U.S. Olympic Team Boxoffs : Four of 12 Berths Still to Be Filled : Only Half the Horsemen Are Guaranteed Places at Seoul

On a day of three unpopular decisions and the possible breakup of the Four Horsemen, 8 of 12 berths on the 1988 U.S. Olympic boxing team were filled Saturday at Caesars Palace.

Only half of the Four Horsemen--the U.S. Army team’s nickname for its four heaviest boxers--are guaranteed Olympic berths after Saturday’s boxoffs: middleweight Anthony Hembrick and heavyweight Ray Mercer.

Hembrick won on a walkover, and Mercer earned an unpopular decision over Michael Bent of New York.

The two Army boxers who must win today in the boxoffs’ four-bout wrap-up to keep the Four Horsemen intact are light-heavyweight Al Cole, who lost a 4-1 decision to Andrew Maynard of Ft. Collins, Colo., and super-heavyweight Robert Salters, who was surprised by Riddick Bowe of New York.

The decisions, booed loudly by the estimated 2,500 in the Caesars Palace Pavilion, were Mercer’s victory, featherweight Kelcie Banks’ 4-1 decision over Olympic trials champion Ed Hopson of St. Louis and bantamweight Michael Collins’ 4-1 decision over Kennedy McKinney, of Killeen, Tex.

Going into today’s four final boxoff bouts, here is what the 1988 U.S. Olympic boxing team looks like:

106 pounds--Michael Carbajal, Phoenix.

112--Arthur Johnson, Minneapolis.

132--Romallis Ellis, Ellenwood, Ga.

139--Todd Foster, Great Falls, Mont.

147--Ken Gould, Rockford, Ill.

156--Roy Jones, Pensacola, Fla.

165--Hembrick, Ft. Bragg, N.C.

201 plus--Mercer, U.S. Army, West Germany.

Today, these decisive Olympic bouts will be held, beginning at noon:

119--Collins vs. McKinney.

125--Banks vs. Hopson.

178--Maynard vs. Cole.

201+--Bowe vs. Salters.

And as the Olympic team was two-thirds completed Saturday, the coaching situation remained a simmering subject of dispute among boxers and coaches.

Tom Coulter was declared the head coach Thursday by the USA/Amateur Boxing Federation’s president, Col. Don Hull, much to the disappointment of four U.S. Army boxers who, as a team, have dominated the Olympic team selection process.

The Army may be gearing up for a power play on this one. They’ve even called in the Pentagon. Lt. Col. David R. Rogers, chief of the Army’s sports programs, who arrived this week from the Pentagon, has been a visible figure here since Thursday.

Army Coach Hank Johnson, whose superbly conditioned Four Horsemen have dominated the tournament, met with Hull Saturday before the bouts, and the subject of an assistant coach’s position, under Coulter, was discussed. Johnson said later he told Hull he couldn’t work with Coulter.

“He told me to think it over, and I told him there really wasn’t anything to think over,” Johnson said.

Bowe in his third meeting since April with Salters, finally cranked up his excellent left jab, and he seemed to finish stronger than Salters.

The judges’ decision was 3-2 for Bowe, who had lost two straight to Salters--at the national championships last April and last weekend at the Olympic trials tournament.

At first, it seemed as if neither boxer was the least bit interested in the Olympics. In the first round, there was considerable posing, mauling and a lot of missed left jabs.

While the two boxers awaited the decision, even Coach Johnson conceded defeat for his man. Just before the announcement, he gave a thumbs-up sign and a wink to Bowe.

The heavyweight bout was something of a surprise. Mercer was a runaway winner over Bent in the trials final, 5-0, and showed an extremely aggressive style. But Saturday, Bent went to the attack at the outset. Only in the third round did Mercer look like the Merciless Mercer of Concord, landing several hard punches to the head and a thundering left hook to Bent’s ribs, which rocked him for a few seconds.

Most ringsiders scored the first two rounds for Bent, so the 3-2 verdict for Mercer, even though he clearly won the third round, came as a surprise. And for Bent, it was a shock. While Mercer leaped high into the air at the announcement, Bent walked, head-down, to Mercer’s corner and was embraced by the Army coaches.

Banks’ 4-1 decision over the 17-year-old Hopson was greeted with a chorus of boos. And it set up a rubber match today, the third Banks-Hopson meeting of the trials and boxoff.

Hopson, all 5 feet 4 inches of him, leaped in and out on the 6-foot Banks, landing occasional hooks, while Banks, from Chicago, had great difficulty finding Hopson. Hopson lost a point for holding in the second round, but many in the crowd still felt he’d landed enough scoring blows to win the decision.

Carbajal became the first boxer to make the Olympic team in the ring. On Friday, Anthony Hembrick of the Army was declared a walkover winner over Darin Allen of Columbus, Ohio. Allen, who was chosen as a substitute “most noteworthy opponent” after William Guthrie was tossed out for failing a drug test.

For James Harris of Washington, Carbajal’s opponent, the circumstances and Carbajal were simply too much. Not even a power failure could save him.

Harris was a substitute for a substitute. The original “most noteworthy,” Eric Griffin of Houston, also failed his drug test. The Army’s Brian Lonon was picked to replace him, but Lonon couldn’t make weight.

Enter Harris, amateur boxing’s 1988 comeback kid.

Four summers ago, on a rainy night in Washington, an emergency room doctor told Harris’ parents that Harris might never walk again after an accident when a car ran into Harris’ motorcycle.

But there he was, throwing punches from all directions in the first round against Carbajal, much the better boxer.

After the midway point of the first, though, Harris began to fade, as Carbajal’s steady jab and combinations began to wear down Harris. The lights went out for a couple of minutes with 49 seconds left in the first round.

Eventually, referee John Holaus disqualified Harris at 1:43 of the third round, after Harris’ third warning for holding.

Arthur Johnson gained the flyweight berth with a 4-1 decision over Chris Carrillo of Whittier. Johnson beat Carrillo in the trials’ championship bout, 3-2.

One of the day’s three disputed decisions was at 119 pounds, where trials champion McKinney appeared to have pulled out a victory over Collins, from LaPorte, Tex., with a big third round. McKinney beat Collins in the semifinals at Concord, 4-1.

However, some vigorous booing greeted the judges’ 4-1 decision for Collins, who must defeat McKinney again today to make the Olympic team.

Said McKinney: “I thought I had it. . . . Evidently they want a show tomorrow, so I’ll have to give them one.”

The next two to make the plane to Seoul were lightweight Ellis, a 5-0 winner over Lyndon Walker, and Gould, who registered a 4-1 decision over Gerry Payne.

Jones earned the light-middleweight berth with a second straight 3-2 decision over Frank Liles.

Foster became the seventh boxer to make the Olympic team, scoring a 5-0 decision over Charles Murray.

Light-heavyweight Andrew Maynard goes into today’s rubber match round with Cole, who upset Maynard, 4-1, in the preliminaries at Concord, then won the tournament.

But on Saturday, Maynard fashioned an all-out, slugging attack and eventually wore Cole down, winning a 4-1 decision of his own.