BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS / DAY 12 : De La Hoya, Byrd and Austin Carrying U.S. Boxing Hopes

In the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, a United States squad that came to be known as “the team the stars fell on” had five gold medalists, three of whom became professional world champions--Sugar Ray Leonard, light-welterweight; Michael Spinks, middleweight, and Leon Spinks, light-heavyweight.

Sixteen years later, there are three young Americans who have advanced past the quarterfinals, greatly outnumbered by Cubans but nonetheless harboring high hopes of reaching weekend gold-medal bouts.

Today and Friday, the semifinal round will be held for 24 survivors among 343 competitors who began boxing here 12 days ago.

Oscar De La Hoya of East Los Angeles, the lightweight, will meet South Korean left-hander Hong Sung Sik.

Three bouts later, middleweight Chris Byrd of Flint, Mich., the U.S. boxing coach’s son, will face hard-hitting Canadian Chris Johnson.

On Friday, Cincinnati flyweight Tim Austin draws the toughest U.S. foe, Cuban Raul Gonzalez, who has overpowered three consecutive opponents.

The Cubans could win nine gold medals, equaling the U.S. record of 1984, when Cuba and most of the Eastern Bloc nations boycotted the Games in Los Angeles.