Overview

Seán Mannion was once ranked the #1 US light middleweight boxer and in 1984 he fought Mike McCallum for the world title, only to fall just short of his dreams. Featuring exclusive interviews with Mannion, this book provides an inside perspective on his boxing career, 1980s Boston, and his present search for purpose outside the ring. In 1977, looking to fulfill a dream as a pro boxer, 17-year-old Sean Mannion flew into Boston from Ireland, straight into a world of gun smugglers, drug dealers, and the world’s best boxers. By 1983, Mannion was ranked the number one US light middleweight boxer. In The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down: The Life of Boxer Seán Mannion, Rónán Mac Con Iomaire recounts Mannion’s struggles and triumphs in and out of the ring. Despite dubious management and the attention of the Boston Irish Mafia, Mannion quickly climbed his way up from the lower rungs of one of the most competitive weight divisions in boxing history. Mac Con Iomaire tells the tales behind Mannion’s many fights—including his challenge for the world title in 1984 against Mike McCallum—and his life after boxing, working construction and fighting the alcoholism that haunted him in the past. More than 40 years after he first arrived in the US, Mannion now looks for a new purpose outside the ring. The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down is not just about a struggling boxer; it’s a personal story that also intersects with famous boxers, well-known figures of organized crime, and several pivotal moments in history. Featuring exclusive interviews with Mannion, as well as individuals such as Micky Ward, Pat Nee, Martin Walsh, and Kevin Cullen, this book provides an inside perspective on the boxer, the fighting culture of his era, and on 1980s South Boston.

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9781538110607

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Reviews

Perhaps more than most athletes, boxers tend to have dramatic and convoluted backstories. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Irish-born Sea n Mannion had a long, tempestuous ring career. He won 42 fights, lost 12, and had 1 draw. Twice he battled for the light middleweight title, and twice he lost. During his career, he fought in Madison Square Garden and the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris as well as in tank towns and other venues across the US and Europe. Moving from Ireland to Boston as a teenager, he became the prototype of a Boston tough, ready at any moment to slug it out. As interesting as his time in the ring is, his time outside the ropes is even more fascinating. Famed fighter Mickey Ward said, Sean, when he trained, trained his ass off, but he liked to have a few drinks. A classic understatement. Mannion had more than a few drinks. His life touched the worlds of gun-running and drug-dealing as well as the Boston Irish Mafia. The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down is a page-turner, a sports story that at its heart is a human tale of struggle and survival. Recommended. * CHOICE * For fellow Irishman Ronan Mac Con Iomaire, his biographer, Mannion deserves a second chance for the public to respect the fighter he was, and honor the man he is. The man who was never knocked down is still standing. . . . Readers will be fascinated by the episode when Mannion had to lose nine pounds in a day to make the welterweight requirement, or forfeit the fight. Mannion got through that ordeal, as he did through every challenge in the sport of boxing - except winning the title, champion. * Boxing Over Broadway * The book is beautifully written, unerringly researched, vividly told and utterly gripping from start to finish. There are no short-cuts or sweeping generalisations; this is a heroic story wonderfully told - something that's of equal credit to the author and boxer . . . It's a social history every bit as much as it is the sports book of the year. * Connacht Tribune * In The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down, Ronan Mac Con Iomaire has captured Sean Mannion's essence, which is nestled in the bogs of Connemara, the Irish-speaking region in Galway that spawned him. Mannion's story is not so much about talent squandered, about how surrounding himself with better people would have given him a better chance to be an enduring world champion. It's about a man who stayed true to his roots, his language, his culture, his family and, ultimately, his soul. It is satisfyingly life-affirming. -- Kevin Cullen, columnist and former Dublin bureau chief for The Boston Globe Sean Mannion was a great fighter and an even greater person. This book captures the incredible story of a proud Irishman and a proud Ros Muc man. A man with a granite chin and a heart of gold. -- Micky Ward, former WBA light welterweight world champion, immortalized in the Academy Award-winning movie, The Fighter

