Ray Mancini vs Ernesto Espana

Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini made the first defence of his World Boxing Association lightweight championship by stopping Ernesto España at 2min 59sec of the sixth round at Mollenkopf Stadium in Warren, Ohio, on July 24, 1982. Referee Stanley Christodoulou intervened as the Venezuelan challenger was being struck repeatedly against the ropes, almost simultaneously with the sounding of the bell and the throwing of a towel from España’s corner. Mancini had been in complete command on the official cards after five rounds. Christodoulou and judge Les Muller each had him ahead 50–45, while Yong Soo Chung scored the contest 50–46. Mancini weighed 135lb and España 134lb.

The open-air promotion was staged only a few miles from Mancini’s home city of Youngstown and drew approximately 20,000 spectators, many of whom had paid up to $50 despite severe unemployment in the Mahoning Valley. Mancini had won the championship eleven weeks earlier by stopping Arturo Frias in the first round in Las Vegas. España, a former WBA champion and the organisation’s leading contender, had accepted step-aside money to permit that contest on the understanding that he would challenge the winner. The setting therefore provided Mancini with the opportunity to make his first defence before the people who had followed his rise from local prospect to one of the most prominent young fighters in the United States.

España held marked advantages in height and reach, standing close to 5ft 10in against Mancini’s 5ft 6in. Mancini consequently resisted the temptation to charge forward in the manner which had overwhelmed Frias. His plan was to parry or slip España’s long left jab, answer immediately with his own and then work with hooks once the challenger’s guard had been lifted. The method succeeded from the opening round. España attempted to establish the distance behind the jab, but Mancini read the punch quickly, picked it off with his right glove and sent his own left hand straight through the centre. He followed with hooks to the ribs and head before moving close enough to deny España room for a full reply.

The same pattern continued through the second round. Mancini was landing approximately twice as often as the challenger and varied his work sufficiently to prevent España from protecting one area. He jabbed upward towards the taller man’s face, then bent his knees and drove the left hook into the body. A cut above Mancini’s left eye, first opened in the Frias fight, began to separate again, and a small mark appeared beneath his right eye. España could not take advantage because he was seldom able to land more than a single punch before the champion answered. Mancini’s pace was high but controlled, the result of an unusually severe training programme devised to enable him to maintain continuous pressure without losing his balance or accuracy.

España had his best success late in the third round. As Mancini came up from a weave, the challenger caught him with a chopping right hand which staggered him. The champion recovered at once, snapping España’s head back with the jab and going immediately to the body. The incident showed that España still carried sufficient force to punish a careless entry, but he could not build upon it. Mancini remained the busier and more precise fighter, and by the fourth he had satisfied himself that the same right hand no longer carried the earlier effect.

Mancini then increased the pressure. He placed a left hook into España’s body and a right to the temple, after which he rested his head against the challenger’s chest and delivered a succession of hooks to the jaw. España attempted to smile through the attack but was being driven backwards and was unable to answer with equal force. Seven hooks landed near the end of the fourth round. Christodoulou had already begun moving towards the fighters in anticipation of the bell, which was faint and may have sounded late, as España was guided towards his corner. The challenger remained upright, but his defence had become increasingly passive.

The fifth round was still more one-sided. Mancini twice landed sequences of ten or more unanswered punches. España held and clutched whenever he could, attempting to smother the champion’s work and gain enough time to recover, but Mancini continued striking around and between his arms. As the round ended, the champion looked back towards España’s corner to see whether the challenger would reach his stool. España did so, though his legs were heavy and his reactions had slowed. At that stage the issue was no longer whether Mancini was ahead, but whether España could remain standing for the full championship distance.

More than two minutes of the sixth had passed when Mancini began the final attack with an overhand right. España’s knees buckled near his own corner. Mancini followed with both hands, driving him across the ring until he reached a neutral corner. The challenger attempted to hold but could not prevent the champion from freeing his arms and continuing the assault. Mancini delivered a long series of hooks, reported as eighteen punches in the final barrage, while España remained almost stationary against the ropes. Christodoulou stepped between them at 2min 59sec. The referee later said that España’s neck had relaxed, his eyes were glazed and he had become virtually defenceless. España’s corner offered no protest and was throwing in the towel at approximately the same moment.

The precise relationship between the stoppage and the bell caused some discussion. The official time placed the finish one second before the end of the round, but later accounts reported that several of Mancini’s final punches were delivered after the bell had sounded. Christodoulou said he did not hear it, while Mancini gave conflicting answers when asked whether he had. Whatever the timing of the last blows, España was already badly hurt and incapable of protecting himself adequately. The referee’s decision to end the contest was justified by the challenger’s condition, although the continuation of the attack beyond the bell, if heard, should not be overlooked.

Mancini’s purse was guaranteed at $200,000, together with a share of the live gate and overseas television receipts which could raise his earnings considerably. España received $250,000, the largest purse of his career, and announced his retirement after the defeat, although he later returned to the ring. Mancini’s record advanced to 24 victories and one defeat, with 19 wins inside the distance. The performance differed markedly from the short, violent championship victory over Frias. Against the taller and more experienced España, he had relied first upon the jab, body punching and calculated pressure, then increased the volume only after the challenger’s resistance had been reduced. It was a comprehensive defence before his home-region support and one of the most controlled displays of Mancini’s early championship career.