Why did Park take the win and gold medal from Roy Jones Jr?

yeah, if i were him, i would not have accepted it myself. he KNEW he had been BEATEN from post to post, it came out after the iron curtain fell that the east german judges had been paid off to vote for him no matter what barring a knock out.

 

Apparently, many years later, he went to Pensacola to give it to Roy.

 

Didn't know that, thanks for sharing!

 

Face saving culture.

 

It was payback for the judging in Los Angeles 4 years before.

 

I've got a good Roy Jones story from back in the day. I was working out in the back yard listening to the live radio coverage of the Olympic boxing finals in 1988. There weren't multiple television channels covering different sports at the Olympics back in those days (at least not in Australia) so if you wanted to follow the Olympic boxing finals live, you had to listen on the radio. So that's what I was doing while swinging a pick in the back yard. Think I got stung by a bee that day but that's another story. Anyway, I remember the coverage of the Middleweight final between the American Roy Jones and the local South Korean. The Australian commentators on ABC radio were George Grljusich and Benny Pike. Benny Pike was a former Olympic boxer who still broadcasts boxing occasionally today (he did the Pacific Games Olympic selection trials last year, for example). Anyway, I'm listening to the fight and as it came to an end they're saying it's very close and don't be surprised if the decision goes to the South Korean (being the home-town fighter). Then the decision gets announced and they immediately changed their tune declaring it to be a robbery. What's interesting is that a moment or two earlier they were saying it was close and could quite reasonably go either way. When people say the Roy Jones Olympic final was a particularly egregious decision, I'm always reminded of the commentary I listened to that day. I guess my point is that any time an American gets the rough end of the pineapple, it's like the biggest robbery of all time (think Pernell Whitaker when he lost in France). In reality, these robberies are no worse than what many other fighters have to endure.

 

Shame the internet and boxing forums like this one wasn’t around then.

 

But it wasn’t even remotely close.

So what fight were they watching?

It’s still available.

You can see it for yourself.

 

Totally robbery.

not all that different than what happened to Evander Holyfield, although with him it was a complete bull**** DQ.

 

The fight they were watching was the one that occurred in front of them while they were watching it live. They changed their tune quick smart on the outcome when they heard the (predominantly South Korean) crowd's reaction to the decision. So did the South Korean fighter who was awarded the gold. The judges who scored it live didn't get that chance. Giving decisions in the Olympic boxing to the hometown guy has been a common occurrence. AJ v Savon in the first round of the London Olympics is another example of it.

 

I didn't hear that coverage but ranked Benny Pike better than calling that fight close because it just wasn't.

(it was light middleweight not middleweight by the way)

 

The judges do only get one go at it and do only witness the fight from the angle they are seated at but that fight just wasn't close.

I just watched it again, for about the 5th time and Jones out-landed Park by a big margin - particularly in the 1st - and Park took a standing 8 count in the 2nd.

The result was corruption, pure and simple.

 

They said it was a robbery straight after the decision was announced. I'm sure that's the version of events they would tell today. It's not what I remember though. George is no longer around to give his side of the story. The reaction of the Australian commentators was the same as the Korean fighter. If you look at the still in the original post when the decision is announced, he's ready to celebrate a victory. Like the commentators, he changed his tune on the outcome when the crowd reacted badly. Can't say I've seen too many fighters over the years refrain from claiming victory just b/c the crowd doesn't agree with the decision.