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Dennis Donovan

(18,770 posts)
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 04:49 AM Nov 2019

37 Years Ago Today; Boxer Kim Duk-Koo loses to Ray Mancini in a TKO, Kim dies 4 days later

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Duk-koo


Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini and Duk Koo-Kim, who later died from the brain injuries he endured. (Getty Images)

Kim Duk-Koo (July 29, 1955 – November 18, 1982) was a South Korean boxer who died after a world championship boxing match against Ray Mancini. His death sparked reforms aimed at better protecting the health of fighters, including reducing the number of rounds in championship bouts from 15 to 12.

Early life and education
Kim was born in Gangwon Province, South Korea, 100 miles east of Seoul, the youngest of five children. His father died when he was two and his mother married three more times. Kim grew up poor. He worked odd jobs such as a shoe-shining boy and a tour guide before getting into boxing in 1976.


Kim Duk-Koo

Career
After compiling a 29–4 amateur record, he turned professional in 1978. In February 1982, he won the Orient and Pacific Boxing Federation lightweight title and became the World Boxing Association's #1 contender. Kim carried a 17–1–1 professional record into the Mancini fight and had won 8 bouts by KO before flying to Las Vegas as the world's (WBA) number 1 challenger to world lightweight champion Mancini. However, he had fought outside of South Korea only once before, in the Philippines. It was his first time ever fighting in North America.

Mancini match


Ticket stub for Kim's final fight

Kim was lightly regarded by the U.S. boxing establishment, but not by Ray Mancini, who believed the fight would be a "war". Kim struggled to lose weight in the days prior to the bout so that he could weigh in under the lightweight's 135-pound limit. Before the fight, Kim was quoted as saying "Either he dies or I die." He wrote the message "live or die" on his Las Vegas hotel lamp shade only days before the bout (a mistaken translation led to "kill or be killed" being reported in the media).

Mancini and Kim met in an arena outside Caesars Palace on November 13, 1982. They went toe to toe for a good portion of the bout, to the point that Mancini briefly considered quitting. Kim tore open Mancini's left ear and puffed up his left eye, and Mancini's left hand swelled to twice its normal size. After the fight Mancini's left eye would be completely closed. However, by the latter rounds, Mancini began to dominate, landing many more punches than Kim did. In the 11th he buckled Kim's knees. In the beginning of the 13th round Mancini charged Kim with a flurry of 39 punches, but had little effect. Sugar Ray Leonard (working as one of the commentators of the fight) said Kim came right back very strong. Leonard later declared the round to be closely contested. When the fighters came out for the 14th round, Mancini charged forward and hit Kim with a right. Kim reeled back, Mancini missed with a left, and then Mancini hit Kim with another hard right hand. Kim went flying into the ropes, his head hitting the canvas. Kim managed to rise unsteadily to his feet, but referee Richard Green stopped the fight and Mancini was declared the winner by TKO nineteen seconds into the 14th round. Ralph Wiley of Sports Illustrated, covering the fight, would later recall Kim pulling himself up the ropes as he was dying "one of the greatest physical feats I had ever witnessed."

Minutes after the fight was over, Kim collapsed into a coma and was removed from the Caesars Palace arena on a stretcher and taken to the Desert Springs Hospital. At the hospital, he was found to have a subdural hematoma consisting of 100 cubic centimeters of blood in his skull. Emergency brain surgery was performed at the hospital to try to save him, but Kim died four days after the bout, on November 18. The neurosurgeon said it was caused by one punch. The week after, Sports Illustrated published a photo of the fight on its cover, under the heading Tragedy in the Ring. The profile of the incident was heightened by the fight having been televised live by CBS in the United States.

Kim had never fought a 15-round bout before. In contrast, Mancini was much more experienced at the time. He had fought 15-round bouts three times and gone on to round 14 once before. Kim compiled a record of 17 wins with two losses and one draw. Eight of Kim's wins were knockouts.

