THE 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES : Boxing : Banks Picks Himself Up, Dusts Off Cuban Opponent

Kelcie Banks crawled shakily off the deck in the first round and rallied furiously in the third round to score a 3-2 decision over Cuba’s Arnaldo Mesa Sunday afternoon and kept alive the American winning streak at the Pan American Games boxing tournament.

Banks, the world amateur featherweight champion, was knocked flat on his back by a surprise Mesa left hook in the first. The victory was the Americans’ eighth straight at the Indiana Convention Center, whereas Cuba, when Sunday’s 16-bout session ended, was 8-1.

Those numbers will change considerably today. In what should be the liveliest session to date, three U.S.-Cuba bouts are scheduled for this afternoon’s 16-bout session.

Until Sunday, Banks, 23, has not looked sharp in recent appearances. In fact, U.S. coaches agree he hasn’t been on top of his game since May of 1986, when he won his world title in Reno, and had business cards printed up. On Thursday, Banks won an uninspired 5-0 decision in a preliminary over Argentine Marcos Cristofalo.

On Sunday afternoon, Banks got inspired in a hurry.

In a matchup of left-handers, Banks fought a standup style and got caught with a short hook on the jaw with 28 seconds left in the first round. He landed with a crash. He got up quickly, but stood uncertainly on wobbling legs while the Colombian referee, Alfredo LaMadrid, administered the required standing-eight count.

Then he ordered boxing to resume. Later, Cuban coach Alicides Sagarra would charge that LaMadrid should have stopped it at that point and awarded the bout to Mesa.

Certainly, amateur bouts have been stopped when boxers were in less difficulty than Banks. His knees shook and he staggered slightly when Mesa came after him in a rush, driving him off center-ring and into a neutral corner with a flurry of punches. Seconds before the bell, Banks was on the ropes and took six unanswered blows.

Most agreed the second round was a close one, with Banks seeming to win it narrowly after he opened up in the last half of the round with some big punches.

In the first 20 seconds of the third round, Banks hit Mesa seven times in a row and began pursuing the Cuban relentlessly the rest of the way. In the final minute, he was entirely in control.

Judges from Canada and Ecuador scored it 60-57 for Banks, and an El Salvador judge had it 59-56 for the American. A Costa Rican judged called it 59-58, Mesa, and a Venezuela judge had it 60-57, Mesa.

United States boxers were 3 for 3 Sunday. Light-welterweight Todd Foster followed Banks with a win on retirement over George Kellman of Antigua, and light-flyweight Michael Carbajal posted a 5-0 decision over Guyanan Colin Moore.

Cuba’s winners Sunday, both on easy 5-0 decisions, were world champion light-fly Juan Torres and light-welter Candelario Duvergel.

Banks, 5 feet 11 inches and 125 pounds, now looks like a lock for a gold medal (He assured himself of at least a bronze medal Sunday). He said he went into the Mesa bout trying to slow down his pace . . . but slowed down too much.

“I was too hyper in that first bout, I wanted to slow down a little,” he said. “But I stood still on one spot too long and he caught me. I deserved it. I should’ve been moving. He carries his hands real low, and that was hard to adjust to--I couldn’t even see his hands sometimes, he carried them so low. I never saw the punch that put me do2003709472right to his head, but waited too long.”

Sagarra, at the end of the session, maintained the standing-eight count should have been the end of the bout.

“In the first place, we want to say it was a very good bout,” Sagarra said, through an interpreter. “But (Banks) got up completely staggering, and (LaMadrid, the referee) allowed him to continue boxing. The health of the boxer should always be taken care of--this is not a spectacle, like professional boxing.

“The referee was not paying enough attention to the way Banks got up. He got up in very bad shape, even after the eight-second count. Yes, we think Mesa should have won the decision (anyway).”

Mesa agreed.

“I think I won the bout,” he said, through an interpreter. “I won the first round clearly, the second was very close and in the third he threw a lot of punches, but I was not hit by them.”

Mesa added he believed the judges--all Latins--may have been influenced by the crowd of about 2,500, which noisely cheered and chanted “USA! USA!” during Banks’ rally.

Foster, the U.S. light-welterweight winner, says he’s from the mean streets of Great Falls, Mont.

“There are some real mean Indian kids on the south side of town,” he said. “I’m from mid-town.”

The coaches of Foster’s opponent, Kellman, threw in the towel in the second round Sunday. Foster’s parents watched his win.

“When I box someplace and win, my folks say they get about 50 telephone calls, some of them from people they don’t even know. So they said they’d come here so they wouldn’t have to answer the phone.”

The Foster phone should ring a few more times. He’s in the opposite bracket from Cuba’s Candelario Duvergel. Thursday, Foster meets Argentina’s Oscar Caton in a quarterfinal bout.

Carbajal, who earned no worse than a bronze with his 5-0 victory over Moore Sunday, reached the Wednesday semifinals against Cuba’s Juan Torres, who will be a heavy favorite.