Editing Ray Mancini (section)

==Professional career==
On October 18, 1979, Mancini made his professional debut and defeated [[Phil Bowen (boxer)|Phil Bowen]] with a first-round knockout. His whirlwind punching style caught the attention of network executives at several American television networks, and he became a regular on their sports programming. During this time Mancini defeated some notable boxers including former US champion Norman Goins in March 1981.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ray-mancini-lands-a-punch-against-norman-goins-during-the-news-photo/163935088|title=Ray Mancini lands a punch against Norman Goins during the fight at|date=March 18, 2013 }}</ref>

===Lightweight title challenges===
On April 30, 1980, Mancini defeated Bobby Sparks with a knockout at 1:28 in the first round for the regional Ohio State Lightweight title. Over a year later on May 16, 1981, Mancini won his first major title by defeating Jorge Morales for the WBC-affiliated [[North American Boxing Federation|NABF]] Lightweight championship when the referee determined that Morales could not continue after the 9th round.  In the post-match interview, Ray said that he was "keeping this title for myself because the world title is going to my dad".  Two months later, he successfully defended the title against [[José Luis Ramírez]] after a unanimous decision. Mancini's first attempt at a world title came on October 3 when he was pitted against [[Alexis Argüello]] for his [[World Boxing Council]] lightweight title. The event was selected by many (including ''[[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]]'' and [[ESPN]]) as one of the most spectacular fights of the 1980s. Mancini gave Argüello trouble early and built a lead on the scorecards, but Argüello used his experience to his advantage in the later rounds and stopped Mancini in the 14th round.

Mancini would rebound from the loss to Argüello by winning his next two bouts, including a second successful defense of his NABF Lightweight title against Julio Valdez (10th-round TKO) which would earn him another chance at a world title.

===WBA Lightweight champion===
On May 8, 1982, in a match held at [[The Aladdin]] in [[Las Vegas]], he challenged the new [[World Boxing Association]] lightweight champion, [[Arturo Frias]].<ref>
{{Cite news | title = This Mancini match has different ring |newspaper = Youngstown Vindicator| page = 1 | date = April 22, 1989}}</ref> Fifteen seconds into the fight, Frias caught Mancini with a left hook to the chin and another combination made Mancini bleed from his eyebrow. Mancini recovered and dropped Frias right in the center of the ring with a combination. Dazed, Frias got backed up, and Mancini immediately went on the offensive and trapped Frias against the ropes. After many unanswered blows, referee Richard Greene stopped the fight at 2:54 in the first round, and the Mancini family finally had a world champion.<ref name="vindy-12-05-99">{{Cite news | first = John | last = Bassetti | title = Valley boxers, led by Mancini, ruled the ring
|newspaper=Youngstown Vindicator | date = December 5, 1999}}</ref>

Mancini's first title defense, against former world champion [[Ernesto España]], went smoothly with a Mancini [[knockout]] win in the 6th round.

{{anchor|Kim match|Kim|Duk Koo Kim}}

===Match against Duk Koo Kim===
[[File:Duk Koo Kim vs Ray Mancini ticket.png|thumb|Ticket stub for Mancini's fight against Duk Koo Kim]]

On November 13, 1982, a 21-year-old Mancini met 27-year-old [[South Korea]]n challenger [[Duk Koo Kim]]. Kim had struggled to make the {{convert|135|lb|kg|adj=on}} weight limit, and had to lose several pounds shortly before the fight. The title bout, at [[Caesars Palace]] in Las Vegas, was televised live on [[CBS Sports]]. Mancini won by TKO in the 14th round. Moments after the fight ended, Kim collapsed and fell into a coma, having suffered a [[subdural hematoma]], and died five days later.<ref name="ap-11-18-82">
{{Cite news
| title = Nevada Court Rules Kim 'Legally Dead'
| newspaper = [[The Vindicator (Ohio newspaper)|Youngstown Vindicator]]
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1SFAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eVgMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1075%2C1010069
| location = Youngstown, Ohio
| agency = Associated Press
| date = November 18, 1982
| page = 26
}}</ref> The week after his death, the cover of ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' magazine showed Mancini and Kim battling, under the title "Tragedy in the Ring".<ref name=talltj>{{cite magazine |last=Wiley |first=Ralph |date=November 22, 1982 |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1126122/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091118103829/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1126122/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 18, 2009 |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |title=Then all the joy turned to sorrow |page=26}}</ref>

