![]() ![]() With each new triumph Ray impressed more viewers on national TV, drawing accolades from the media for his thrilling style and dramatic victories. Ray Mancini celebrates after winning the lightweight title from Arturo Frias in May of 1982. The young Ray, always eager to please those around him, duly obliged by winning contest after contest for his family and for his townspeople, working his way up the ranks and giving his hometown hope. They describe how the demoralized people of Youngstown rallied behind their new-found hero, filling up local gyms to find something to cheer for while dealing with chronic unemployment and climbing crime statistics. Interviews with Mancini family members and friends document Ray’s ascension up the ranks. By the 1980s, the boxing media and the television networks had recognized the huge potential of the white, good-looking, working-class kid with the all-action style and the touching story of how he had promised his dad he would one day win the lightweight crown just for him. And thus we meet the young Ray Mancini, the popular, athletic kid who obeyed his parents, did his homework, and eventually followed his older brother into the boxing gym where he found his true passion and purpose in life. Upon his return and after a failed second run at boxing glory, Lenny focused on attending to the needs of his family in Youngstown, Ohio. The elder “Boom Boom” Mancini in his prime. The story of “Boom Boom” is in fact the story of the Mancini clan, beginning with Lenny Mancini, Ray’s father, who was the top ranked contender to the lightweight title in 1941, when he had to abandon his boxing career and instead serve his country during World War II. The Good Son, a documentary which explores Mancini’s life and career, as well as the circumstances and consequences of Kim’s tragic death, is a unique and moving film. The tale told by director Jesse James Miller and adapted from Mark Kriegel’s commendable book of the same name, is, above all, one of families and relationships. South Korea’s Duk-Koo Kim, who fell to Mancini’s fists in round 14 of a terrific, nationally-televised battle, would die in hospital a few days after. Ray not only became a media darling, a champion and a millionaire he also had the misfortune of severely injuring an opponent. But the story of young “Boom Boom” Mancini is not just about triumph and success it’s also about every prizefighter’s worst nightmare. Champions such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler had become huge stars, and right there with them was Ray Mancini. ![]() The 1980s remain perhaps the most successful decade in boxing’s history, a rare time when the sport was highly popular and widely accepted as mainstream entertainment. ![]()
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