Hope Springs For Boxing in LA 2028
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 16 Aug 2024
It is hard to believe that boxing will not be an Olympics event in the next staging of the global quadrennial games in Los Angeles, California, USA, a city, state and country known as hub of boxing.
Forty years ago in the same city, the USA garnered its biggest medal haul in boxing - 11 that included a high 9 gold medals. The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics boxing also produced the highest number of medalists that later became professional boxing champions, most notable of whom was Evander Holyfield, despite just finishing with a bronze.
The American gold medalists were Paul Gonzalez, Steve McCrory, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, Jerry Page, Mark Breland, Frank Tate, Henry Tillman and Tyrell Biggs.
Aside from Holyfield, gold winners Taylor, Whitaker, Page, Tate and Breland plus silver medalist Virgil Hill became world champions together with Italians gold winner Mauricio Sfecca and silver medalist Christophe Tiozo. That's nine then future world champions from the LA 1984 batch including two- Holyfield and Whitaker who later became superstars, even legends.
However, not a few were questioning the validity of the American showing in the LA Games as Russia led a largely communist bloc boycott in retaliation for a US led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. That means boxers from Cuba and many Eastern European states were not present.
Despite a diluted field, boxing in Moscow Olympics still produced three medalists who became world pro boxing champions- Patrizio Oliva of Italy, John Mugabi of Uganda and Slobodan Kacar of Yugoslavia/Serbia.
Undisputedly, the best ever US boxing performance in an Olympics happened in 1976 in Montreal which produced five gold medal winners, namely Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael and Leon Spinks, Howard Davis and Leo Randolph. Except for Davis, all became world boxing champions including Leonard and Michael Spinks who became legends.
Furthermore, the US from the 50s through the 60s churned out outstanding Olympic winners who dominated professional boxing up to the 80s, even beyond, in Floyd Patterson, Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman.
With such a lofty legacy, it is really very difficult to see the US just acquiescing to the removal of boxing as an Olympic sports event in its turn of hosting of the global games in a city that came to be known, for among others, boxing.
The hope is that the US sports authorities will exert their influence to keep boxing alive at least for the 2028 LA Olympics.
Let us keep our fingers crossed that the requirements of the International Olympics Committee on boxing will be met within the next three years.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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