Ray Mancini vs. Greg Haugen
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| Date | April 3, 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Reno, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | Vacant NABF light welterweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Haugen wins via seventh-round technical knockout | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ray Mancini vs. Greg Haugen, billed as Tough Guys Don't Dance, was a professional boxing match contested on April 3, 1993, for the vacant NABF light welterweight title.[1]
In late January 1992, it was announced that former lightweight champion Ray Mancini would face 2-division world champion Greg Haugen for the vacant NABF light welterweight title. Mancini was returning to boxing for a second time after a three-year retirement following a split decision loss to Héctor Camacho, which was proceeded by a four-year retirement. Haugen, was trying to get back in contention in the light welterweight division after having won and then lost the WBO light welterweight to Camacho the previous year.[2]
Despite his long layoff, Mancini predicted that he would score a knockout victory over Haugen. Mancini's prediction angered the verbose Haugen, who dismissed Mancini as a "punk" and promised "the more he runs his mouth, the worse he’ll be at the end of the fight. I want to punish him before I knock him out." Mancini, who had pursued an acting career after his first retirement in 1985, claimed that his return was about the "ultimate challenge" and "not about money." Haugen, however, dismissed Mancini's claims replying "Let’s face it, he needs the money. A challenge? Sure. The challenge is to keep from going broke."[3]
Haugen and Mancini agreed to $100,000 bet on the outcome, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission notified the fighters that such bets between fighters were not allowed. Instead, the commission allowed promoter Dan Goossen to rewrite the fighter's contracts which stated the winner would get $550,000 and the loser $450,000 instead of their original purse of $500,000.[4]
Goossen opted to air the fight independently on a pay-per-view service he called "GooseVision." Goossen's decision to go independent stemmed from the success of the Ray Mancini–Héctor Camacho, which was bought by roughly 300,000 homes. Veteran boxing commentator Al Bernstein and noted boxing sportswriter and historian Bert Sugar called the action with boxing writer Pedro Fernandez serving as the unofficial ringside scorer.[5]
Fight Details
Haugen dominated Mancini through six+ rounds. Mancini pressed forward, but appeared sluggish and struggled offensively and defensively as Haugen landed jabs and counterpunches almost at will, badly injuring Mancini's left eye which was swollen shut early in the early rounds and was frequently targeted by Haugen.
The end of the fight came during the final minute of the seventh round when Haugen countered a big Mancini right with a short right hand of his own. The blow sent Mancini Mancini down to his knees and into the ropes. Though able to beat referee Mills Lane's 10-count, Mancini was on wobbly legs and clearly hurt, causing Lane to stop the fight at 2:27 of the round.[6]
Aftermath
Immediately following his loss, Mancini announced his third and final retirement from boxing, stating to the media "I hope nobody is silly enough to ask if this is it. Yes it is."[7] Mancini's ended his career with a record of 29–5, having lost each of his final four fights.
