YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A new feature film will reexamine the tragic 1982 title bout between boxers Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and Duk Koo Kim.

The film by South Korean director David Boo, titled “Boom,” has a $50 million budget and will likely begin shooting in the spring.

It will differ from earlier proposed film treatments by revealing the lives of both fighters – not just Mancini’s.

Mancini was a popular 21-year-old lightweight world champion from a middle-class family in Youngstown. Kim was the hardscrabble and pugnacious Asian champ who was obsessed with taking his title.

Kim would die shortly after that Las Vegas fight  from the injuries he suffered in the ring. The tragedy would roil the lives of his family, members of the boxing world and of course, Mancini.

Boo’s film will focus on the fight, with flashbacks that reveal the very different lives of the two fighters.

Mancini’s motivation was to win the title for his father, a prize fighter whose career was stunted by his military service. Kim wanted to tear away the poverty and abuse that life had dealt him.

Acclaimed South Korean actor Byun Yo-han has agreed to play the role of Kim.

Tom Holland, who plays the title role in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” is being pursued – so far with no luck – to play Mancini.

Mancini is a producer of “Boom.” He will be involved in casting and vows to be on the set every day to make sure the story is properly told.

The story remains a personal and painful part of Mancini’s life, and he has turned down past requests from major American directors who wanted to turn the story into a film.

When Mancini was first approached by Boo  two years ago, he told him he had no interest in the film.

His story had already been told in the 2013 documentary “The Good Son: The Life of Ray ‘Boom Boom’ Mancini.” That excellent film explored the tragic Kim fight and Mancini’s meeting with the late fighter’s son in Korea many years later. It’s told mainly through Mancini’s perspective.

“I told [Boo] that I am flattered but there was no need to do it because ‘The Good Son’ was as good as it could get,” Mancini said. “He said, ‘Mr. Mancini, you’ve got to understand that Kim is very beloved in Korea. And so are you.”

He added that he plans to make the movie without Mancini’s participation, but sincerely wanted it.

It was during that meeting that Mancini grasped what Boo was planning and agreed to get involved.

Kim was the Oriental and Pacific Federation champion at the time of his death and a monumental figure in Asia. Boo’s movie would look at his life as much as Mancini’s.

I said, “Oh man, I get it, I get it,” Mancini recalled. “He really sold me on himself and his vision.”

Mancini is ready to correct those who will say he’s trying to profit from the tragedy.

“It’s not that,” he said. “I’m involved because if it’s going to be told, it’s got to be told right. It’s got to be told correctly.”

The former champ said he was warmly welcomed by the Korean people during his visits there, and he wants Kim to get the respect he deserves.

Boo now lives in California but is well-known in South Korea. Mancini has become familiar with his work and is impressed. “He’s very methodical, and he’s very precise in what he wants,” he said. “He’s going to be the next big thing, and not just in Korea but in America.”

Mancini said Boo’s idea is better than those that were offered by American directors.

“The big studios came to me, and I was not interested because the story they wanted to tell was not the story,” he said. They were more interested in making a typical boxing movie. David Boo wants to tell it from a Korean point of view, and that’s what intrigued me. It had to be a Korean making this movie.”

The film will be shot in five cities – Youngstown, Seoul, New York, Las Vegas and California – over an eight-month period beginning in spring.

The filmmakers are now focused on finding the perfect actor to play Mancini, and Holland is their first choice.

The British actor – star of the blockbuster “Spider-Man” film series – had said in a podcast that he admires boxers and wants to play one in a boxing film.

But attempts to reach the star have been rebuffed so far.

Mancini believes it’s because Boo is not so well-known in American film circles, and they want Holland to make a boxing film with a larger budget and bigger financial potential.

Sean Frankenheimer, the film’s lead producer, told BoxingScene magazine that Holland shares a lot of physical characteristics with Mancini and has great talent. “He’s outwardly said he wants to do a boxing film. … This, to me, is the last great boxing film or biopic available.”

Mancini said his group is getting “stiffed” by Holland’s team, but he hopes the actor catches wind of the film and considers the role.

If Holland can’t be obtained, a few other top-tier actors have also been tossed into the conversation.

Two of them – like Holland – are from the United Kingdom or Ireland: Taron Egerton (“Elton John,” 2019) and Barry Keoghan (“Dunkirk,” 2017).

American actor Jeremy Allen White (“Deliver Me from Nowhere,” 2025; and Hulu’s “The Bear”) has also been mentioned.

Pictured at top: Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini.