Let's face it... some overrate him, others underrate. What do you all honestly think of Mancini? I think he was a great fighter who would have done a lot more if not for the death of Deuk-Koo Kim in 1982. He did win his next 4 fights after Kim, 3 by KO, including a win over Bobby Chacon (KO3)... but Chacon was a little past prime. Mancini was having trouble with guys he shouldn't have at this point. The Chacon win is a good win but Mancini was not at his best despite the early round KO. After Chacon he lost two in a row to L. Bramble, LKOby14 and L15. Two very good fights and a case can be made that Mancini deserved the win in their rematch... it was clear that he was no longer the fighter he was prior to the Kim fight though. Mancini retired after the 2nd Bramble fight. More than 4 years later Mancini came back without a tune up and fought a prime Hector Camacho for the WBO JWW world title. Mancini had fought at LW his entire pro career. Camacho won by SD but a case can be made that Mancini deserved it, not bad after being out 4 years and moving up in weight with no tune-ups. He didn't fight for 3 years and when he did he lost to Greg Haugen, LKOby7. I think he would have done very well had he fought during the 3 years between the Camacho and Haugen fights. He also had fights with- W12 Jose Luis Ramirez. Mancini won almost every round against a very good Ramirez. Ramirez had dropped A. Arguello and lost a SD to him less than a year before. Ramirez would go on to lose a close decision to Rosario then stop him in the 4th round of their rematch. He was outboxed by Camacho but gave him a good fight. He also went 1-1 vs. P. Whitaker (first fight was close despite the outcome). He also beat T. Alli and Boza Edwards KO5. He gave Chavez a tough fight but lost by TD after 11 rounds. LKOby14 Alexis Arguello. He gave A.A. hell before being stopped in the 14th round. I had Mancini down just 2 points going into the 14th round. KO14 Deuk-Koo Kim. Kim wasn't a notable fighter but he was very tough and Mancini deserves credit for the hard fought victory. What happened to Kim was tragic though. I could see why many feel he is overrated but I'm giving him a pass here based on what I think he could have done. I usually don't do that, but everybody has that one guy or two they make an exception for. Thoughts? How would he have done in 1990? 1991? Who could he have defeated in those days?
Good alphabet champion. I've already wrote about what I think of his standing vis a vis the other lightweight champions of his era (post Arguello to pre Chavez) in another thread. You're right in that the Kim incident probably hurt him mentally. It's too bad his manager Dave Wolf didn't take some risks after he won the WBA title. We'd know for sure what he could have done. One point I have to mention: Camacho despite being only 27 was not really prime when he fought Mancini. He had already started to show deterioration in the Reyes Cruz fight a year earlier. Camacho's last truly prime performance was against Howard Davis in 1987. Something changed mentally in Camacho's game after the Rosario scare in '86.
Good fighter, Good Champion, could and should have fought Howard Davis Jr, and a couple of others, was definitely protected to some degree.Had a lot of heart.
I agree with you till the part of him being protected. He was only 19 year sold when they put him in with a prime Alexis Arguello, and he fought al the best of his era.
Mancini was a hard hitting, well conditioned , very strong fighter who was poor defensively, got hit a lot, puffed up and cut and was limited. Tremendous heart but tremendously well matched to maximize white hope value. Who is the best fighter Mancini beat ? He was only 24 when he retired because he was exposed by Bramble before he was able to get a huge money fight with Pryor and he was starting to take way too much punishment. The best thing he did was get out even thought the Haugen comeback fight was sad. A true sportsman and a colorful fighter.
