by David P. Greisman
Of all the truths readily apparent following the recent Olympic boxing tournament, one matter that is abundantly clear is the state of American boxing in international competition.
It ain’t what it once was. And that has become true for professional pugilism, too. Meanwhile, several other countries have begun to produce their own foreign powers. More on both of those later.
In the last 40 years, the United States has medaled 53 times in boxing at the summer games. But after an extended period of success, the program has seen a rapid decline.
A brief rundown:
In 1968, the team won seven medals, including two gold, one silver and four bronze. George Foreman came out on top among the heavyweights that year. In 1972, American boxers won one gold medal and three bronze.
The 1976 team became the measuring stick against which future programs would be held. Five men won gold medals, including Howard Davis, Sugar Ray Leonard, Leon Spinks and Michael Spinks. Another fighter pulled in silver, while a seventh earned a bronze. Alas, the members of the 1980 team never got a chance to compete, with the United States boycotting the Moscow games in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.
Come 1984, though, the Soviet Union returned the favor, not competing at the Los Angeles games. Several other countries did the same. With that, American audiences saw their athletes medal in 11 of the 12 weight classes, including nine gold-medal wins. The tournament produced multiple professional stars, including Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor and Pernell Whitaker.
Four years later, the 1988 team won eight medals, including three gold, three silver and two bronze. But this competition would change the face of amateur boxing, with Roy Jones Jr. suffering a blatant robbery loss in the junior-middleweight finals. The ensuing controversy would lead to the poor punch-scoring system seen since.
Three fighters earned medals in 1992, Oscar De La Hoya, Chris Byrd and Tim Austin winning gold, silver and bronze. The 1996 team got six medals, one of which was gold, with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Antonio Tarver among the five bronze medalists.
The 2000 team was the first since 1948 not to come back with a gold, but they did win four medals: two silver, two bronze. Only two Americans medaled in 2004, Andre Ward earning gold, Andre Dirrell pulling in a bronze.
This year, Deontay Wilder was the lone boxer from the United States to win a medal, a bronze in the heavyweight competition.
Part of the regression may be the change in rules in the wake of 1988 and Roy Jones. Olympic boxing no longer resembles professional fighting, nor do most of the contestants use the styles that have proven successful within the pro ranks. Instead, it apparently combines three other Olympic events: fencing, wrestling and running. The scoring system means that a clearly landed punch more often than not will be judged as not being so. Fighters who take the lead will then get on their bikes, avoiding exchanges and casting off aesthetics. International fighters of late seem more acclimated to this manner of competition.
The rest of it could be the changing face of professional boxing. The sport has long disappeared from network television, carried instead on cable, premium channels and pay-per-view. There are more options for entertainment, be it via hundreds of television stations, the wealth of video games or the endless expanse that is the Internet. As such, boxing has become a niche sport, one relegated during the Olympics to CNBC.
Fewer children see boxing. And fewer people take up the sport. In the meantime, football and basketball have grown into billion-dollar enterprises, drawing kids to fields and blacktops around the country. A generation’s worth of big men dream of being Michael Vick at quarterback or Michael Jordan on the hardwood, not Mike Tyson in the ring.
The United States still remains a presence in professional boxing. Americans currently hold 16 of the 64 available world title belts. Countless other boxers headline HBO and Showtime cards, main event on pay-per-views or draw sizable local crowds.
Yet the game has changed, and the surge of foreign powers had turned boxing into an import/export business. Fighters from other countries either become stars in the United States or earn superstardom beyond Americans borders before coming to the states for an extra measure of worldwide legitimacy. Others pack tens of thousands into stadiums or draw phenomenal ratings in their respective homelands. They now attract American fighters to challenge them overseas when in the past it was rare to see someone do so.
Winky Wright long ago had numerous stamps on his passport for places where he traded punches. He has fought in eight countries on four continents, 20 of his 56 pro fights coming in rings in Africa, Europe and South America when he was working his way up through the junior-middleweight ranks and then defending his first world title.
Steve Cunningham has been as far away as South Africa, Poland and Germany, the latter two where he won and then defended his cruiserweight title.
“When I go overseas, and there’s a stadium of hundreds upon hundreds of Germans or Poles, it really means something because I’m representing the United States, ” Cunningham said in an interview earlier this year. “I would love to have an American fan-base. But it doesn’t matter to me about going overseas. If I was fighting their whole fan-base, then there would be a problem. I’m only fighting one dude. When that bell rings, it’s me and him.”
Sometimes one just must go where the money is. When Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton can sell out large arenas and stadiums, what financial incentive is there for them to leave their comfort zones? Even when they do, the thought is that their fans will travel across the Atlantic Ocean to see them.
Cunningham was able to win in hostile territory. Others run into controversy. It’s a chance fighters must weigh taking. John Ruiz has never been a draw in America, so he has gone to Germany for the third time, on this coming occasion for a rematch with Nicolay Valuev.
Germany’s fans have adopted fighters from numerous countries, from Russia and the former Soviet Union countries to Croatia, Cuba and Turkey. Eventually, though, they do appear in the United States. Wladimir Klitschko splits his fights between the two nations, while Arthur Abraham recently flew to Florida to score a knockout over Edison Miranda.
That said, then, the state of American boxing is different than the state of Americans in boxing. Klitschko, who in recent years was one of the four then-heavyweight titlists from the former Soviet Union, has become both the top man in the sport’s marquee division and a familiar name among those who have seen him in the ring or in interviews on their television screens.
A look at the mythical pound-for-pound rankings in recent years reveals a number of foreign powers who have been imported to – and important in – the United States: Manny Pacquiao, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales.
Various others have taken advantage of the American melting pot and the nation’s love of a pugilistic equivalent to the sensation that was the Beatles Invasion: Naseem Hamed, Andrew Golota and John Duddy.
Sixteen years ago, the Dream Team demolished its Olympic challengers on the basketball courts of Barcelona. But in succeeding years, foreign players got better, and American dominance diminished, with the team even finishing in third place in 2004. Though the group nicknamed the Redeem Team triumphed in these recent Olympics, it did so against teams that provided far more resistance than had been met in 1992. Some games still weren’t close, but the level of skills and ability of players on other top teams, such as those from Spain and Argentina, is comparable.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise. The NBA has welcomed a flux of foreign faces in the past decade. Americans fans recognize talent, but they also feel national pride. If American boxers are to reclaim past fame, then they must rise to the occasion and overcome increasingly stiff international opposition.
The 10 Count will return next week.
David P. Greisman’s weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com
