Officials: Bray Got No Invitation Because of International Record : Boxing: He is 3-9 against fighters from other countries since 1988. Heavyweight says decision was reaction to his published comments.

The medical disqualification of Shannon Briggs at the Olympic trials Wednesday raised anew the question of why John Bray, the heavyweight from Van Nuys, was not given an at-large invitation to the trials.

Bray was instead required to try to qualify at the Western Olympic trials at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., last month.

Bray, 21, was the 1991 national champion and the most experienced U.S. amateur heavyweight at the start of the year. He claims USA Boxing “stacked the deck” against him and unfairly excluded him from competing in this week’s Olympic team trials.

At Ft. Huachuca, Bray reached the final but lost to Marlon Simpkins, who was eliminated in one round here Wednesday night. The Olympic trials selection committee, with two at-large invitations, passed on Bray.

Bray, pointing out that he has defeated four of the eight heavyweights at the trials, blames his exclusion on remarks he made in a Times article last January, in which he alleged racism on the part of the Olympic team’s largely black coaching staff and unnamed boxers.

USA Boxing officials say Bray, who is of Latino-Anglo heritage, was not given an at-large invitation because of his “poor record” in international competition.

Bray is 3-9 in international bouts since 1988. Since 1991, he has lost to Soviet, German and Cuban boxers.

“John does very well in U.S. competition, but he just falls apart in international bouts,” said Bruce Mathes, competition director of USA Boxing. “And his record in international competition was taken into account when the decisions on at-large invitations were made.”

Bray could have qualified for the trials at the national championships in February by placing first or second, but says he could not compete because of a hand injury.

USA Boxing says Bray never informed the federation of his injury.