HOBART 13 bonus: Tod Goldberg

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"When They Let Them Bleed" extra
by Tod Goldberg

In his essay "When They Let Them Bleed" about the golden age of boxing in the 1980s and the sudden death of Korean fighter Duk Koo Kim at the hands of Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, Tod Goldberg remembers the iconic boxers who once graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. Here are a few.

I was scared of Thomas Hearns when I was a kid, primarily because I loved Sugar Ray Leonard (who was portrayed as being just the best human being alive, though of course he was a coke addict and his profession was bashing people's skulls in) and Hearns was his mortal enemy. Nevertheless, this cover hung right over my bed for almost two years, primarily because Leonard had indeed won. What I like about the picture now is, of course, the headline: Better Pray, Sugar Ray.

Joe Frazier was already washed up by the time this photo was taken, but that didn't stop him from coming out of retirement later that year to fight Floyd Cummings, who'd only recently been released from prison for murder. His son, Marvis, was a legit contender for about five minutes, which is three minutes longer than he lasted against Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson. Combined. What I find fascinating about this photo now is how much more impressive Marvis looks. He's taller by a few inches, looks cut from steel (look at his shoulders), but has the same dead-eyed stare as his father.

I remember this issue being delivered to my house like it was yesterday. Our mail actually came directly into our house — we had a slot in our front door that the mail man would shove the mail through, which was an occasion of great joy for our dog Roxanne. She'd leap up and rip the mail from the postman's hand (and occasionally would, uhm, take a hunk or two from the postman, as I recall) and would go about attacking the mail like it was an intruder, which it was. (Do people still have mail slots like this? It seems inconceivable.) Anyway, Roxanne was particularly fond of attacking magazines, since it provided her ample opportunity to rip and shred to her heart's content, so my sister Linda and I would often wait for the mailman to arrive so as to keep our magazines out of Roxanne's jaws — neither Sports Illustrated or, in Linda's case, Tiger Beat were particularly much fun to read unless you could look at the photos and bite marks through Gerry Cooney or Rick Springfield just didn't appeal to either of us. On the day this was delivered, I actually got to the mail slot at the very same moment as Roxanne and we battled over the magazine. She ripped the back cover off the magazine and scurried off, leaving me with Gerry Cooney's sweaty mug. Poor Gerry Clooney. He had the indignity of being half-way decent and sounding (and looking) a bit like Rocky and thus, well, he was the Great White Hype for a while. That while ended when Larry Holmes beat the crap out of him.

This cover was one of my favorites and before writing my essay, I hadn't seen it in thirty years. It's a pretty dazzling photo, but what's interesting is that it actually shows the aftermath of a punch in a fairly clinical fashion. Look at the way Ernesto Espana's body is twisted and slack in places — his hips and legs, the odd placement of his arms, the twist of his head away from the rest of his body — and how Mancini is standing in perfect form. The look in Mancini's eyes is also amazing: he sees a huge opening to attack. Plus, check out Espana's socks. You just don't see boxers these days wearing striped tube socks anymore.

I suspect that if this fight happened today, they wouldn't use a photo from the moment before a fighter's death on the cover of the magazine. This is literally the punch that killed him and here it is for the world to see, frozen in place. But, again, it's a striking photo in terms of the raw imagery — look at the muscles in Mancini's legs and back, the coil in his arm. And, of course, look at Duk Koo Kim, fighting for his life. These poor, dumb kids, that's what I think now. One dead, one a killer...and for what?

(read Tod's essay on death and boxing in Hobart 13)

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All February, Hobart will update every weekday with new bonus material —
photo essays, deleted scenes, interviews, extra short-shorts, movies, excerpts, and other Hobart 13: LUCK.