Remembering Alexis Argüello
“He was like a Swiss watch in everything he did. He was a chess player who was always two or three moves ahead of you…”
Alexis Argüello vs. Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini Revisited
Yesterday, Alexis Argüello would have turned 60. Instead, his absence is felt each day all over the world.
To many, yesterday should have been another day to celebrate what Alexis Argüello meant to boxing, his people, and his family. Another day to reminisce about the joy he brought so many people as a three-time world champ and mayor of Managua whose ultimate goal was to provide a voice for the poor people of Nicaragua. Another day to celebrate the man that he had become away from the ring.
Instead his people are forced to cling to memories. The memories always live on, and few can forget the good times when Argüello had reached the zenith of his sport. Although boxing critics and casual fans often recognize his bouts with Aaron Pryor as the fights which defined him, the one fight that helped secure both his legacy in and out of the ring was his title defense against a ferocious young lightweight from Youngstown, Ohio, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini (20-0). Mancini, 20, an immediate matinee idol and box-office hit, had it all: the looks, the indomitable straight-ahead boxing style, and the affable personality. When the WBC 135-pound title defense was confirmed for October 3, 1981, Mancini and manager Dave Wolf understood the ramifications: They were facing a legend.
Even casual boxing fans could recite the Hollywood storyline. Mancini was fighting for his father, Lenny Mancini, who missed his chance to fight for a world title; the touching narrative provided a unique backdrop. The pre-fight bluster was nonexistent. In typical Argüello style, the champ quickly disarmed Mancini during camp, and both fighters developed a mutual respect.
“When I watched his early fights I was impressed by his composure,” said Mancini. “He would go across the ring and shake the other guy’s hand and I had never seen that before, except for the old-timers. They were gentleman back then. He never got rattled, never. He always believed that he could weather the storm.
Moving forward and hurling punches, the exciting Mancini had become the new TV darling; Argüello, a veteran of 72 fights, was 15-1 in title fights, and gracefully closing out his Hall-of-Fame career. Supporters of the “Explosive Thin Man” realized that no puncher could beat Argüello over 15 rounds. Conversely, those who had seen Mancini take down Jose Luis Ramirez with ease felt the Ohio native could create problems for the WBC lightweight champ. In addition to the confidence Mancini gained from the win over Ramirez, he was buoyed by a strong training camp.
“You have to shape your training camp to match the style of your opponent. For my camp we brought in guys that were tall, had a long reach, just like Alexis,” Mancini recalled. “You know, guys with his physical style. We had a great training camp in the Catskills.”
At the height of his stardom, Argüello, who decisioned Jim Watt five months earlier for the 135-pound belt, didn’t take Mancini lightly. In fact, he recalled years later, “Even his look was hurting me. He was a tough kid. But I knew that after he passed 10 rounds, I had him in my pocket.”
Whatever Mancini did during camp worked, as he beat Argüello to the punch and opened a cut over the first 11 rounds. Despite losing rounds and falling behind on points, Argüello never panicked. He gave Mancini a look as if to say, “Son, I’ve been here so many times before.” Mancini knew it; anybody who knew Argüello acknowledged the inevitable. Mancini was a 12-round fighter; Argüello was a 15-round genius who precisely calculated each movement. Mancini rushed each punch and bombarded his opponent; Argüello carefully sapped your strength until he was ready to take you out. As a journalist later pointed out, “He was like a Swiss watch in everything he did. He was a chess player who was always two or three moves ahead of you.”
By the time the 14th round came around, Argüello settled into his comfort zone; at the same time Mancini came out of his.
“It was the perfect example of 15-round championship fights. If that was a 12-rounder, I would have won the fight,” said Mancini. “I was ahead on three cards going into the 13th round, and I would have fought that 12th round differently if that were the last round. In a 12-round fight, you have to pick up the pace a lot earlier. He would stalk, stalk, stalk, and set traps. And he knew when to turn it on.”
Mancini was ahead on one card (another judge had it even, one had it for Arguello) after 10 rounds. But then, as always, the “traps” had been set, and the real Argüello emerged. As his then-trainer Eddie Futch prophesied before the fight to a reporter, “It’s hard to hurry Alexis.” Less than four rounds later, it was over. Argüello stopped Mancini at 1:46 of the 14th round with a brutal barrage of punches. (At one point he pleaded with referee Tony Perez to stop the fight.)
Argüello went over, embraced the future champ and proceeded to remind him how much he appreciated the beautiful relationship he had with his father. The next day people remembered the gesture as much as they did the knockout. Years later, Mancini still talked about his opponent with that same reverence—and wouldn’t change a thing.
“Do I wish I waited to fight him later in my career? You can’t think like that…because I wouldn’t have learned what I did from that fight,” said Mancini. “It was a learning process and an honor to fight Alexis.”
Everyone who faced him felt the same way. An honor to fight him, a pleasure to have known him.