Sunday, October 01, 2000
U.S. blames officiating, scoring for boxing defeats
By ED SCHUYLER Jr.
AP Boxing Writer
SYDNEY, Australia — U.S. boxing coach Tom Mustin blamed the officiating and scoring after Cincinnati's Ricardo Williams Jr. and Houston's Rocky Juarez lost their gold-medal fights Sunday. And he wasn't alone:
The International Amateur Boxing Association suspended the referee in Juarez' fight, Stanislav Kiersanova of Russia, for four years after the U.S. lodged an official protest. But the IABB let the decision stand.
One IOC member watching the bouts thought the Americans won.
“To me this is a scandal, the two Americans who lost should not have lost,” said Gerhard Heiberg of Norway, who opposes boxing's presence in the Olympics. “I'm not a favorite of the United States, but this cannot be allowed to stand.”
“Ricardo Williams was scoring and not getting points,” said Mustin. “Rocky couldn't score because they were holding him.”
While U.S. officials said Williams also deserved to win, they did not protest the decision in his bout.
“We thought Ricardo won the fight, but we didn't want it to sound like sour grapes,” U.S. team manager Gary Toney said.
Juarez, of Houston, lost 22-14 to a clutching, grabbing Bekzal Sattakhanov of Kazakstan at 125 pounds. The defeat snapped the 20-year-old Juarez's winning streak at 68 bouts over two years.
Juarez charged that Sattakhanov was communicating with the referee.
“It wasn't until the third round when I hear this guy say a word,” Juarez said. “The fighter would look at the referee and tell him a specific word. I knew something was going on then and there.
“I think he should have been disqualified.”
Toney said the referee cautioned Sattarkhanov nine times, but he never issued a warning that would have penalized him points and could 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 was disqualified for hitting his opponent after the referee called “stop” in the 178-pound semifinals in 1984 at Los Angeles.
The losses left U.S. boxers with two silver and two bronze medals, two less medals than they won in Atlanta four years ago and one more than they got in 1992.
Another Cincinnati boxer, Dante Craig, lost in the second round.
“I did all I could do, but it wasn't good enough,” Juarez said. “I didn't come here to get the silver medal, I'm disappointed.
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