Welterweight Gould Disqualified : Amateur Boxing Dispute Erupts: Was It a Low Blow?

A routine, almost dull national amateur boxing tournament was brought quickly to life Wednesday afternoon, knocked on its ear by a controversial low-blow call that bounced a world champion out of the championships.

Welterweight Kenneth Gould, an early favorite to represent the United States in the Olympic Games at Seoul, South Korea, this year and a huge favorite in this tournament, was on his way to a quarterfinal decision over lightly regarded Tony Robinson of St. Louis when, in the third and final round, Robinson dropped to the canvas, claiming a low blow.

Referee Stan Hamilton almost immediately disqualified Gould, touching off an uproar at the U.S. Olympic Training Center gym that lasted the rest of the day.

In the aftermath, Hamilton seemed to be one of the few in the building who saw a low blow. Most ringsiders--including former U.S. Olympic coach Pat Nappi--saw Gould land a clean body punch on the beltline.

“How can something like this happen at a national championship event?” demanded Nate Gould, the boxer’s father and coach.

“We’re supposed to be building a good boxing team to take to Korea--how can they let something like this happen to a world champion?”

Gould’s father was making official protest sounds Wednesday afternoon, but there is no such thing in the USA Amateur Boxing Federation rule book, in the case of a referee making a disqualification call on a foul.

“It’s a judgment call, and in ABF events, the referee’s call stands,” explained USA/ABF executive Bruce Mathis. “In international events, like the Olympics, a referee can be overruled.”

Otherwise, matters proceeded routinely Wednesday. The quarterfinals had been wrapped up and a starting field of 249 boxers was reduced to 24. Twelve semifinals will be held this afternoon and 12 more tonight at the USOC gym. Friday night’s finals will be held at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.

Brooklyn super-heavyweight Riddick Bowe made it three in a row Wednesday night by stopping Kevin Ford of Houston in the second round. He meets Robert Salters of Fort Bragg, N.C., in tonight’s semifinals.

The only remaining world champion in the field, featherweight Kelcie Banks, registered his third straight victory Wednesday night with a 5-0 decision over Shane Mosley of Pomona. Of the nine defending champions who are competing here, three were on their way home by Wednesday night.

Gould, Nick Kakouris (139 pounds), Charles Murray (132) and Gerald McClellan (156) all were beaten before the quarterfinals ended.

Gould, who won the world welterweight championship at the 1986 World Championships in Reno, was considered a heavy favorite to make the September trip to Seoul. But now he’ll have to find another way to make the Olympic trials tournament in July at Concord, Calif. First and second place here automatically qualify for the trials.

Gould was thrown out with three seconds remaining in a close, sloppy bout in Wednesday’s afternoon session. Robinson was being pummeled in his own corner by the free-swinging Gould when he was hit by a right hand that landed, most ringside observers agreed, right on the belt.

What happened next, the way Team Gould saw it, was the greatest acting performance since Frank Sinatra’s death scene in “From Here to Eternity.”

Robinson flopped about on the canvas like a gaffed tuna, as doctors rushed through the ropes. Unhesitatingly, Hamilton, a veteran referee-judge from Knoxville, Tenn., disqualified Gould.

“There wasn’t any question about it, it was low,” Hamilton said. “I would never have disqualified the kid if I hadn’t been certain it was low.”

Afterward, the judges’ score cards had the bout scored almost dead even after two rounds, but Gould seemed to have been winning the third handily against the tiring Robinson.

Gould had lost one point earlier for a first-round low blow--a call Gould admitted later was valid. Hamilton also had taken away two points from Robinson for butting and holding.

Gould was furious with the decision.

“Look at the situation (Robinson) was in,” he told reporters.

“He was getting beat by a world champion and I give him a clean shot, right on the belt, and he saw that as an opportunity, man. So he decides to go for it. He goes down, and makes like I hit him in the . . . .

“I don’t believe it. I’m devastated. It just goes to show you--anything can happen in boxing. You got to be prepared for anything. That was my 302nd amateur fight, and I’d never lost on a DQ before.

“No, I’m not going to quit and turn pro. I’ve been pointing to the Olympics for 14 years. I don’t know how I’ll get there, but I’ll get there.”

Gould, 20, besides being a world champion, had won the national championship three years in a row until Wednesday. At last summer’s Pan American Games in Indianapolis, he was a silver medalist, losing to Cuban Juan Lemus.

To gain one of the six remaining welterweight berths at the Concord Olympic trials, Gould must qualify at either the eastern or western Olympic trials in June or the national Golden Gloves tournament in May. More likely, however, as a world champion, he’ll simply be invited as an at-large entrant by the USA Amateur Boxing Federation.

Gould’s disqualification means that just one of the three American world champions from Reno will even reach the semifinals here. Darin Allen won the world middleweight title in Reno, but was upset in a regional qualifying tournament for the nationals two weeks ago.

That leaves Houston featherweight Kelcie Banks as the only world champion still alive, on the road to Seoul. He has reached the semifinals here.

Amateur Boxing Notes

Rolly Schwartz, a U.S. amateur official since the 1940s, has seen enough of super-heavyweight prospect Riddick Bowe. After two impressive knockout showings here, Schwartz tabbed Bowe as his early Seoul gold-medal favorite. “I don’t care if the Cubans come or not, Bowe will win the gold medal over there,” he predicted. “I think he’s better than (Tyrell) Biggs was at this stage in 1984.” Biggs won the super-heavy gold medal in 1984.

Two U.S. gold medalists from the 1960 Olympic team are attending the tournament, Wilbert (Skeeter) McClure and Eddie Crook. Sugar Ray Leonard, a 1976 gold medalist, is due in today. . . . Two Olympic team favorites aren’t here. Heavyweight Michael Bent of Cambria Heights, N.Y., and bantamweight Michael Collins of LaPorte, Tex., decided to pass on the nationals. . . . National Coach Roosevelt Sanders, assistant coach for the ’84 Olympic team and once thought to have been a candidate for the head job in ‘88, was passed over in favor of Army Coach Ken Adams. Sanders is expected to leave the USA/ABF later this year to become head coach of the Marine Corps team.

Comeback Department: At the 1978 national tournament, Mike Felde of Missoula, Mont., was the winner at 112 pounds. One decade and 20 pounds later, he tried again. In Tuesday’s prelims, he was stopped in the first round.