U.S. Boxers Lose in Finals

S Y D N E Y, Australia, Oct. 1, 2000 -- American boxers will go home from an

Olympics without a gold medal for the first time since 1948.

They didn’t exit quietly, though, officially protesting thatinept refereeing cost world 125-pound champion Rocky Juarez a goldmedal.

The International Amateur Boxing Association allowed thedecision to stand but suspended referee Stanislav Kirsanov ofRussia for four years. U.S. officials had asked for the suspensionas part of their protest.

In another disputed bout, Ricardo Williams Jr., of Cincinnati,the only other U.S. finalist, lost 27-20 to Abdullaev Mahamadkadyzof Uzbekistan in the 139-pound final today.

“Ricardo Williams was scoring and not getting points,” saidTom Mustin, head coach of the U.S. team. “Rocky couldn’t scorebecause they were holding him.”

While U.S. officials believed Williams won, they did not protestthe decision.

“We thought Ricardo won the fight, but we didn’t want it tosound like sour grapes,” U.S. team manager Gary Toney said.

IOC Official Thought Juarez Won

Juarez, of Houston, lost 22-14 to a clutching, grabbing BekzalSattakhanov of Kazakstan at 125 pounds. The defeat snapped the20-year-old Juarez’s winning streak at 68 bouts over two years.

Juarez charged that Sattakhanov was communicating with Kirsanov.

“It wasn’t until the third round when I hear this guy say aword,” Juarez said. “The fighter would look at the referee andtell him a specific word. I knew something was going on then andthere.”

One IOC member watching the bouts thought the Americans won.

“To me this is a scandal, the two Americans who lost should nothave lost,” said Gerhard Heiberg of Norway, who opposes boxing’spresence in the Olympics. “I’m not a favorite of the UnitedStates, but this cannot be allowed to stand.”

Holding Tactics Criticized

The losses left U.S. boxers with two silver and two bronzemedals, two fewer medals than they won in Atlanta four years agoand one more than they got in 1992.

“I did all I could do, but it wasn’t good enough,” Juarezsaid. “I didn’t come here to get the silver medal, I’mdisappointed. I think he should have been disqualified.”

Juarez complained about Sattarkhanov’s holding tacticsthroughout the bout. “I think he should have been disqualified,”Juarez said.

Toney said the referee cautioned Sattarkhanov nine times, but henever issued a warning that would have penalized him points andcould have led to a disqualification.

“I have no idea why the referee was allowing it,” Toney said.

“How many times do you warn someone before you do something,”said WBA heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, who wasdisqualified for hitting his opponent after the referee called“stop” in the 178-pound semifinals in 1984 at Los Angeles.

“I got behind early, but I thought I did enough in the last tworounds to win,” said Williams, who trailed 10-5 after the secondround. “The judges just didn’t agree.”

Asked if he thought judging cost him a gold, Williams said,“No, he was just better than me. I tried to box him the first tworounds. I thought he’d get tired. I guess I was too far behind.”

Juarez Can’t Close Gap

The 5-foot-3 Juarez, four inches shorter than his opponent, gothit repeatedly by left hands and trailed 15-4 after two rounds.

Then trailing 17-8 in the second round, Juarez landed five ofthe next six scoring blows, but Sattakhanov got home two scoringpunches in the closing seconds for a 20-13 lead.

Juarez kept charging forward and Sattarkhanov kept wrapping himup in the final round.

In other finals today, Ponlid Wijan of Thailand beat BulatJumadilov of Kazakstan 19-12 at 106; Yermakhan Ibraimov ofKazakstan outpointed Marin Simion of Romania 25-23; AlexanderLebziak of Russia defeated Rudolf Kraj of Russia 20-6 at 178pounds; and Audley Harrison of Britain whipped MukhtarkhanDildabekov of Kazakstan 30-16 for the super heavyweight title.

It is the first Olympic boxing gold medal for Britain sinceChris Finnegan won at 165 pounds in 1968.

Cubans won four gold medals Saturday, matching the number theywon in 1996. One of the golds was the third for heavyweight FelixSavon. Cuba also got two bronze.

Oleg Saitov of Russia, gold medalist at 147 pounds Saturday, waspicked as the outstanding boxer of the competition.