Aftermath of Kim's death
Mancini went through a period of reflection, as he blamed himself for Kim's death. After friends helped him by telling him that it was just an accident, Mancini went on with his career, though still haunted by Kim's death. His promoter, Bob Arum, said Mancini "was never the same" after Kim's death. Two years later, Mancini lost his title to Livingstone Bramble.

Four weeks after the fatal fight, the Mike Weaver vs Michael Dokes fight at the same Caesars Palace venue ended with a technical knockout declared 63 seconds into the fight. Referee Joey Curtis admitted to stopping the fight early under orders of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which required referees to be aware of a fighter's health, in light of the Mancini–Kim fight, and a rematch was ordered.

Kim's mother flew from South Korea to Las Vegas to be with her son before the life support equipment was turned off. Three months later, she took her own life by drinking a bottle of pesticide. The bout's referee, Richard Green, committed suicide on July 1, 1983.

Kim left behind a fiancée, Lee Young-Mee, despite rules against South Korean boxers having girlfriends. At the time of Kim's death Lee was pregnant with their son, Kim Chi-Wan, who was born in July 1983. Kim Chi-Wan became a dentist. In 2011, Kim Chi-Wan and his mother had a meeting with Ray Mancini as part of a documentary on the life of Mancini called The Good Son.

In popular culture, the San Francisco based band Sun Kil Moon’s first album, Ghosts of the Great Highway, has three tracks named after boxers, including Duk-koo Kim, a song which references the Mancini fight.

Boxing rule changes
The Nevada State Athletic Commission proposed a series of rule changes as a result, announcing it before a December 10 match between Michael Dokes and Mike Weaver that would in itself be disputed because of what officials were informed before the fight. The break between rounds was initially proposed to go from 60 to 90 seconds (but it was later rescinded). The standing eight count (which allows a knockdown to be called even if the boxer is not down, but on the verge of being knocked down) was imposed, and new rules regarding suspension of licence were imposed (45 days after a knockout loss).

The WBC, which was not the fight's sanctioning organization, announced during its annual convention of 1982 that many rules concerning fighters' medical care before fights needed to be changed. One of the most significant was the WBC's reduction of title fights from fifteen rounds to twelve. The WBA and the IBF followed the WBC in 1987. When the WBO was formed in 1988, it immediately began operating with 12-round world championship bouts.

In the years after Kim's death new medical procedures were introduced to fighters' pre-fight checkups, such as electrocardiograms, brain tests, and lung tests. As one boxing leader put it, "A fighter's check-ups before fights used to consist of blood pressure and heartbeat checks before 1982. Not anymore."

</snip>


17 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
37 Years Ago Today; Boxer Kim Duk-Koo loses to Ray Mancini in a TKO, Kim dies 4 days later (Original Post) Dennis Donovan Nov 2019 OP
I remember it well Skittles Nov 2019 #1
Terribly tragic all around. Dennis Donovan Nov 2019 #2
oh dear Skittles Nov 2019 #10
1986 I went to the Hagler/Mugabi fight in Vegas. safeinOhio Nov 2019 #3
I watched the Hagler/Mugabi fight with my Dad RT Atlanta Nov 2019 #14
We had great seats. safeinOhio Nov 2019 #16
So cool man... RT Atlanta Nov 2019 #17
Watched this fight with my dad. It was terrible Drahthaardogs Nov 2019 #4
Remember that Friday night when Holmes fought Marvis Frazier? PCIntern Nov 2019 #5
This was not as agregious, but as the fight went on Drahthaardogs Nov 2019 #6
Horrifying... PCIntern Nov 2019 #7
The article made it sound more evenly matched than it was Drahthaardogs Nov 2019 #8
A more appropriate analogy would be high school players being on a field with NFL players BannonsLiver Nov 2019 #13
sad Skittles Nov 2019 #11
Wow...tragic Docreed2003 Nov 2019 #9
those deaths too weighed heavily on Mancini Skittles Nov 2019 #12
Last boxing match I ever watched. maxsolomon Nov 2019 #15

Skittles

(152,967 posts)
1. I remember it well
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 05:06 AM
Nov 2019

