Sean Mannion - The toast of Irish America

this is a piece on a man i became a little fascinated with when i was younger...mainly i suppose due to the fact that he was an irishman boxing at world level, and he's since become a forgotten man of irish boxing i think.
anyway...i read this and thought it worth sharing here...

it is written by Phil Campion

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HE CAME from humble backgrounds in the west of Ireland and became the toast of Irish American’s. Sean Mannion should have returned to these shores a wealthy man - instead he returned to Galway nine years ago penniless and with a drink problem.
His rise to fame is as interesting as the fictional Rocky character but without the financial rewards.
Eleven thousand Irish boxing fans flew to New York in 1984 to watch the Ros Muc man fight tyrant Mike McCallum who was to become champion at three different weights.
Every Irish American wanted a ticket for the 15-round fight that went the distance at Madison Square Gardens and Sean should have made his fortune instead of earning nickels and dimes.
Mannion had previously beaten the World’s number one contender, big names avoided him and World Title fights for the super middleweight were promised but never materialised.
“Did my manager know any better,” questions Mannion.
“I earned just just $3,000 for beating the number one contender and my share of the purse for the McCallum fight was just $20,000, whilst fighters I would have beaten like Mustafa Hamsho earned $500,000 in his defeat to Marvellous Marvin Hagler.”
Apart from a few weeks surrounding the McCallum fight Mannion toiled on the building sites of Massachusetts - throughout his 16-years of boxing in the United States the Galwayman earned a living in construction or labouring.
Sean had his share of bad luck but the amount of fights the tough southpaw fought against quality opposition he should have been made for life.
The legendary Angelo Dundee would phone Sean’s manager Jimmy Connolly with big pay days in Europe but Connolly would hang the phone up. A number of times Sean was forced to fight with just a weeks notice and fought with injuries. On one occasion he had lost 6lbs in 90 minutes so he could fight.
Sean became number one contender for six months and still his manager failed to find him big money fights.
The Ros Muc man would enter the ring with whoever and whenever his manager told him and lost out to fights with legends Roberto Duran who feared Sean had the style to beat him and Sugar Ray Leonard whose brother could not make a deal for the two to meet. Just one of those fights would have earned the southpaw from Ross Muc enough to live well on for the rest of his life.
Mannion needed to move out of Ireland for a boxing career. He didn’t know anyone in England and headed for Boston.
“I went to the U.S. first in 1974 as a 17-year-old worked out there stayed until Christmas and returned when an uncle died.

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“I came back worked in a factory in Rath Cairn, Co Meath and returned to the States in 1977.
“My brothers and sisters were there. There were twelve of us in the family and at one time or another we were all in America.”
Sean used Connolly’s gym in Boston and the legendary Marvellous Marvin Hagler asked him to spar with him.
Boston at that time had a very strong Irish run mafia and Sean was repeatedly asked to work for them. He resisted the temptation.
“All the guys in the Gym were connected with the Irish mob,” said Mannion. “One of the top men was from Ros Muc and he told me to stay away from it.
“These were nice lads but one of the guys who trained with us got caught dealing drugs and was sentenced for 11 years.
“They were all gangsters working for Whitey Bulger.”
The Galwayman got into a few scrapes whilst in Boston.
“An American hit an old man in a bar when he complained of the language used in front of his daughter. I hit the American and cops arrested me.
“They gave me a good beating in the street and took me back to the station.
“They called me an Irish pig even though they were Irish American. They kept beating me at the station until eventually a black cop intervened.”
Sean was also troubled by a court case that could have ended up with him being jailed or deported.
“I was also involved in an incident when a guy pulled a knife on me and I hit him in self-defence.
“I didn’t know until later that he ended up with 49 stitches and I was being taken to court. It went on for six months and just before the trial the man’s brother persuaded him to drop charges.”
Mannion has worked hard and not received the credit or financial reward for his toil but he said he would ‘do it all again’.
Speaking to Sean you can tell that money was not his first love. When he came to fight Mike McCallum he rejected one sponsorship deal so he could show the world he was proud of his birthplace in Connemara .
“A sports gear company came in with first bid of $5,000 for sponsorship on my shorts for the Mike McCallum fight,” he explained.
“I told them they would be wasting their time increasing bids - I wanted Ross Muc on my shorts.”
Things looked up towards the end of Sean’s career when Muhammad Ali’s former cornerman Angelo Dundee managed him.

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Mannion swears his record should have been better and has been let down by taking fights at short notice or without sparring practice.
As Sean’s boxing career dwindled he sought refuge in drink.
“After the McCallum fight I was depressed and drunk a lot,” he explained.
“I haven’t drunk for 6 years now though. I retired from boxing in 1993 at 36 and returned to Ireland in 2000. I loved America - I had great support and was treated like a hero everywhere I went, but my heart was always in Ireland.
“I’ve worked in construction for seven years in Galway and I’m now looking for more work.
“I never made money in boxing and I earned more in construction.”
Sean’s boxing know how has not been lost - he’s now on hand to help the west of Ireland’s up and coming talent.
Light heavyweight hope from Co Mayo Mike Sweeney who signed a lucrative five-year contract with an American promoter has turned to Sean for help.

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well, i never seen him fight...did he have a big irish support the night you seen him ?

he fought four world champions...and he
was the first man to beat future world champion in-cheul baek at a time when baek was 26-0 and all his wins were by knockout...

left of topic....the first man to beat mannion was sugar ray leonards brother roger....he finished on a win, and with a world rating...he only had one loss that i understand was a cut.....why did he quit boxing so quickly ?