From Mark Kriegel, the bestselling author of Namath and Pistol comes THE GOOD SON: The Life of Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, the definitive biography that uncovers the full story of Ray’s quest for redemption—first for his father and then for himself.
On November 13, 1982 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, six short months after the 21-year-old Ray claimed that world championship title he had promised his father, he got the chance to showcase his talents on a national stage. But during this fight, broadcast on network television, Ray’s challenger, Duk Koo Kim of Korea, went down in the 14th round—and died within days. His death haunted Ray, as did the news that Kim’s despairing mother took her own life back in Korea shortly thereafter. These events ruined Ray’s carefully-crafted public image and sent him into a deep depression—haunted by thoughts of Kim, and the fate of his son growing up fatherless in Korea. In reporting this book, Kriegel traveled throughout Korea to uncover Kim’s story and find his son, 30 years later. Please find more information below.
In the 1980s, Ray Mancini was a national hero; the real-life Rocky who rose from the gritty streets of Youngstown, Ohio to become boxing’s All-American Boy. Growing up in the shadow of his father—whose own boxing career was tragically cut short by injuries sustained in WWII—Ray vowed to win the world championship title and national glory that Lenny, the original Boom Boom, had missed out on. But another tragedy awaited the younger Mancini—this time in the ring itself.
A story of loss and redemption and the bonds between fathers and sons, THE GOOD SON is more than an engrossing biography. The narrative takes readers from the sweaty fight gyms of 1940s Brooklyn to the glamorous, if corrupt, televised fights of the 1980s, tracing the arcs of the very different careers of the Mancini men while depicting their personal relationships with the ring. And as Kriegel tracks the Mancini and Kim families across generations and continents, his vivid, deep reporting sheds light on the true battles of their lives and legacies. We hope you will plan prominent review/feature coverage for this intimate account of a remarkable fighter and his epic life.
There will also be a “The Good Son” book tour lasting from mid-September through early October, hitting such cities as New York, Chicago and Las Vegas amongst about a dozen total stops.
