Some guys are born to dance. Others are born to sing.

And still others are born to make ridiculous cure-all suggestions during a global pandemic.

OK… that last part was sarcastic. Honest.

But Ray Mancini was born to fight.

Now nearly two months birthday No. 59, the affable Ohioan is perhaps best known to a current generation of ring fans as an analyst on Premier Boxing Champions shows on Fox.

To those born a decade or two earlier, however, his identity was alliteratively violent.

“Boom Boom.”

Mancini was a popular staple of fight weekends on network TV in the 1980s, building a brand and a following with a series of appearances that yielded a lightweight championship, a career’s worth of highlights and, five years ago this summer, a plaque at the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

He was stopped in 14 rounds by Alexis Arguello in a valiant try for the WBC’s 135-pound title in 1981, but dethroned WBA champ Arturo Frias in a memorable one-round brawl just seven months later.

Four straight defenses followed – all inside the distance, totaling 32 rounds – before he was upset by Livingstone Bramble (TKO 14) in Buffalo in 1984, a surprise followed by a spirited but unsuccessful challenge (UD 15) in a rematch eight months later in Reno.

The second straight loss drove Mancini into a four-year hiatus before he returned to drop a split 12-round nod to long-time rival Hector Camacho at 140 in 1989. Another three years on the shelf preceded the final bout of his career – a seventh-round TKO loss – against Greg Haugen in 1992.

In all, Mancini won 29 of 34 bouts as a pro, picked up 23 knockouts and created an impression that lasted long enough to inspire screenwriters, musicians and authors. But it all started with a determined kid from the hardscrabble city of Youngstown, born into a fighting family and surrounded by rough-hewn peers with a similar desire for bigger things.

“The amateur boxing scene in Youngstown, at that time, was as big as it could get,” Mancini told Boxing Scene. “We had so many terrific fighters and I just wanted to be a part of it. I used to go with my father, for years, to championship night of the Youngstown Golden Gloves. I was 7 or 8 and I remember the smell of the fieldhouse so vividly. The smell of that popcorn is in my head whenever I think of that place.

“Whenever I drive by it, I have a sense memory moment of that popcorn. There were so many gyms during that time, in all parts of town. And they bred a lot of good fighters, some of us that went on to bigger heights and fame. There were so many good fighters but some special ones that you knew could go places if they were handled correctly or had a more-disciplined lifestyle. Youngstown always had a very good amateur scene for years, up until the early ’90s.”

Boxing Scene connected with Mancini to talk about his earliest days in the ring, what lessons carried over from the amateurs to the pros and whether he still longs for his days of championship glory.

BoxingScene.com: You had 50 amateur fights and accomplished quite a bit on that level in that short amount of time. Do you still have any recollection of your first amateur fight? Not so much the opponent or the venue, but what the feeling was like when you climbed in the ring and knew it was for real for the first time?

Ray Mancini: Yes, I remember quite a bit of it. It was at Cleveland’s Navy Park Gym. I remember it was in April and I remember how nervous I was to just get in there and go to work after training for so long and so hard. I remember when it was my turn to fight, the walk, or in this case I think I almost ran to the ring. I remember entering the ring and just bouncing around to get acclimated to everything. After the introductions, I remember waiting for that bell to ring to get started. And when it did ring, I ran across the ring and started attacking right away.

I was connecting with body shots, but I was getting wild with the headshots. Eventually I landed some, I hurt my opponent, had him in the corner up against the ropes, banging away. I believe I dropped him and when he got up, he was unsteady against the ropes, so the referee stopped the fight. I believe it was thirty-something seconds of the first round, my first fight, my first win and my first stoppage. I remember the cheers from the crowd and such a euphoric feeling that it was, and I knew then I was on the road to my lifelong dream of winning the title.               
                  
BoxingScene.com: Your style was more suited to the pro game, but what sorts of benefits did you get from your amateur boxing experience? Was there anything you experienced as an amateur or learned as an amateur that you were able to draw upon once you became a professional fighter?

Mancini: I gained a great many benefits from my amateur career. Experience is everything in the amateurs and having been able to travel and fight many different guys from all over the country, with different styles and experience, only gave me more confidence that I could succeed. You learn how to channel your emotions and not let them overtake you and drain you. You learn, through experience, how to use the nervous energy as strength, to keep you sharp and aware, instead of letting it sap your strength. How to keep your composure when you get stung by a punch and not get ragged. These are the things that you learn in the amateurs, that you grow upon and use in the pros.            
                    
BoxingScene.com: Seems like amateur boxing used to be a far more significant part of the growth process for elite boxers. Used to be on network TV on the weekends and boxing in the Olympics was always a huge deal. Do you agree that it’s not what it used to be? And if so, why do you think its spotlight status has worn off?

Mancini: For sure, the amateur program is not what it used to be in the ’70s or early ’80s. Our amateur program has become second rate. It’s terrible now, hard to watch and we are not developing any future stars. After the ’76 Olympics, we started stressing more of a boxing style that did not help or benefit fighters like me. They stressed that a jab that landed and a knockdown were both one point. They said that the idea was to stress more boxing and less slugging. That’s great if everyone was Ray Leonard or Howard Davis, but guys with my style were at a disadvantage right from the start.

From that point on, I believe that we did a disservice to our amateur program and tried to make boxers of those who didn’t have that natural style. To this day, most guys coming out of the amateurs can’t make the transition to the pros because they don’t know how to change to a pro style. Remember, the pro game is the hurting game and if you don’t know how to make that transition you will not be successful and, more than likely, get hurt.                    
                   
BoxingScene.com: Other than paychecks, what do you think is the main difference between amateur and pro fighting? Some good pros had forgettable amateur careers. Some high-end amateurs never made a splash as pros. Why do you think some guys wildly successful on one side but not the other?

Mancini: A lot of the good amateurs can’t or don’t make the transition to the pro game and take beatings in the gym as well as their fights. They don’t learn the art of infighting, and it is an art when done correctly. In fact, I see very few pros do it anymore. They tie up their opponent or allow themselves to get tied up and wait for the referee to break it up. They forget that as long as you have one hand free you can still punch. It also catches the eyes of the judges when one guy is still punching and the other is not.                   
                     
BoxingScene.com: You’re obviously still close to the game as a TV guy and you spend a lot of time around fighters. Does that cure the competitive itch? What do you miss most about your experience in boxing? Training, preparing, the fights themselves? What memories come back the most often when you reminisce?

Mancini: I enjoy being around the game because I’m a fight fan, first and foremost and a lover of fighters. I appreciate what they do or are trying to do with their lives. But I don’t ever get that itch or wish I was back in there doing it. I had a good run for a while and I’m proud of my accomplishments but it’s a young man’s sport. And it should be done when you’re young and not when you’re getting a little long in the tooth.

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This week’s title-fight schedule:

No title fights scheduled.

Last week's picks: None
2020 picks record: 14-3 (82.3 percent)
Overall picks record: 1,130-368 (75.4 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.