U.S. boxers launch careers with an overwhelming team victory
They call it the sweet science, but at the conclusion of the Olympic boxing competition Saturday, fight fans could be forgiven for thinking that what they saw was more like a gloved version of the dismal science instead. Economics, not fisticuffs, was on everybody's mind. "After I get that gold medal, I'm turning pro," declared Lightweight Winner Pernell Whitaker, 20, before the tournament began. Boasted Flyweight Gold Medalist Steve McCrory, 20, younger brother of World Boxing Council Welterweight Champ Milton, after the semifinals: "I'm going to make this the richest division in boxing -$10 million in two years, and that's on commercials only." As for Welterweight Mark Breland, 21, the media star of the talent-rich U.S. squad, he showed up at press conferences with his manager in tow and with the eminently reasonable expectation of making more than $100,000 the first time he laces up professionally. For many of the record-setting American boxers, who won eleven medals on the way to an overwhelming team victory, the prom ise of future green seemed to outweigh the pleasure of present gold.
It was a week marked by a combination of athletic heroics within the ring and judgmental pusillanimity without. The twelve-man U.S. team, spared by the Soviet-led boycott from facing their toughest competitors, the Cubans and the Soviets, coolly advanced through the field, mowing down Ugandans, Tongans, South Koreans, Mexicans and Italians along the way. Only three U.S. fighters lost a bout.
The lopsided results drew protests that the judges were unduly dazzled by the prospect of the Americans' impending pro careers. When Super Heavyweight Tyrell Biggs won the gold medal with a 4-1 decision, his opponent, Italy's Francesco Damiani, gestured angrily in disgust. After South Korean Light Welterweight Dong-Kil Kim lost a 4-1 decision to Jerry Page, 23, in the quarterfinals, the South Koreans briefly threatened to pull out of the tournament. And when Heavyweight Henry Tillman's 3-2 loss to Italy's Angelo Musone was overturned by the jury that reviews all such decisions, even the chauvinistic crowd at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena booed lustily. Tillman's earlier fight, with Tonga's Tevita Taufoou, had ended when the Japanese referee mysteriously stopped the contest late in the second round. Charged Taufoou: "The Americans are getting whatever they need to win these fights."