Boxing : Seven Olympians Should Rank Near Top

In the midst of the back-stabbing, second-guessing, resignations, name-calling and political turmoil last weekend at Caesars Palace, the USA/Amateur Boxing Federation actually managed to put together a U.S. Olympic team.

And what kind of team is the Class of ‘88?

As the Olympic team heads for military training camps at Ft. Bragg, N.C., and later at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., we find no all-conquering, amateur superstars on this team--at least, not in the manner of 1984 pre-Olympic world-beaters such as Mark Breland, Meldrick Taylor and Pernell Whitaker.

How will this team perform at Seoul? Not nearly as well as the nine-gold 1984 team, but there are some medal candidates here. Seven, we’ll say.

If you didn’t like what you saw during the Olympic trials tournament and subsequent boxoffs, remember this: The competition in some weight classes over the past two weeks may prove to have been tougher than some of the competition they will face at Seoul.

Example: Evander Holyfield, who was on his way to the outstanding boxer award at the Los Angeles Olympics before he was disqualified, had to survive three brutal bouts with Ricky Womack at the 1984 trials and boxoff just to make the U.S. team. At the Olympics, Holyfield suddenly looked unbeatable.

At the Olympics, the majority of boxers, in the parlance of the sport, are stiffs. Example: In Los Angeles, in the heavyweight class, there were 20 heavyweights. Only four could have been called better than mediocre.

Second example: Henry Tillman had to beat Mike Tyson twice to make the U.S. team.

An analysis of the ’88 group suggests these boxers could be called solid medal candidates for Seoul, assuming two factors:

A. A favorable draw for each--that is, they don’t draw the best in their weight class early in the 400-boxer tournament.

B. There will be impartial judging at Seoul. Unhappily, there is advance indication this may not be the case. More on that later.

On an all-things-being-equal basis, call these guys the Solid Seven:

Michael Carbajal (106 pounds), Kennedy McKinney (119), Kelcie Banks (125), Ken Gould (147), Andrew Maynard (178), Ray Mercer (201) and Riddick Bowe (201 plus).

Those seven share one trait, strength, which is essential to holding up under the grind of a 2 1/2-week tournament. All are well within their weight classes; that is, they don’t need to make-do on a carrots-only diet to make weight.

Further, McKinney, Maynard, Mercer and Bowe have knockout power, which is helpful if you’re being judged by, say, five East German judges. Carbajal and Banks are standup boxers with very good left jabs.

Also, all have won against tough international competition. Banks is a proven winner in big tournaments. He’s the current featherweight world champion (1986) and the Pan American Games (1987) gold medalist. He may have slipped a bit since he won those two championships, but he’s still fundamentally a superb boxer.

Arthur Johnson (112), Todd Foster (139) and Roy Jones (156) would seem to need some breaks to reach the medal round.

Johnson is a smooth boxer, one of the best on the team, but may not be strong enough to stand up against, say, more powerfully built South Koreans, or stronger Eastern Bloc flyweights.

Foster moves in one direction, straight ahead. He sailed into the gold medal bout at the Pan-Am Games, where he was dominated by the long jab of Cuba’s Candelario Duvergel.

Jones is strong and long-armed, but he is inexperienced in international competition.

The two weak links on the team seem to be at lightweight (132), where Romallis Ellis seems too slow to last long in Seoul, and at middleweight (165), where Anthony Hembrick doesn’t figure to match up with stronger Eastern Bloc boxers.

Best bet for a gold medal: Mercer. Close second: Maynard.

It’s tempting to put Bowe on the best-bet list, but in spite of how good he looked at the boxoffs, he still must be considered this team’s most inconsistent boxer.

Example: Bowe, at 19, looked like a world-beater at times in his losing effort in the 1987 Pan-Am Games gold medal bout with Cuba’s Jorge Gonzales. Bowe had the 6-foot 6-inch Gonzales out on his feet twice.

But at times, the 6-5, 230-pound Bowe has looked unimpressive, as he did at the national championships in April when he was stopped by inexperienced Robert Salters. He was also lackluster during a U.S. team’s March tour of the Soviet Union.

Bowe’s toughest critic and his biggest fan is three-time Olympic team coach Pat Nappi, who says: “Bowe has all the tools--he could be the best there ever was. But if he can’t learn to take training seriously, or can’t learn to concentrate in the ring, he might as well forget it.”

About the judging expected in South Korea: At Seoul, unlike at Los Angeles, judges and referees from the same continent as either boxer, could be assigned to work that bout. In Los Angeles, every judge and referee was from a neutral continent.

Boxing Notes

J.C. Superstar on the “undercard?” That’s how the Forum is billing Julio Cesar Chavez’s non-title bout with Vernon Buchanan (19-5-1) Aug. 1. The main event is a World Boxing Council bantamweight title bout pitting Alberto Davila of Pomona against Miguel Lora of Colombia. Chavez, the World Boxing Assn. lightweight champion, is 58-0, 49 by knockout. . . . Paul Gonzales (8-1) of East Los Angeles, coming back quickly after his upset decision loss to Ray Medal at San Antonio June 17, meets Mexican flyweight Javier (Suzuki) Diaz at the Irvine Marriott Monday night. On the same card: super-featherweights Genaro Hernandez (14-0) of Los Angeles meets Jose Mosqueda (22-6) of Mexico City.

NBC will televise the July 31 lightweight bout between Vinny Pazienza (24-2) and Miguel Santana (20-4-1) at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, N.J., where, on July 29, welterweight champion Lloyd Honeyghan of England meets Yungkil Chung of South Korea and WBA welterweight champion Marlon Starling meets Tomas Molinares of Colombia. . . . Undefeated International Boxing Federation junior middleweight champion Matthew Hilton of Montreal meets Paul Whittaker of New Orleans at Caesars Palace July 29. . . . Veteran trainer Ray Arcel says this of Mike Tyson: “He reminds me of a young Dempsey, with the great spirit, power and temperament . . . he has tremendous mental energy, and he’s very knowledgeable about boxing. I don’t see anyone beating him for a long time . . . “

Brian Baronet, who died last month after a fight in Durban, South Africa, was under 60-day suspension by the New Jersey Athletic Commission after a knockout loss in Atlantic City, the Johannesburg Sunday Times reported. . . . Rocky Lockridge defends his IBF junior lightweight championship against Tony Lopez in Sacramento today, on CBS. . . . Steve McCrory (23-2-1), the 1984 Olympic flyweight gold medalist, isn’t retired after all. McCrory said he was quitting a year ago, but is scheduled to box Jorge Fuentes of McAllen, Tex., at Sterling Heights, Mich., July 27.