Stoops recalls 'Boom Boom's' tragic tale
Published: 11/13/2007 11:33 PM
Last Modified: 11/13/2007 11:33 PM
It was 25 years ago today, Nov. 13, 1982, that Bob Stoops sat in his University of Iowa dorm room with his little brother Mike, watching one of their best friends beat a man to death.
That's probably an unfair and sensationalized way of recounting Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini's lightweight title defense against Duk Koo Kim in Las Vegas. In the years since, nothing bothered Mancini more than when someone came up to him and asked, "Are you the boxer that killed that Korean guy?"
It was a boxing match, not ancient Rome. Mancini was troubled, but should carry no personal blame for Kim's death. Kim had to drop weight, so he was dehydrated and tired well before the first bell. He had a hard time keeping his hands up, but never backed down. And the skilled Mancini was quick and efficient, repeatedly hitting a wide open target. In the 14th round, Kim went down, barely got up and slipped into a coma. He never recovered and died five days later.
In a way, Mancini never recovered, either. In the late '80s, Mancini was the subject of a made-for-TV movie. His glorious and tragic tale is retold at 7 o'clock Monday night on an ESPN Classic production, "Triumph and Tragedy: The Ray Mancini Story."
"It was hard for him, no question," Stoops said on Tuesday. "He's a really strong, spiritual guy, and that did shake him. But Ray had been through an awful hard time. He lost his brother awful young. I knew his brother well, too. So I think those experiences – he just understood, 'Listen, I'm just doing what . . . I'm just competing. We're after the same thing. It's just an accident. It sure isn't intentional.
"I'm sure he's come to terms with it the right way."
Still, "Boom Boom's" world changed that day at Caesar's Palace. Kim's mother committed suicide four months later. Referee Richard Greene, distraught over not stopping the fight, killed himself the following July.
Mancini fell into a deep depression. His whirlwind fighting style had been softened – a career killer for a top-level boxer. He was lightweight champ for two years (the Kim fight was his second title defense), but had only four more title defenses before losing to Livingstone Bramble in 1984. He retired in 1993 with a record of 29-5, with 23 KOs.
"Boxing, it's hard," Stoops said. "Younger guys are coming up and it's hard to keep it for a long, long time. He had it for a long time, but there are certain guys that eventually get you. Just like he got someone else."
The Mancini family lived on the street behind Stoops family's house. They were neighborhood tough guys, pals growing up on the mean streets of south side Youngstown, Ohio. "Boom Boom" was a year younger than Bob, a year older than Mike, they competed together in Pop Warner football, Little League baseball and even basketball.
"People don't realize what a good athlete he was," Stoops said. "That may be worth mentioning. He was an excellent running back and defensive back, one of those, because of his size, shifty running backs. Really good baseball player.
"In high school, of course, he started to get really serious about boxing, so he couldn't make all the (baseball) practices. But my dad (Cardinal Mooney High School football and baseball coach Ron Stoops Sr.), knowing him so well, being in the neighborhood, said, 'Hey Ray, just come when you can.' You know how high school is. He needed pitchers, he needed guys that could play, and Ray was a natural athlete. So he would come just the day before a game or just come for a game, and my dad would pitch him or put him in the outfield or play him because he was a good player. He understood, 'Boxing is his first love, but I'm not going to not let him play just because he's not here; he can help us.' And he knew what a good competitor he was. So my dad would let him come and he helped. And they had a good year.
"He was a good point guard in basketball, too."
Eventually, Mancini quit football and basketball to concentrate on boxing. He became a legend in the dried up steel mills of Youngstown, Ohio, winning the Golden Gloves and making a run at the Olympics before winning the lightweight belt that his father, Lennie – the original "Boom Boom" – never had a shot at because of injuries he suffered in World War II.
Of course, on Stoops' street, young Ray was already well known for his fists. Nobody messed with "Boom Boom."
"We were all good buddies," Stoops said. "But everyone pretty much knew he could handle himself.
"Boy, he was a great competitor, wasn't he? . . . He was the best."
– John E. Hoover
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
