Boxing at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Boxing at the 1980 Summer Olympics took place at the Indoor Stadium of the Olympiyski Sports Complex in Moscow from 20 July to 2 August. Eleven boxing events (all men's individual) were contested with the participation of 271 fighters from 51 countries.^[1]

Non-participating teams

Had the United States and West Germany participated in the Olympics, their teams would have encompassed the following athletes:

Weight class	United States	West Germany
48 kg	Robert Shannon	Heinrich Boell
51 kg	Richard Sandoval	Stefan Gertel
54 kg	Jackie Beard	Peter Suckrow
57 kg	Bernard Taylor	Klaus-Dieter Ott
60 kg	Joe Manley	René Weller
63 kg	Johnny Bumphus	Michael Kopzog
67 kg	Don Curry	Ernst Müller
71 kg	James Shuler	Markus Intlekofer
75 kg	Charles Carter	Reinhard Jassmann
81 kg	Lee Roy Murphy	Kurt Seiler
+81 kg	James Broad	Peter Hussing

The only meeting of American and Cuban boxers (who eventually took 6 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze medals at the Olympics) that year took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, February 1980, prior to the boycott, the United States were represented by the different team, while the Cuban team was almost identic to their Olympic team.^[2] The absence of the U.S. boxing team at the Olympics was used by Soviet and IOC propaganda outlining how the U.S. absence constituted a defeat for the United States.^[3] Anthony Austin of The New York Times noted the absence of the U.S., West German, Japanese, and other teams as painfully obvious in the opening procession of the 1980 Games. Nonetheless, the quality of the competition was high. Austin argued that the White House misplaced their hope if officials expected the boycott to reduce the Moscow games to a second-class sporting event. He also added that the games ended on a colorful note even with the sparse attendance of countries at the closing ceremony.^[4] Taking away the Olympic tickets from eleven U.S. boxers not only deprived them of chance to prove their superiority, but also stripped them from million-dollar contracts in the future, as the Olympics serve a positive push necessary for a succesful professional career, which almost none of them had.^[5] Nonetheless, the absence of American boxers, as well as track athletes, swimmers, and basketball players, who have traditionally been dominant in the events in which they excel, accounted for the huge numbers of medals picked off by the Socialist countries.^[6]

Although the U.S. 1980 Boxing team was not as impressive as its 1976 Olympic team that featured Sugar Ray Leonard, Howard Davis and the Spinks brothers, the U.S. team would have been competing for gold in several weight classes, namely: Richard Sandoval (light flyweight), Jackie Beard (bantamweight) and Bernard Taylor (featherweight). Without the U.S. and Western European teams, the competition was sure to be decided among the boxers of socialist countries.^[7]

Medalists

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Light flyweight (48kg) details	Shamil Sabirov Soviet Union	Hipólito Ramos Cuba	Lee Byong-Uk North Korea Ismail Mustafov Bulgaria
Flyweight (51kg) details	Petar Lesov Bulgaria	Viktor Miroshnichenko Soviet Union	Hugh Russell Ireland János Váradi Hungary
Bantamweight (54kg) details	Juan Bautista Hernández Pérez Cuba	Bernardo Pinango Venezuela	Michael Anthony Guyana Dumitru Cipere Romania
Featherweight (57kg) details	Rudi Fink East Germany	Adolfo Horta Cuba	Viktor Rybakov Soviet Union Krzysztof Kosedowski Poland
Lightweight (60kg) details	Ángel Herrera Cuba	Viktor Demyanenko Soviet Union	Kazimierz Adach Poland Richard Nowakowski East Germany
Light welterweight (63.5kg) details	Patrizio Oliva Italy	Serik Konakbayev Soviet Union	Tony Willis Great Britain José Aguilar Cuba
Welterweight (67kg) details	Andrés Aldama Cuba	John Mugabi Uganda	Karl-Heinz Krüger East Germany Kazimierz Szczerba Poland
Light middleweight (71kg) details	Armando Martínez Cuba	Aleksandr Koshkyn Soviet Union	Ján Franek Czechoslovakia Detlef Kästner East Germany
Middleweight (75kg) details	José Gómez Cuba	Viktor Savchenko Soviet Union	Valentin Silaghi Romania Jerzy Rybicki Poland
Light heavyweight (81kg) details	Slobodan Kačar Yugoslavia	Paweł Skrzecz Poland	Herbert Bauch East Germany Ricardo Rojas Cuba
Heavyweight (+81kg) details	Teófilo Stevenson Cuba	Pyotr Zayev Soviet Union	István Lévai Hungary Jürgen Fanghänel East Germany

