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Duk Koo Kim or Deuk-Koo Kim or Deuk-Gu Kim (January 8, 1959 – November 18, 1982) was a South Korean boxer whose unexpected death following a match versus Ray Mancini changed the sport of boxing in many ways. For further information, see Las Vegas metropolitan area and Las Vegas Strip. ... Jamo redirects here. ... Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced (a modified) McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto None (Unofficial: Broadly benefit humankind also translated as Devotion to the welfare of humanity) Anthem Aegukga (Patriotic Hymn) Capital (and largest city) Seoul Official languages Korean Government Presidential republic  -  President Roh Moo-hyun  -  Prime Minister Han Duck-soo Establishment  -  Gojoseon October 3, 2333 BCb   -  Independence declared March 1, 1919... Professional boxing bout featuring Ricardo Domínguez (left, throwing a left uppercut) versus Rafael Ortiz Boxing, also called prizefighting or pugilism is a sport and martial art in which two participants of similar weight fight each other with their fists in a series of one to three-minute intervals called... Image:PeteRayJohn. ...

The story

Kim was a popular fighter in his region who had won 12 straight bouts when he was assigned by the WBA as the world's number 1 challenger to world Lightweight champion Ray Mancini. However, of his former 19 contests prior to the Mancini bout, 18 had been in his native country, against somewhat obscure opposition, and he had been a southpaw boxer. Many Korean boxers, even experienced ones, simply had not been trained to fight a left-handed opponent like Kim, giving him an extra edge. His only overseas bout before the Lightweight championship challenge took place in the Philippines, so this was also his first fight outside of the Asian continent. World Boxing Association (WBA) is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title, at the professional level. ... People who are left-handed are more dextrous with their left hand than with their right hand: they will probably also use their left hand for tasks such as personal care, cooking, and so on. ...

Kim had to struggle mightily to lose weight on the days prior to the bout so that he could weigh in under the Lightweight's 135 pound limit, or, as they say in boxing, "make weight". Prophetically, he wrote the message "kill or be killed" on his Las Vegas hotel room's mirror only days before the bout. For further information, see Las Vegas metropolitan area and Las Vegas Strip. ...

Mancini and Kim met in an arena outside Caesar's Palace on November 13, 1982. In what many ringside observers have described as an "action-packed" fight, Mancini and Kim went toe to toe for a good portion of the bout, but by the latter rounds, Mancini began to dominate the young challenger. Spent and battered, Kim went into round 14 with little left and Mancini dropped him. He got up, but the fight was stopped and Mancini retained the title. Caesars Palace is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. ... November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 48 days remaining. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Minutes after the fight was over, Kim collapsed into a coma, and was taken to a hospital. Emergency brain surgery was performed there to try to save him, but that effort proved to be futile, as Kim died 5 days after the bout on November 18. The week after, Sports Illustrated published a photo of the fight on its cover, under the heading Tragedy in The Ring. Neurosurgery is the surgical discipline focused on treating the central and peripheral nervous system. ... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The first issue of Sports Illustrated, August 16, 1954, showing Milwaukee Braves star Eddie Mathews at bat in Milwaukee County Stadium. ...

Kim had never had a 15-round bout before. He had been to round 12 only two times before his deadly last bout. In contrast, Mancini was much more experienced at the time. He had fought 15-round bouts three times, went on to round 14 once more. Mancini also had won a 12-round bout with another excellent southpaw boxer Jose Luis Ramirez (71-3-0 at that time, 102-9-0 career record). Kim compiled a record of 17 wins with 2 losses and 1 draw. 8 of Kim's wins were knockouts. José Luis Ramírez (born circa 1960) is a Mexican national who was a boxer and a two time world Lightweight champion. ... A boxer is knocked down and receives the 10-count. ...

