ACOG - Boxing - IBM

Olympic Boxing Overview

The list of heroes is long: Behrendt, Clay, Frazier, Foreman, Leonard, Papp, Patterson, Stevenson.

The list of characters may be even longer.

From the sit-in protests staged by Koreans BYUN Jong-Il and Choh Dong-Kih to the bewildering strategy of Sweden’s Ingemar Johansson to the courageous effort of the United States’ Howard Davis, the Olympic boxing tournament has produced as many colorful personalities as gold medal winners.

Upset with his disqualification in the ring, Byun staged a 51-minute sit-in to protest the decision at the 1964 Games in Tokyo. Likewise, Choh sat in the middle of the ring for more than an hour in 1988 in his protest of a decision. While protests and controversy are as much a part of the sport as the jab and the uppercut, new technology could help reduce decision-swaying bias in the sport while assisting judges in their evaluation of the bout.

One of the oldest Olympic sports, boxing receives a technological update in the Centennial Olympic Games. First introduced at the Olympic tournament in 1992, computerized scoring makes its second appearance at the Games in a newer, updated version. With the system, each of the five ringside judges has a control panel from which they can register a scoring blow. When a judge believes a boxer has landed a punch, he has one second to press the color-coded (red or blue) scoring button. If three of the judges press the button within one second of each other, the boxer is credited with a point for the scoring punch. To register as a legal, scoring blow, the gloves white surface must strike the front area of the opponent’s head or torso. At the end of the bout, the boxer with the most points is declared the winner. While not perfect, the system will allow officials to carefully evaluate how bouts are judged.

The technology also may be changing the strategy of the sport. Quick-striking boxers were generally thought to have an edge over their power-punching counterparts in the Olympic ring. Punches for knockdowns count the same as any other successful blow and the shortness of the bouts allows little time for the power punchers to wear down their opponents. However, lightning-quick boxers who previously ran up point totals with flurries of punches to the body, now find they may be too fast for the system, with many of their scoring blows failing to register within the one-second window. As a result, boxers often opt for a more defensive approach, scoring on well-timed and clearly-seen jabs and counterpunches.

Cuba and Germany, two countries with long boxing traditions have adapted well to the new style and scoring. Of the AIBA’s 1995 top-three ranked boxers in each weight class, eleven came from Cuba or Germany. Two-time Olympic and world champion Felix Savon and Olympic gold medalists and top-rated Ariel Hernandez and Hector Vincent head the Cuban delegation, which captured seven gold medals at the 1992 Games. Germany won two gold medals at Barcelona.

While the Cubans and Germans have benefited from the new strategies, some older philosophies have not been so successful. In the 1952 heavyweight finals, Sweden’s Ingemar Johansson attempted to avoid losing the bout by simply avoiding any conflict in the ring. Johansson’s plan backfired, however, and he was disqualified for passivity. Undaunted, Johansson later defeated 1952 Olympic middleweight champ Floyd Patterson for the world professional heavyweight championship.

First awarded in 1936, the Val Barker Award is presented to the best overall technical boxer at each Olympic Games. In 1976, it also went to one of the most courageous boxer. Following the death of his mother shortly before the start of the Games, Howard Davis of the United States fought an emotional battle to capture the gold medal.

While stories of bravery have become commonplace at the Olympic tournament, the inspiration they provide has been anything but ordinary. During the Centennial Games, a new group of warriors will enter the ring for the ultimate one-on-one confrontation. The years of running, sparring and training will payoff in gold, silver and bronze for the next wave of colorful personalities and skillful boxers: boxers that will make the list of heroes even longer.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publication Department. Written by Howard Thomas.


Olympic Factoid
More tickets were sold to the competitions of the 1996 Games than to any other Olympic Games or sports event in history. The 8.6 million ticket sales figures topped sales to the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games combined.