Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

took place in the Memorial Sports Arena in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The boxing schedule began on July 29 and ended on August 11. Twelve boxing events were contested with the participation of 354 fighters from 81 countries. A

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-led

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

resulted in the withdrawals of the Soviet Union, Cuba, East Germany, Bulgaria and other

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

nations from boxing competitions. At the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

, that was impacted by an American-led

, Cuban boxers won 10 medals, with 6 of them being gold, and had again been expected to do well.Cuba Withdraws From Olympic
by the Associated Press, ''The New York Times'', May 24, 1984. However, the nation withdrew from the games following the announcement of the Soviet boycott.

Teófilo Stevenson Teófilo Stevenson Lawrence (29 March 1952 – 11 June 2012) was a Cuban amateur boxer who competed from 1966 to 1986. He won the Val Barker Trophy (1972) and was honored with the Olympic Order (1987). Stevenson is one of only three boxers to w ...

, who was going to try for his fourth Olympic gold medal before the boycott was officially announced, had previously defeated

Tyrell Biggs Tyrell Biggs (born December 22, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1998, and challenged once for the undisputed heavyweight title in 1987. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics, havi ...

twice (one by knockout) and Hermenegildo Báez had previously defeated

Henry Tillman Henry Durand Tillman (born August 1, 1960) is an American former professional boxer. Early life Tillman was born in Los Angeles, California. Amateur career Tillman twice defeated Mike Tyson as an amateur, winning both bouts via close decisions. ...

. Soviet

Alexander Yagubkin Alexander Gennadiyevich Yagubkin (25 April 1961 – 7 August 2013) was a Ukrainian amateur boxer who competed between 1979 and 1988. The only Soviet boxer to become the World heavyweight champion (1982,) never turned professional for political ...

defeated both Biggs and Tillman during the USA–USSR duals. Cuban and Soviet boxers, however, were more seasoned than their American counterparts. While US athletes typically turned pro after the Olympics, while still in their early twenties, Cubans and the Soviets were not allowed to do so and stayed on in the amateurs, participating in multiple Olympic cycles.

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the on ...

was controversially disqualified in the Light heavyweight semifinals for punching New Zealand boxer

Kevin Barry Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in an attack upon a Bri ...

after what seemed to be a stop. However, replay shows that the referee stopped the bout after his punches. Under IABA health regulation Barry was not allowed to box for 28 days, so he was scratched from the final, giving Yugoslav boxer

Anton Josipović Anton "Ante" Josipović (born 22 October 1961) is a former Yugoslav boxing, boxer from Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Yugoslavia). He won the Olympic medalists in boxing, light heavyweight gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Though Cr ...

the uncontested gold medal. During the medal ceremony, Josipović pulled bronze medalist Holyfield onto the highest step of the podium and raised his hand, acknowledging that Holyfield deserved to compete in the final. Due to the increasing size of heavyweight boxers (which put lighter heavyweights at a disadvantage), the Heavyweight division was split in two. The boxers above 200 pounds, were placed in the newly created Super Heavyweight division.

Medal table

Medal summary

References

External links

Official results

{{Val Barker Trophy winners

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

1984 Summer Olympics events 1984 in boxing International boxing competitions hosted by the United States Boxing in Los Angeles

Medal table

Medal summary

See also

References

External links