U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL LOS ANGELES 1991 : BOXING : Mosley Loses Place in Loss to Johnston

In the first major boxing upset of the U.S. Olympic Festival, Pomona’s Shane Mosley lost not only a light-welterweight decision to Steve Johnston of Colorado Springs Sunday but also a trip to the World Championships in November in Australia.

Johnston, who lost a 5-0 decision to Mosley at the 1989 U.S. championships at Colorado Springs, Colo., won a decision over Mosley in an electronically scored 21-17 bout before about 600 spectators at Loyola Marymount’s Gersten Pavilion.

Mosley, 19, was considered a solid candidate for the U.S. team in the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona, Spain, but he has lost three of his last four fights--to Cubans Candelario Duvergel and Hector Vinent, and to Johnston, a 1990 U.S. champion.

“It was close, but I have no complaints (about the decision),” Mosley said. “I’m very disappointed, but it’s back to the drawing board.”

Johnston, 18, was a high school football star in Denver but abandoned football to try for an Olympic boxing championship. He lives at the U.S. Olympic Committee’s training center in Colorado Springs.

Mosley started fast, working well with his solid left jab. But Johnston, boxing aggressively, landed several overhand rights late in the first that seemed to confuse more than hurt Mosley.

Mosley caught Johnston on the ropes in the second and scored with a flurry of punches, but Johnston still seemed to win the round with his quick left hand. The third round was nearly a brawl, but Johnston was slightly more aggressive.

Mosley is trained by his father, Jack Mosley, a USC Medical Center employee.

“If he’d boxed like he has in the gym the last two weeks, he’d have won,” he said. “I don’t know, maybe he was nervous, boxing before so many friends and all. He was in good shape, I know that.”

Johnston moved into a Tuesday night final bout against TherronnMillett of St. Louis, who flattened Vernon Forrest of Northern Michigan University at 2:10 of the first. When Forrest arose shakily, referee Tony Filipelli stopped it.

When Filipelli waved off Millett, the winner showed the best moves of the tournament. He leaped into the air, performed a backward flip and landed in the splits position.

Most impressive winner was light-middleweight (156 pounds) Raul Marquez of Houston. Only 19 and a powerful puncher, he pounded away at will against 24-year-old Kevin Bonner of the Army, who won a 1991 national Golden Gloves title.

Marquez lives in Houston and often trains in the gym with heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield and lightweight champion Pernell Whitaker. Working Marquez’s corner was Lou Duva, who trains Holyfield and Whitaker.

Marquez meets Ravea Springs of Cincinnati in Tuesday night’s final at the Forum.

Light-heavyweights Denard Trapp of the Army and Richard Bonds of Ripley, Tenn., threw their best shots at each other from bell to bell. Trapp was down in the first but wound up winning the closest bout in the history of electronic scoring, 39-38.