I watched a documentary with Kim's son visiting Mr. Mancini - it was very touching. I think it was called The Good Son.

on edit - I see The Good Son is mentioned in the article.....it shows how each of them grew up - "Boom Boom", Kim, and the son Kim never knew

Dennis Donovan

(18,770 posts)
2. Terribly tragic all around.
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 05:35 AM
Nov 2019

Ray Mancini said in a recent interview that people still come up and ask if he was the boxer that killed Kim and it's very painful.

safeinOhio

(32,532 posts)
3. 1986 I went to the Hagler/Mugabi fight in Vegas.
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 06:18 AM
Nov 2019

It was a classic battle and Hagler out lasted the tuff Mugabi.

Tommy Hearns fought the highly ranked James Shuler in an earlier fight that night. That one only lasted less that a couple of minutes as Hearns KOed him in the first. My buddy had gone to get a beer and came back to his seat and said "what happened".
Anyway shuler died the next week in a motorcycle accident .

RT Atlanta

(2,517 posts)
14. I watched the Hagler/Mugabi fight with my Dad
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 06:21 PM
Nov 2019

Was my first boxing match that I attended - via closed circuit television at a pretty wild boxing party going on in the Superdome in New Orleans. I was in 7th grade. Happy memory - thanks for bringing that up.

safeinOhio

(32,532 posts)
16. We had great seats.
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 07:26 PM
Nov 2019

A guy we did some work for gave us a couple of $300 seats, about 15 rows back. That close we could see and hear every punch. Those guys deserve every penny. Red Fox sat right behind us and Tom Sellick was 2 rows in front of us. We had a ball.

RT Atlanta

(2,517 posts)
17. So cool man...
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 07:39 PM
Nov 2019

I think every boxing fan should attend a 'prize' fight in person at least once in their life. I always liked Marvelous Marvin and have to imagine seeing him fight was a good one. Thanks for sharing the experience!

Drahthaardogs

(6,843 posts)
4. Watched this fight with my dad. It was terrible
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 07:23 AM
Nov 2019

Mancini was a superior boxer. Kim had no business being in there with him.

PCIntern

(25,347 posts)
5. Remember that Friday night when Holmes fought Marvis Frazier?
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 07:35 AM
Nov 2019

Holmes was begging the ref to end the fight so he wouldn't kill Marvis. As a Philadelphian I could never think of Joe frazier the same way after he put his kid in the ring with an infinitely superior fighter. The Philly sports press stopped its loving coverage of Joe forevermore. It was outrageous.

Drahthaardogs

(6,843 posts)
6. This was not as agregious, but as the fight went on
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 07:38 AM
Nov 2019

It was clear Kim could not keep up. My dad was saying, "they need to stop this", but obviously they didn't.

PCIntern

(25,347 posts)
7. Horrifying...
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 09:04 AM
Nov 2019

Many people don't realize the ethereal talents of the best fighters and that going into the ring with one of them could be a death sentence if one isn't competent in defensive skills at the very least.
It's like putting a college football team on the field with any NFL team. Body bags.

Drahthaardogs

(6,843 posts)
8. The article made it sound more evenly matched than it was
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 09:11 AM
Nov 2019

Towards the end, Kim was just a punching bag for Ray. Boom-boom was a damned good boxer both technically and power-wise. It was a beat down at the end.

BannonsLiver

(16,162 posts)
13. A more appropriate analogy would be high school players being on a field with NFL players
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 06:20 PM
Nov 2019

Each year college players, having been drafted in April or May, play in NFL games mere months after that. Some of them excel as rookies.

Skittles

(152,967 posts)
11. sad
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 06:15 PM
Nov 2019

from the documentary it would seem that Kim came from an upbringing / culture that just did not allow him to quit - it really was the ref who should have done something

maxsolomon

(32,992 posts)
15. Last boxing match I ever watched.
Wed Nov 13, 2019, 06:26 PM
Nov 2019

I used to watch them during the Olympics as a kid, but never after that.

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