Lenny "Boom Boom" Mancini (12 July 1919 - 29 November 2003) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

. He is the father of Ray Mancini

Ray Mancini

Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini is a retired Italian-American boxer. He held the World Boxing Association lightweight championship from 1982 to 1984. Mancini inherited his distinctive nickname from his father, veteran boxer Lenny "Boom Boom" Mancini, who laid the foundation for his son's career...

, a former world champion boxer.

A native of Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

, Mancini began his professional career in 1937, trained by Hall of Fame

International Boxing Hall of Fame

The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...

 trainer Ray Arcel

Ray Arcel

Ray Arcel was a boxing trainer who was active from the 1920s through the 1980s. He trained eighteen world champions....

. In May 1941, he fought reigning NBA lightweight

Lightweight

Light-weight is a class of athletes in a particular sport, based on their weight.-Professional boxing:The lightweight division is over 130 pounds and up to 135 pounds weight class in the sport of boxing....

 champion Sammy Angott

Sammy Angott

Sammy Angott was born Samuel Engotti in Pennsylvania. He was known as a clever boxer who liked to follow up a clean punch by grabbing his opponent, causing him to be known as "The Clutch."...

 in a non-title fight, losing by a close split decision

Split decision

A split decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking in which two of the three judges score for the same fighter as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other...

. A subsequent win over Dave Castilloux established Mancini as the #1 contender for Angott's lightweight title.

However, shortly afterwards the United States entered World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and Mancini was drafted

Conscription in the United States

Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War...

, denying him the chance to fight for the championship. He started out in the Medical Corps

Medical Corps (United States Army)

The Medical Corps of the U.S. Army is a staff corps of the U.S. Army Medical Department consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an MD or a DO degree, at least one year of post-graduate clinical training, and a state medical license.The MC traces its earliest origins...

, but was eventually re-assigned as an infantryman. Mancini was wounded in Metz

Metz

Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

 in 1944 and awarded the Purple Heart

Purple Heart

The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...

.

After recovering from his injuries he resumed his boxing career, now in the welterweight

Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...

 and middleweight

Middleweight

Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...

 divisions. However, he was unable to establish himself and retired after consecutive points losses to Harry Hurst

Harry Hurst

Harry Hurst was a Canadian boxer who competed in the 1938 British Empire Games.He was born in Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....

 and Rocky Castellani

Rocky Castellani

Attilio N. "Rocky" Castellani was an American boxer. He was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, to Attilio Castellani and Rose Isopi Castellani , who later moved to Margate City, formerly South Atlantic City, in Atlantic County in eastern New Jersey...

, with a final record of 45-12-3.

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