by Joseph M. Darcy– Having been a boxing fan for roughly 30 of my 37 years, while I don’t consider myself an expert, I do believe I’m qualified to have a fairly intelligent opinion. I was very lucky in that when I found my love for the sport in the late ’70’s and early ’80’s, boxing was a very mainstream sport and great fighters were on seemingly every weekend. From Alexis Arguello to Carlos Zarate, it was a very exciting time to be a fan and there was nobody more fun to watch than Ray “Boom Boom Mancini. He fought often and was never in a dull fight. He was W.B.A. champion from 5/1982 to 6/1984, fought 8 world champions and yet is not in the IBHOF..
Until, recently, while he has always been my favorite fighter, I understood that while he was a class act and always fought hard, The Hall of Fame is generally reserved for athletes who are head and shoulders above everyone else. However, looking at the list of Modern Inductees in the hall, I think that Mancini absolutely deserves a spot and am very surprised he has not gotten in.
While I don’t mean any disrespect to anyone as they are all worthy, the fact that Michael Carbajal, Barry McGuigan and Edwin Rosario are in and Mancini is not is mystifying to me. Let’s start with Carbajal. While an Olympic champion and exciting fighter, his claim to fame is the series with Chiquita Gonzalez, in which he lost 2-3 by the way. Looking at his record, other than Scotty Olsen, Jorge Arce and Melchor Cob Castro, who did he fight? Again, I am not questioning his worth, I am simply saying that Mancini, in my opinion, had a greater career. Next up is McGuigan.
While he did dethrone Eusebio Pedroza and outpoint a slightly shot Juan Laporte, who did he really beat? Bernard Taylor, good but not great. How about Jose Caba? Face first fighter and over the hill by the time he beat him. While Mancini fought 8 world champions (4-4, 3 k.o.’s), Barry only fought 3, (2-1, 0 k.o.’s). How about Edwin Rosario? This is a lot closer to call. They both beat Ramirez by decision. However while Mancini dominated Ramirez, Rosario won a controversial decision the first time and was knocked out in the 4th round of the rematch. They both lost controversial decisons to Camacho (Mancini was past his prime) and they both fought 8 world champions, Chapo (5-6, 3 k.o’s). I will call this is a draw.
While I know I’m biased as “Boom Boom” was my favorite fighter of all, I truly believe he belongs in the IBHOF and hope he gets there soon. I will certainly attend to show my support!