Medal table

* Host nation (Soviet Union)

Participation

NOC	48 kg	51 kg	54 kg	57 kg	60 kg	63.5 kg	67 kg	71 kg	75 kg	81 kg	+81 kg	Total
Afghanistan			X	X	X							3
Algeria	X					X				X		2
Angola			X	X	X							3
Australia					X					X		2
Austria									X			1
Benin			X	X	X	X	X	X	X			7
Brazil				X		X		X	X			4
Bulgaria	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	11
Cameroon			X	X		X				X		4
Republic of the Congo					X		X			X		3
Cuba	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	11
Czechoslovakia				X			X	X				3
Denmark					X		X			X		3
Dominican Republic			X									1
East Germany	X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	10
Ecuador	X		X								X	3
Ethiopia	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X				8
Finland	X		X	X			X		X			5
France			X	X								2
Great Britain		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		9
Guinea		X	X					X				3
Guyana			X	X		X			X			4
Hungary	X	X	X	X	X	X	X			X	X	9
India	X	X	X									3
Iraq	X	X		X		X	X	X		X		7
Ireland	X	X	X	X	X	X	X					7
Italy					X	X		X			X	4
Laos	X		X	X	X	X	X					6
Lebanon							X	X				2
Madagascar				X	X		X					3
Mali			X									1
Mexico	X	X	X	X								4
Mongolia	X	X	X	X	X	X	X					7
Nepal		X	X	X		X						3
Nicaragua		X	X									2
Nigeria			X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	8
North Korea	X	X		X	X	X			X			6
Poland	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	11
Portugal	X											1
Puerto Rico		X		X		X						3
Romania	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	11
Seychelles				X			X					2
Sierra Leone					X		X					2
Soviet Union	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	11
Sweden				X	X	X		X	X		X	6
Syria	X	X	X	X		X	X	X			X	8
Tanzania		X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X	9
Uganda	X		X		X	X	X	X	X			7
Venezuela	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X			9
Yugoslavia			X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	9
Zambia		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X			8
51 NOCs	22	22	33	35	29	30	29	23	19	15	14	271

References

^ "Boxing at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
^ U.S.-Cuba bout grows in importance, The Anniston Star, February 9, 1980, p. 22.
^ Why Us, Mr. President?: The US Boxing Team and the Boycott
^ Austin, Anthony “Games End on Colorful Note,” The New York Times, August 4, 1980, C1 & 4
^ The American Olympic Team that Wasn't by Martin Mulcahey.
^ Kirschten, Dick (31 May 1980). "The Olympic Boycott and Sinking Expectations". National Journal. 12 (22): 903. ISSN 0360-4217.
^ Caraccioli, Tom; Caraccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. New Chapter Press. p. 177.

External links

[SR-1] "Boxing at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved 23 December 2018.

[2] U.S.-Cuba bout grows in importance, The Anniston Star, February 9, 1980, p. 22.

[3] Why Us, Mr. President?: The US Boxing Team and the Boycott

[4] Austin, Anthony “Games End on Colorful Note,” The New York Times, August 4, 1980, C1 & 4

[5] The American Olympic Team that Wasn't by Martin Mulcahey.

[6] Kirschten, Dick (31 May 1980). "The Olympic Boycott and Sinking Expectations". National Journal. 12 (22): 903. ISSN 0360-4217.

[7] Caraccioli, Tom; Caraccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. New Chapter Press. p. 177.

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v t e Val Barker Trophy winners
Awarded to the outstanding and most stylistic boxer of each Olympic Games
Men	1936: Louis Laurie (USA) 1948: George Hunter (RSA) 1952: Norvel Lee (USA) 1956: Dick McTaggart (GBR) 1960: Giovanni Benvenuti (ITA) 1964: Valeri Popenchenko (URS) 1968: Philip Waruinge (KEN) 1972: Teófilo Stevenson (CUB) 1976: Howard Davis Jr. (USA) 1980: Patrizio Oliva (ITA) 1984: Paul Gonzales (USA) 1988: Roy Jones Jr. (USA) 1992: Roberto Balado (CUB) 1996: Vassiliy Jirov (KAZ) 2000: Oleg Saitov (RUS) 2004: Bakhtiyar Artayev (KAZ) 2008: Vasiliy Lomachenko (UKR) 2012: Serik Sapiyev (KAZ) 2016: Hasanboy Dusmatov (UZB)
Women	2016: Claressa Shields (USA)