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I was doing research on the different American Olympic teams so I got in touch with Joe Byrd, the father of IBF Heavyweight Champion Chris Byrd and the head trainer of the 92 U.S. Olympic team. Mr. Byrd was gracious and kind and has contributed his life to the sport. At the beginning of the interview I was more intent on hearing his views on his experience as the Olympic coach of such stars as Oscar De La Hoya, Chris Byrd, and Tim Austin, but during the course of the conversation, Joe Byrd the man also became intriguing.
Joe feels that “the 76 Team was the best, they were superstars they proved themselves, they fought everybody, and came out with all the gold, that was the most special Olympic team that we ever had.” Obviously Joe was referring to the fact that the U.S. team won five Gold Medals competing in a wide open bracket in comparison to the 84 team that didn’t have to face the Cubans or the Russians. The Cubans also boycotted the 88 Olympics in Seoul. Coincidentally since their return to Olympic competition in 1992 they have dominated Amateur boxing and the U.S. has only won three Gold Medals in the last four Olympics.
After discussing the different Olympic teams I inquired about how Joe felt about Oscar De La Hoya’s potential as a professional at the time of the Games and Joe thought, “Oscar was going to be successful because he worked so hard, we had to try to calm him down because he trained so hard. Oscar could run better than anybody and what they put in is what they get out and Oscar was a really hard worker, he was really easy to work with.” [details]
Joe feels that “the 76 Team was the best, they were superstars they proved themselves, they fought everybody, and came out with all the gold, that was the most special Olympic team that we ever had.” Obviously Joe was referring to the fact that the U.S. team won five Gold Medals competing in a wide open bracket in comparison to the 84 team that didn’t have to face the Cubans or the Russians. The Cubans also boycotted the 88 Olympics in Seoul. Coincidentally since their return to Olympic competition in 1992 they have dominated Amateur boxing and the U.S. has only won three Gold Medals in the last four Olympics.
After discussing the different Olympic teams I inquired about how Joe felt about Oscar De La Hoya’s potential as a professional at the time of the Games and Joe thought, “Oscar was going to be successful because he worked so hard, we had to try to calm him down because he trained so hard. Oscar could run better than anybody and what they put in is what they get out and Oscar was a really hard worker, he was really easy to work with.” [details]