U.S. Pan American Games Boxoffs : Americans Expect to Do Well Against Cubans

When a young, inexperienced American boxing team assembled in Reno 14 months ago for amateur boxing’s world championships, some covered their eyes.

A powerful Cuban team, hungry for international success after the 1984 Olympic boycott, seemed too much for the band of brave young Americans. And for the most part, they were. The Cubans won 7 of the 12 gold medals.

However, three Americans won championships at Reno--an entirely unexpected development--and those same three will form the core of a more experienced, more talented and more confident team that the United States sends to the Pan American Games boxing tournament at Indianapolis Aug. 13-23.

If the American team formed Friday and Saturday at the Broadmoor Hotel has a star, it’s featherweight Kelcie Banks, who knows something about international amateur boxing. And Cubans. Since 1985, he has won 6 of 9 international events, and he’s 2-0 against Cubans.

This team, Banks said, is not afraid of Cubans.

“To beat Cubans, you have to show them a lot of lateral movement,” he said. “If you stand still, they’ll load up with their power hands and nail you. But when you keep moving, using a jab on them, they have to chase you and they start running out of gas by the end of the second round.

“And that’s what this team is, it’s a team of boxers, guys who can move and box. In Reno, we had some punchers who played into the Cubans’ hands.

“Also, this is a more experienced and more talented team than we had at Reno. And remember, Cuba won a couple of bad decisions early in Reno. They had about two more guys in the finals than they should have.”

Roosevelt Sanders, head coach of the U.S. Pan Am team, sees the raw elements for a competitive showing against Cuba, a nation that has dominated the sport for more than a decade.

“If we get lucky in the draw, we could do well,” he said.

“We’ve got two kids, Patrick Byrd (lightweight) and Todd Foster (light-welterweight) with virtually no international experience. I wouldn’t want them drawing Cubans for their first bouts.

“So with luck and a good draw, we could do well. I see a tremendous amount of desire in this team.”

The final two spots on the U.S. team were filled Saturday at the Broadmoor. Middleweight Darin Allen joined fellow world champions Banks and welterweight Ken Gould on the roster when he scored a difficult 3-2 decision over Anthony Hembrick of Fort Bragg, N.C. Arthur Johnson of Minneapolis earned the flyweight spot when he easily turned back Jose Arreola of East Los Angeles on a 5-0 verdict.

The 1987 U.S. Pan American Games boxing team:

106 pounds--Michael Carbajal, Phoenix. 112--Arthur Johnson, Minneapolis. 119--Michael Collins, La Porte, Tex. 125--Kelcie Banks, Houston. 132--Patrick Byrd, Flint, Mich. 139--Todd Foster, Great Falls, Mont. 147--Ken Gould, Rockford, Ill. 156--Frank Liles, Syracuse, N.Y. 165--Darin Allen, Columbus, Ohio. 178--Andrew Maynard, Fort Carson, Colo. 201--Michael Bent, Cambria Heights, N.Y. 201+--Riddick Bowe, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Allen, the last man to make the team, no doubt overstated the case when he called the U.S. Pan Am team “devastating.”

Pat Nappi, three-time U.S. Olympic coach and known as an eternal pessimist--he called the 1984 U.S. Olympic team that won nine gold medals “overconfident” going into the Games--burst out laughing when told of Allen’s characterization.

“I think this is a strong team, one that is in spots better than the team we had at Reno in ‘86,” he said. “But I’ve seen too many guys loading up in this boxoff, instead of boxing. They won’t do well against the Cubans doing that.

“Just remember one thing when you’re talking about our kids at the Pan Am Games: There will be bouts when one of our kids is boxing a Cuban and most of the judges will be Latins.”