Half the fun of listening to Albert “Ice” Mancinelli describe Denver of the Roaring ’20s is watching the infectious grin creep across his face.
As his stories evolve, his eyes become part of the picture. He seems to be seeing those days all over again.
“My first fight was right over here on 34th, in front of Checker’s Nightclub,” Mancinelli recalled, providing a casual wave of the arm in the direction of the club. “I must have been about 10 years old. There were maybe 40 kids about my age in the neighborhood. I fought and beat them all. I owned the neighborhood.”
From the street corner rings, Mancinelli’s boxing career grew into a prolific string of bouts throughout the Rocky Mountain region. His scrapbooks tell a story of 115 victories in 120 fights and five AAU titles, ranging from 112 pounds to 147.
“In those days, Denver was a hell of a fight town,” Mancinelli said. “Every week, there was a smoker somewhere: Leadville, Durango, the Elks Club in downtown Denver, little towns in Utah, Kansas, you name it. My first AAU fight was at the Elks Club. I was 14 and going to Horace Mann Junior High.”
Mancinelli’s thoughts never drift too far from those days long ago in north Denver.
“The Roarin’ ’20s were something else,” Mancinelli said. “There was a pulse beating every day. There was action. There were whiskey runners, and we’d watch the cops chase them. Jimmy Aiello had a souped-up Model A Ford. They never could catch him.”
Mancinelli earned money selling The Denver Post on the street corner where the old 20th Street viaduct filtered into north Denver. It was a great corner to hawk the paper, and more than once he had to fight to keep it. He remembers Helen Bonfils, the matriarch of the Post’s ownership family, driving an electric car to and from The Post.
“It didn’t have a steering wheel, it had a stick,” Mancinelli said. “She’d give me three cents for a paper but never take one.”
Mancinelli’s life has been centered within a couple of blocks of where he had his first fight.
His family owned and ran a grocery store on Navajo Street, a couple of blocks from his current home of 53 years. He was born upstairs above the store. He came into the world as a towhead, and that’s where he gained his nickname.
“My mother had 10 children before me, and they all had coal-black hair,” Mancinelli said. “I was blond, and my father kidded my mother about the ice man being around. Everybody, even my teachers in school, called me ‘Ice.’ “
Mancinelli’s boxing career ended while he was in the Navy during World War II. He joined the Navy on July 19, 1941, because he didn’t relish the idea of being in a foxhole. He was the fleet boxing champion five times.
When he returned from the service, he married his wife, Marie, and it was time to find a job. He took a job with the Gates Rubber Co. It lasted five days. He then went to work at the family market until it closed in 1993.
Today, Mancinelli lives with his memories. He’s always followed the Denver boxing scene. He watched the career of Corky Gonzalez, who dominated the local boxing scene after the war.
“He was good, but he wasn’t as good as me,” Mancinelli said.
His scrapbooks are complete and neatly kept. They tell the story of a man coming of age, fighting for his keep.
“Boxing here was booming,” he said. “Everybody knew ‘Ice.’ Today, nobody knows ‘Ice.’ I kind of owned the neighborhood. They looked up to you. You know how it is.”
“Ice” Mancinelli
Born: Dec. 25, 1922, in Denver
High schools: Denver North and St. Joseph’s
College: None; joined U.S. Navy
Family: Wife Marie, sons Albert and Daniel, daughters Helen and Maria
Hobby: Decorates matchbook covers.
Outlook: He has done about everything he wants to do.