The aftermath

Mancini went through a period of reflection, as he blamed himself for Kim's death. After friends helped him by telling him that it was just an accident, Mancini was able to go on with his career but Kim's death would always haunt him. Kim's mother would take her own life four months after the fight. And, the bout's referee, Richard Greene, committed suicide July 1, 1983. Referee for match between Ray Mancini and Duk Koo Kim, the famous fight where Duk Koo Kim lost his life. ... Suicide (Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of intentionally taking ones own life. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Boxing rule changes

Many reforms in boxing took place after this fight. The WBC, which was not the fight's sanctioning organization, was the first one to step up and admit, during their annual convention of 1982, that many rules and areas concerning fighter's medical care before fights needed to be changed to improve a fighter's chance of surviving a fight. WBC president Jose Sulaiman declared that, immediately after the Mancini-Kim bout, the WBC and their medical advisors had conducted a study that revealed that most fighters get injured more severely during rounds 13, 14 and 15, so the organization immediately decided to reduce the number of rounds in their championship bouts from 15 to 12. WBC logo mark “WBC” redirects here. ... José Sulaiman (* ) Born May 30, 1931 in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico) is a Mexican boxing official. ...

The WBA and the IBF followed the WBC in 1987. When the WBO was formed in 1988, they immediately began operating with 12-round world championship bouts. The International Boxing Federation, or IBF, is one of many organizations which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC, WBO, and a dozen or so others. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is one of the sanctioning organizations currently recognizing world boxing champions. ...

Ironically, after the new rule, the WBC and WBA each stripped fighters of their championships for 15-round bouts when the new rules called for 12 rounds.

Apart from the round reduction, the years after Kim's death would bring such new implements on a fighter's check up before fights as electrocardiograms, brain tests, lung tests and other medical tests. As one boxing leader put it, "A fighter's check-ups before fights used to consist of blood pressure and heartbeat checks before 1982. Not anymore." “QRS” redirects here. ...

Many state and national federations also made reforms with fighter safety by implementing a mandatory eight count, where once a fighter was knocked down, the referee would give a count of eight seconds to the fallen fighter, regardless of the downed fighter rising immediately.

Some states also adopted the standing eight count, where a fighter in peril and on the ropes, with a potential knockdown looming, may be charged with a knockdown at the referee's discretion, with the opponent being asked to appear at the neutral corner as if an actual knockdown occurred, and the referee giving the "downed" fighter the mandatory eight count. A standing eight count is a boxing judgment call made by a referee during a bout. ...

Others also implemented the three knockdown rule, which states when a fighter is knocked down three times in a single round, it is a technical knockout and the fight ends.

Popular renditions

The story of Kim's life was taken to the big screen in his native South Korea: Director Kwak Kyung Taek directed the movie named Champion, and actor Yu Oh Seong starred as the fallen boxer. Champion is a 2002 South Korean film about Duk Koo Kim, a South Korean boxer who was killed in a highly publicized bout against Ray Mancini in 1982. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ...

Mark Kozelek of Red House Painters has recorded several versions of a song named for Kim, most recently a version on the Sun Kil Moon album Ghosts Of The Great Highway. It happens to be 14 minutes long, the number of rounds he lasted in his final bout. Mark Kozelek (born January 29, 1967 in Massillon, Ohio) is an American singer/songwriter and frontman of Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters. ... Red House Painters is an alternative rock group formed in 1989 in San Francisco by singer/songwriter Mark Kozelek. ... Sun Kil Moon is the current project of singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek, best known for his previous band, Red House Painters. ... Ghosts of the Great Highway is the 2003 debut album by San Francisco quartet Sun Kil Moon, led by Red House Painters founder Mark Kozelek, who composed all of the lyrics and music on this album. ...

Kim is mentioned in a Warren Zevon song, titled "Boom Boom Mancini," on the 1987 album Sentimental Hygiene. Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock and roll musician and songwriter. ... Sentimental Hygiene is an album by rock singer/songwriter Warren Zevon, released in 1987. ...

See also

• List of Korea-related topics

This is a list of Wikipedia articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. ...

External links

• Career Record
• Champion (IMDB)
• Film Review: Champion (in Korean)
• Film Review: Champion (in Korean and Simplified Chinese)
• Duk Koo Kim: The Sacrifice