Perhaps more than most athletes, boxers tend to have dramatic and convoluted backstories. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Irish-born Seán Mannion had a long, tempestuous ring career. He won 42 fights, lost 12, and had 1 draw. Twice he battled for the light middleweight title, and twice he lost. During his career, he fought in Madison Square Garden and the Cirque d’Hiver in Paris as well as in tank towns and other venues across the US and Europe. Moving from Ireland to Boston as a teenager, he became the prototype of a Boston tough, ready at any moment to slug it out. As interesting as his time in the ring is, his time outside the ropes is even more fascinating. Famed fighter Mickey Ward said, “Sean, when he trained, trained his ass off, but he liked to have a few drinks.” A classic understatement. Mannion had more than a few drinks. His life touched the worlds of gun-running and drug-dealing as well as the Boston Irish Mafia. The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down is a page-turner, a sports story that at its heart is a human tale of struggle and survival. Recommended. * CHOICE * For fellow Irishman Ronan Mac Con Iomaire, his biographer, Mannion deserves a second chance for the public to respect the fighter he was, and honor the man he is. The man who was never knocked down is still standing. . . . Readers will be fascinated by the episode when Mannion had to lose nine pounds in a day to make the welterweight requirement, or forfeit the fight. Mannion got through that ordeal, as he did through every challenge in the sport of boxing – except winning the title, champion. * Boxing Over Broadway * In The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down, Rónán Mac Con Iomaire has captured Sean Mannion’s essence, which is nestled in the bogs of Connemara, the Irish-speaking region in Galway that spawned him. Mannion’s story is not so much about talent squandered, about how surrounding himself with better people would have given him a better chance to be an enduring world champion. It’s about a man who stayed true to his roots, his language, his culture, his family and, ultimately, his soul. It is satisfyingly life-affirming. -- Kevin Cullen, columnist and former Dublin bureau chief for The Boston Globe Sean Mannion was a great fighter and an even greater person. This book captures the incredible story of a proud Irishman and a proud Ros Muc man. A man with a granite chin and a heart of gold. -- Micky Ward, former WBA light welterweight world champion, immortalized in the Academy Award-winning movie, The Fighter

In The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down, Ronan Mac Con Iomaire has captured Sean Mannion's essence, which is nestled in the bogs of Connemara, the Irish-speaking region in Galway that spawned him. Mannion's story is not so much about talent squandered, about how surrounding himself with better people would have given him a better chance to be an enduring world champion. It's about a man who stayed true to his roots, his language, his culture, his family and, ultimately, his soul. It is satisfyingly life-affirming. -- Kevin Cullen, columnist and former Dublin bureau chief for The Boston Globe Sean Mannion was a great fighter and an even greater person. This book captures the incredible story of a proud Irishman and a proud Ros Muc man. A man with a granite chin and a heart of gold. -- Micky Ward

In The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down, Ronan Mac Con Iomaire has captured Sean Mannion's essence, which is nestled in the bogs of Connemara, the Irish-speaking region in Galway that spawned him. Mannion's story is not so much about talent squandered, about how surrounding himself with better people would have given him a better chance to be an enduring world champion. It's about a man who stayed true to his roots, his language, his culture, his family and, ultimately, his soul. It is satisfyingly life-affirming.--Kevin Cullen, columnist and former Dublin bureau chief for The Boston Globe

Author Information

Rónán Mac Con Iomaire is an award-winning author and broadcaster and is Group Head, Irish Language, at RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster. He is associate producer of Rocky Ros Muc, the feature-length documentary film about the life of Séan Mannion. Rónán has won a number of awards for his journalism, and in 2013 he was named the New Writer of the Year at the Oireachtas Literary Awards. He is a contributor to Scéal Scéil (Cois Life, 2014), a collection of essays on modern Irish journalism.

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