Mancini went to the funeral in South Korea and fell into a deep depression afterwards.<ref name="vindy-11-17-82"/> He has said that the hardest moments came when people approached him and asked if he was the boxer who "killed" Duk Koo Kim. Mancini went through a period of reflection and blamed himself for Kim's death. In addition, Kim's mother died by suicide three months after the fight, and the bout's referee, [[Richard Green (referee)|Richard Green]], killed himself in July 1983.<ref name="vindy-11-13-2007">
{{Cite news
| title = After 25 years, Kim death still stings Mancini: ESPN airs documentary tonight that revisits 1982 tragedy
| newspaper = [[The Vindicator (Ohio newspaper)|Youngstown Vindicator]]
| location = Youngstown, Ohio
| date = November 13, 2007
}}</ref>

As a result of Kim's death, the [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] took steps to shorten its title bouts to a maximum of 12 rounds. The [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] and [[WBO]] followed in 1988, and the [[International Boxing Federation|IBF]] in 1989.<ref name="vindy-11-13-2007"/>

===Later matches===
Mancini began the process of getting his life back together by once again putting on boxing gloves. He went to Italy to face British champion [[George Feeney (boxer)|George Feeney]], where he won a 10-round decision.

He defended his title two more times. First, on September 15, 1983, he beat Peruvian challenger [[Orlando Romero]] by a knockout in nine rounds at [[Madison Square Garden]] to achieve a lifelong dream of fighting in that building, and then after a November 25 tune-up bout in which he defeated Johnny Torres by first-round knockout in his return to the Caesar's Palace hotel in Las Vegas, in January 1984, in [[Ray Mancini vs. Bobby Chacon|a bout]] with former world champion [[Bobby Chacon]], which was broadcast on [[Home Box Office|HBO]], Mancini defeated Chacon when referee Richard Steele stopped the fight in the third round with blood dripping from Chacon's left eye at [[Reno, Nevada]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Dahlberg |first=Tim |date=January 16, 1984 |title=Haugen Defeats Mancini |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rrFBAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iKkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6702,883471&dq=mancini+chacon+round+three&hl=en |newspaper=Daily News |access-date=November 13, 2013}}</ref>

In June 1984, Mancini, still recovering from the emotional trauma of Kim's death, fought [[Livingstone Bramble]] to defend his title in [[Buffalo, New York]]. This time however, Mancini came out on the losing end, defeated after 14 rounds.<ref name="vindy-06-02-84">
{{Cite news
| first = Chuck
| last = Perazich
| title = What's Ahead For Mancini?
| newspaper = Youngstown Vindicator
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZLs_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=dlcMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3996%2C346153
| page = 13
| date = June 2, 1984
}}</ref> Mancini lost the title, but not before a fierce effort that resulted in an overnight stay at [[Kaleida Health#Hospitals|Millard Fillmore Hospital]] and 71 stitches around one eye.<ref name="vindy-06-02-84b">
{{Cite news
| title = Bramble Claims TKO Win in 14th
| newspaper = Youngstown Vindicator
| last = Swanson
| first = Ray
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZLs_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=dlcMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2915%2C343508
| page = 13
| date = June 2, 1984
}}</ref>

Mancini returned to the ring twice to attempt to regain his world title. In a rematch with Bramble, Mancini lost the fight by one point on all three judges' scorecards in a 15-round decision.<ref>[http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Livingstone_Bramble_vs._Ray_Mancini_(2nd_meeting) Article in ''Box Rec'']</ref> His next attempt came in March 1989, when he lost to [[Héctor Camacho|Héctor 'Macho' Camacho]] in a split decision,<ref>[https://www.espn.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3107079 ESPN – Twenty-five years is a long time to carry a memory – Boxing<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Mancini had one final fight in April 1992, against former lightweight champion [[Greg Haugen]]. Mancini lost when referee [[Mills Lane]] stopped the fight in the seventh round.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gutskey |first=Earl |date=April 4, 1992 |title=Haugen Defeats Mancini |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-04-sp-317-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=November 13, 2013}}</ref>