11.15.2007

mancini vs. kim, 25 years later

Here's a great story on the historic 1982 WBA lightweight championship fight between Ray Mancini and South Korean boxer Kim Duk Koo, in which Kim was fatally beaten on national television: Mancini and Kim forever linked

Going into the evening, no one was expecting much out of the Mancini-Kim fight. Little was known of Kim, coming in with a 17-1-1 record, but having never fought outside of Asia and with no opponents of note on his record. It ended up being the fight of his life. During the fourteen rounds, a blood a clot had formed on Kim's brain, probably caused by one or two powerful punches. A right to the head knocked him out for the count. Four days later, on November 17, 1982, a judge declared Kim legally dead and doctors removed him from life support. And Mancini has had to live with Kim's death ever since. Crazy.

The story of Kim Duk-Koo's life was depicted in the South Korean movie Champion that came out a couple of years back. I've never seen it, but I kind of want to check it out, now that I know a little more background about this story.

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