![\"Vinny](\"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Vinny-P-231x300.jpg\")
<\/a>shots. Mancini bores his way inside and pounds away at the body and head of Pazienza in round five. Mancini forces Pazienza to the ropes but Vinny fights his way off with wicked combinations. The fighters trade with impunity for the rest of the round. Now, it\u2019s Pazienza who is cut over the right eye as he returns to the corner.<\/p>\nThe fighters continue to trade on the inside in round 6 with Mancini having the better of the action. His punches are simply harder than those of the Pazmanian Devil. The blood is flowing freely from Vinny\u2019s right eye as the round comes to a close. Between rounds, Lou Duva implores Pazienza to stick to the fight plan and box. Paz does his best to comply in round seven but Mancini is relentless. However, he gets greedy and walks directly into a Pazienza right hand. Mancini is hurt. Vinny capitalizes landing accurate combinations over the remainder of the round. By the 8th, Mancini is cut over his right eye as well as his left. Pazienza takes advantage, staying out of Mancini\u2019s punching range and landing crisp blows from the outside.<\/p>\n
Paz continues to work effectively on the outside as Mancini becomes increasingly frustrated in round 9. Mancini\u2019s left eye is bleeding profusely and he is having difficulty seeing the right hands from Pazienza coming. By the 10th, Vinny\u2019s confidence is soaring and he resorts to clowning, sticking his tongue and chin out at Mancini. He caps off the round with a crisp left, right combination to Boom Boom\u2019s chin. An angry Mancini comes out for round 11 and lands a vicious left hook to the liver. Pazienza doubles over and is forced to hold while Boom Boom pounds on his arms. Mancini gains punching room and lands a smashing left, right combination to the head of Pazienza. Vinny fires back and lands a right which sends sweat flying off Boom Boom\u2019s head. By the end of the round, Pazienza\u2019s right eye is busted wide open and both men are now a bloody mess.<\/p>\n
By round 12 Pazienza is tiring while Boom Boom is invigorated. Mancini lands a left hook which sends Vinny reeling towards the ropes. Mancini batters him to the body while Pazienza tries desperately to hold. A right from Boom Boom buckles the Pazmanian Devil\u2019s knees again as the round comes to a close. As the 13th round begins, Pazienza is simply too exhausted to move and forced to engage Mancini in trench warfare. Boom Boom dominates the first minute of the round. However, Pazienza responds with a wicked combination that hurts Mancini. He then lands a left hook which buckles Boom Boom\u2019s knees. Now it is Mancini that is forced to hold. The ebb and flow of this fight is tremendous and the crowd roars in approval as the bell rings.<\/p>\n
The action slows over the first half of the 14th round as both men, as well as the crowd, seem to be catching their breath for the stretch drive. Mancini lands a hard right to the body with one minute remaining and follows up with a left hook that rocks Pazienza. Vinny tries to fire back but his punches are lacking in steam. Mancini forces him to the ropes and pummels him to the head and body. An exhausted Pazmanian Devil returns to his corner.<\/p>\n
The two fighters meet in the center of the ring at the start of round 15. Pazienza summons all his remaining energy to mount a rally over the first minute of the round. He staggers Mancini with a tremendous right. However, as Paz tries to pursue, he walks into a left, right combination that rocks him. Both men are forced to hold as the clock moves under 1 minute remaining. With 30 seconds left, it is Mancini who is able to dig down landing a tremendous right which sends Pazienza reeling across the ring. He pummels a defenseless Pazienza along the ropes, looking to close the show. However, Vinny shows great courage and manages to survive until the final bell. This fight will go to the scorecards.
\nRing announcer Michael Buffer prepares to read the scorecards:<\/p>\n
Judge Harold Letterman scores 143-142 Mancini<\/strong><\/em>
\n Judge Arthur Lurie scores 144-142 Pazienza<\/strong><\/em>
\n Judge Chuck Hassett scores 144-142 for the winner by split decision\u2026\u2026\u2026.Ray \u201cBoom Boom\u201d Mancini<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nHBO\u2019s Larry Merchant conduct the post-fight interviews.<\/p>\n
Mancini says: \u201cWow! Other than Arguello, this was the toughest fight of my career. This guy just didn\u2019t back down and I have a lot of respect for him. I thank God that I was able to prevail in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pazienza responds: \u201cI felt like I won the fight but I can\u2019t take anything away from Mancini. He\u2019s a tough guy and a great competitor. We gave the crowd their money\u2019s worth tonight and I\u2019d love a rematch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both men are sent to Mass General Hospital after a spectacular night of Lightweight mayhem.<\/p>\n
Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our next mythical matchup features a battle of two exciting and popular Lightweights from the 1980\u2019s as Boom Boom squares off against the Pazmanian Devil. Mancini was one of the most popular fighters of the early 1980\u2019s, a swarming, high volume puncher who engaged in numerous wars over the course of his career. He emerged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[14147],"class_list":["post-56764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-ray-mancini-vs-vinny-pazienza-mythical-matchups"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56764\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}