Then All The Joy Turned To Sorrow. 1982 Sports Illustrated article about Ray Mancini vs. Duk-Koo Kim, the boxing match that ended Kim’s life and lead to more rigorous pre-fight checkups, 12-round fights, and the introduction of the standing eight count.
Kim then underwent 2¨? hours of brain surgery, performed by Dr. Lonnie Hammargren, a local neurosurgeon, who removed a 100-cc. blood clot from the right side of Kim’s brain. The clot, Dr. Hammargren said, was the result of a broken blood vessel and “due, in all probability, to one tremendous punch to the head.” Had the punch been part of the 39-blow bombardment Mancini had delivered in the opening 50 seconds of the 13th round? Was it the first of the final two rights in the 14th? Or the second? Or could the damage have been done not by Mancini’s fists but by Kim’s head hitting the canvas after the final blow? Could Kim’s brain have been damaged before the fight? “The hemorrhage was quite fresh,” the neurosurgeon said on Saturday night. “The trauma was caused by one punch.”