Citations

[Talking about Duk-Koo Kim]: He died once, and I felt I was dying every day, when you're a fighter, you develop a respect for your opponent and I had all the respect in the world for this guy. I just wanted to win the fight. I never wanted to see him hurt. It was devastating.

[Talking about Duk-Koo Kim]: The rest of my life, I'm not just Ray Mancini, I'm Ray Mancini, the guy who killed Duk Koo Kim. You never escape that. You wonder what it would have been like for the both of us if I had quit or if he had quit and this hadn't happened.I have done a lot of praying, a lot of thinking. I'm never really going to know why it happened. No one will. He was a tough kid. Too tough, really. Too tough.

[Talking about his fight with Duk-Koo Kim]: I wish I could say it was a classic moment but it wasn't in my eyes because Kim died and after his death I simply lost all passion for the sport. I really did. It was eerie because Kim had taped to his door a sign that read: Kill or Be Killed. I just brought closure to that situation last year (May, 2002). I visited Korea to support a film about the life of Du Koo Kim. I was apprehensive, to be honest, but I couldn't believe what happened. The Koreans treated me like a national hero. They treated me with love and respect. You see, in their eyes, Du Koo Kim died a warrior, a hero. He died honorably for something he believed in, something he defended. I was able to explain my situation and my feelings. There was no animosity toward me, what-so-ever. It was rewarding because my kids are taunted sometimes by their classmates' parents.