, this throwback is not about the triumphs of Jack Johnson or Joe Louis overcoming racism to become champs. It is not even about any of Muhammad Ali’s triumphant victories.
Instead, the fight that changed boxing is a story of tragedy. It is the story of death.
In Las Vegas on this date (November 13) 26 years ago, 21-year-old Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini defended his lightweight championship for the second time. In the 14th round, Mancini scored a knockout of South Korean challenger Duk-Koo Kim.
The event seemed harmless enough, but minutes after the fight was ended, Kim fell into a coma and was taken from Caesar’s Palace on a stretcher. When he arrived at the hospital, 2 1/2 hours of emergency brain surgery was performed. However, four days later Kim’s body lie in an open coffin with his head wrapped in a bandage.
Mancini blamed himself for the death and went through a period of deep reflection before ultimately returning to the ring. However, he was never the same as evidenced by his 24-1 (19 KO) record prior to the Kim match compared to a 5-4 (4 KO) post-Kim record.
But Macini wasn’t alone in suffering. Kim’s mother, who had flown in from Korea to be by Duk-Koo’s side in the hospital, took her own life three months later when she downed a bottle of pesticides. Mere months after that incident, the referee of the bout, Richard Green, also committed suicide.
In the aftermath of Kim’s tragic death, boxing changes were called for and were implemented. Title fights were reduced from a maximum of 15 rounds to 12; the number of ring ropes were increased to six to prevent fighters from falling through; and new medical procedures were added to the pre-fight doctors; examinations that boxers undergo (electrocardiograms, lung tests, brain tests, etc.).
While it was never determined for sure whether Mancini or the canvas (Kim’s head hit hard when he was knocked down) enacted the fatal blow (or which Mancini blow would have been the fatal one), the operating surgeon believed:
“The hemorrhage was quite fresh,” the neurosurgeon said on Saturday night. “The trauma was caused by one punch.” (Ralph Wiley, Sports Illustrated)
You can try to determine what may have been the cause of the tragic event (Mancini’s victory comes around the 6:30 mark in the video):
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