Origin of the "Win or Die" name

Last night ESPN featured a one hour documentary on Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, the pride of Youngstown, OH (no matter how much Ron Jaworski and Al Bundy might dispute the claim). Most of the hour long show centered around the fight for which Mancini is best remembered, the epic battle with the tragic ending against the South Korean warrior, Duk Koo Kim. The fight took place 25 years ago yesterday, was witnessed live on National television, and changed boxing forever.

Mancini was a real life Rocky Balboa. His father was a great fighter whose career was cut short when he was called to duty to serve in World War II. Mancini fought because he loved the sport, and to honor his father and give him the title that he never had a chance to earn on his own. Mancini's rise to greatness was swift, aided by his immense popularity and a network in CBS that was more than happy to publicize and produce this real life fairy tale.

Mancini fought a war with the more experienced and talented Champion Alexis Arguello, fighting valiantly before being knocked out by the champ in the 14th round. However, the disappointment did not last long, as Mancini soon fought and destroyed champion Arturo Frias in a single round to win the WBA Championship at the age of 21. It is possibly the most action packed round in the history of boxing, just fantastic action.

In his second title defense, Mancini fought unheralded and huge underdog Duk (also Deuk) Koo Kim. The 23 year old from South Korea was 17-1-1 in his brief career, but had fought nobody of substance and had never fought outside of Asia. In addition, Kim had to struggle to make weight, leaving him dehydrated for the fight.

When the bell rang, however, Kim proved himself to be a worthy challenger. He fought with incredible valor and courage, never backing up from the barrage of punches that Mancini unleashed. Kim threw back with similar ferocity and inflicted powerful blows on Mancini as well. Many ringside observers would later say that the pace and type of battle that took place suggested that these two warriors would keep throwing until one could take no more.

To start the 13th round, Mancini hit Kim with what must have been 60 or 70 straight punches without Kim throwing any punches in return. But somehow Kim responded by taking the action right back at Mancini.

But it all proved too much for Kim. Mancini knocked him out about 10 seconds into the 14th round. Kim somehow struggled to his feet, but the referee stopped the fight. Minutes later, Kim slipped out of consciousness, and was pronounced dead five days later. As a result of this tragedy, boxing changed the limit of its fights from 15 rounds to 12, and also added an extra rope around the ring to provide fighters with more support as they fall.

Kim's mother could not deal with the tragedy, and committed suicide a couple months later. A few months after that, the referee from the fight, Richard Greene, also took his own life. Just a horrible tragedy all the way around.

When people went back to Kim's hotel room, he had taped the words "win or die" to his lamp shade. For him, this fight was so important that he was willing to win, or to die trying to do so. Just amazing, the heart of a champion that would somehow allow his body to keep going when about anybody else would have wilted earlier (but lived).

Duk Koo Kim was a more valiant warrior than any I have ever witnessed as a sports fan my whole life. His determination and strength propelled him to get every ounce of potential from his somewhat limited skills. His courage fueled him to never give up, and in the end, it cost him his own life.

When I started the Win or Die pool in 1995, I named it as such in honor of Duk Koo Kim, the fallen warrior who had given his life in search of his dreams. Kim's spirit will live on for as long as the pool continues.

The 25th anniversary of this tragic fight has provided more exposure to Mancini, who has battled the demons of this event constantly for the past quarter century, and to the memory of Duk Koo Kim. If you are interested in seeing the documentary, it is airing this Friday night at 9:00 pm eastern time on ESPN Classic. If you want to see the end of the fight, click here.

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