man, that was pretty touching ****.. that's tough to go through
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Yeah, I wanted to see that but missed it. If anyone can upload it or finds a link post it in the video forum. -
Yeah that was a great story, I really have alot of respect for ray, hes a really cool person.Comment
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That "Champion" movie was great, sad but greatComment
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I haven't seen the film. I'm just interested to know if it is mentioned there that the referee (Richard Greene) of the Mancini-Kim fight (which resulted in the death of the Korean) committed suicide as did Kim's mother within four months following the fight?Comment
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Yes, it mentioned all of this.Originally posted by grayfist View Post
It(documentary) specificlly mentioned that the mother said somthing like, "i'am the mother and all of you are fighting for how much money you are going to give me, i shall take my life and ....." something like that was said. Very sad that they didn't want to give the mother a cent if they could.Comment
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Oh...okay. Good. Thanks!Originally posted by ferocity View Post
Mention of that era also gives me flashbacks of ABC Sports (which carried that fight among many others) under Ron Arledge. Then, Monday Night Football with Cossel and company...
Old memories...Last edited by grayfist; 11-14-2007, 11:08 AM.Comment
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I missed the first showing last night but watched the late one at like 11:30. It was good! Man, Kim's face looked so bad! It was really quite horrifying. He didn't even look the same at the end of the fight.
When Ray was in the dressing room just before the fight he said that he heard someone punching the lockers and screaming and yelling. It was Kim, and Ray knew he was in for a war.
This has to be one of the oddest occurrences in boxing history. It just shows how strong the will of some people is. In one of the earlier rounds Ray said he nailed him right on the nose with a perfect right and then Kim raised his hand and came right back. Ray said that was the only time he ever wanted to just quit a fight.
Anyone who is a boxing fan should watch this at some point.Comment
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What they don't mention is that the 15 rounds were reduced to comadate the timeline for programs that abc had cause you couldnt' fit a championship fight (15 rounds) under an hours programs. At least i've heard/read a lot about people mentioning this. The Mancini/Kim fight was just a way to inforce the 12 rounds more suited for tv time. Just like in the same way the nabf, iba, and so on came to fruitation. The tv networks all wanted to hold championship fights on there networks in time frame that allowed a fight to last 1 hour(so we get 12 round fight) and the promoters delever the championship fight with bogus championship belts.Originally posted by grayfist View PostComment
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Actually, pressure to reduce the number of rounds have been put to bear on boxing in general by the medical organizations and other do-gooders years before the Mancini-Kim fight.Originally posted by ferocity View Post
About two years earlier, in 1980, Johnny Owens died soon after facing Guadalupe Pintor and the same cry was heard, but not one as loud as the one heard after the Kim fight, in part, because Owens' death did not quite have the drama and television coverage that the Kim death had.
Yes, there was talk at the time about the reduction having been a result of TV time pressure, but that has been no more than just talk, as far as I can recall. The direct catalyst to the 12 round fight has close to always been referred to as the Mancini-Kim fight.
ABC's Wide World Of Sports at the time had no trouble covering 15 round fights, and gained hefty ratings. And ratings are what TV moguls have their eyes glued to, not really time.
Back then, TV time was not as precious as it is now. The Olympic games were covered for days... Unlike today when one only sees snippets and highlights. And boxing was everywhere. Gillete (the razor blade brand) had regular programs and there were ones that came from various points broadcast at varying directions and scope.
You mention about TV's reported attemt to award a "bogus belt". As far as I can recall, I think it was NBC that made a threat to stage its own championships, but that threat was in disgust over the rankings of fighters which resulted in TV's having to carry alphabet organization championships that were actually mismatches.
Sugar RAy Leonard, the public and fight persona of that time, was a product of a TV-and-site contract which he and his management team controlled. Ray had a TV fight contract and he contracted sites on percentage basis for his early fights (following the Montreal gold). TV covered Ray's 15 round fights, no problem. If the product was good, TV did not complain how long it stayed on the air.
But with all that said, I think the adjustment to 12 rounds could not have been anything that would have raised TV's hackels. It was convenient.Last edited by grayfist; 11-14-2007, 12:36 PM.Comment
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