THE SEOUL GAMES : U.S. Boxers Punch In With Victory by Johnson

Coach Ken Adams of the United States Olympic boxing team looked at U.S. reporters Sunday, smiled, raised a fist and quietly said something he’d been waiting to say for months:

“Red, white and blue! We’re the wrecking crew!”

This was minutes after flyweight Arthur Johnson had gotten the United States off to a winning start in the 13-day Olympic boxing tournament with a unanimous decision over Italy’s Andrea Mannai.

Johnson didn’t actually wreck anyone, but he did what Adams had advised his boxers to do two days ago: “Guys, we don’t know what the judging is going to be like here, so remember: Don’t leave any doubts.”

Johnson left no doubts. Taller, faster, quicker and busier than the short, physically stronger Mannai, Johnson landed more scoring blows. Also, Mannai seemed to be fatigued in the third and final round.

Johnson may be only 5-feet 7-inches and 112 pounds, but he carried an Olympic team on his back in front of a near-capacity crowd in 7,200-seat Chamshil Students’ Gymnasium. In the athletes’ seating section, five of his teammates cheered wildly during the bout.

And Johnson needed all the support he could get.

After two boxing sessions, two things have been observed about the predominantly South Korean crowds:

--They don’t like Japanese boxers.

--They don’t like U.S. boxers, either.

There is no booing during the introductions, but when an opponent of a Japanese or an American is introduced, he is accorded an ovation, wherever he’s from.

“There was a lot of pressure on Arthur out there,” Adams said.

“We all wanted that first one, and Arthur was the guy who had to do it for us.”

Johnson was asked if he heard the support.

“I could hear every one of them, individually,” he said. “We all knew there wouldn’t be many Americans in the crowds here, so I was sort of prepared for the crowd.”

There was one American, at least. High up in the bleachers, when Johnson was introduced, a big American flag came up out of the crowd, waving.

In what seemed to be a one-sided contest, judges Larbi Hiouad of Morocco and Amador Burguillos of Venezuela both called it 59-58 for Johnson.

Ron Gregor of Australia called it 60-57, and Romeo Somodio of the Philippines had it 60-58. The South Korean judge, Cho Suk In, called it 59-56, Johnson.

The decision was greeted largely by silence, although there was some isolated booing.

Ten minutes after Johnson’s victory, someone handed Adams a score sheet, and his up-beat mood vanished.

“Oh, my goodness, look at this,” he said. “Two guys called it 59-58! Oh, man--if you don’t score every round of that bout 20-18, you’re suspect, in my book.”

Johnson was a complete boxer, save for some tentative early moments, when he let the Italian get his punches off first.

Mannai scored several times with chopping punches and Johnson, backing up, was cautioned by Nigerian referee Ade Ojo Muili for hitting with an open hand.

Late in the first round, however, Johnson saw that Mannai’s charges left him open for medium-range left hooks.

“After the first round, I told Arthur to throw that hook off the jab, and it worked almost every time,” Adams said. “So that was working for him, plus (Mannai) died in the third round. Did you see Arthur at the end? He was barely breathing hard.”

Johnson did seem to be in superior physical condition, and said that will be a trademark of this Olympic team.

“My going three full rounds at that pace, that showed the other guys what kind of shape we’re in,” he said.

Johnson will fight Bishnubahadur Singh of Nepal, who defeated Sixto Vera Espanola of Spain.

Sunday morning’s session also produced the first major upset. Venezuelan flyweight David Griman, silver medalist at both the 1986 World Championships in Reno and the 1987 Pan American Games at Indianapolis, lost a 4-1 decision to Bulgaria’s Serafim Todorov.