Roy Jones Still Could Get 1988 Olympic Boxing Gold

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - U.S. boxer Roy Jones Jr. has never been closer to receiving the Olympic gold medal many thought was wrongfully denied him at the 1988 Games in Seoul, South Korea.

The fate of Jones' case rests with the International Olympic Committee president, Juan Antonio Samaranch. A decision could be made as early as next month.

Samaranch agreed to look into the case after a meeting at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, with the U.S. Olympic Committee president, Bill Hybl of Colorado Springs.

"President Samaranch, I feel, was receptive and concerned about the 1988 decision of Roy Jones," Hybl said. "He has indicated that he personally is going to review the data involved, including the fight itself, which I think is fair and just."

Most observers felt that Park Si-hun's 3-2 decision over Jones in their 156-pound gold-medal bout in 1988 was anything but fair - or just.

Compubox, a private company hired by NBC to count the number of punches thrown and landed, had Jones landing 86 punches to 32 for Park.

The decision was derided by veteran ring observers of all nationalities, by journalists, boxing officials and fans. Their verdict: It was the worst decision they had ever seen.

Despite the loss, Jones was named the outstanding boxer of the 1988 Olympics.

Afterward, one of the judges, Morocco's Hiouad Larbi, told several angry journalists: "The American won easily; so easily, in fact, that I was positive my four fellow judges would score the fight for the American by a wide margin. So I voted for the Korean to make the score only 4-1 for the American and not embarrass the host country."

Unfortunately for Jones, the judges from Uruguay and Uganda did the same thing.

USA Boxing officials lost their appeal, although all three judges were later suspended.

And that is where the issue stood until last year when new information about the boxing competition at the Seoul Olympics was uncovered in documents kept by the Stasi, the former East German Secret Police.

The Stasi documents detailed a long list of payments to boxing officials at the Seoul Olympics, from referees to judges, to officials of various boxing federations. The Stasi source was the secretary general of the international boxing federation, Karl-Heinz Wehr.

The documents were supported by Italian referee Aldo Leoni, who roomed with Argentine judge Osbaldo Bisbal during the Seoul Games.

Leoni said he was told by Bisbal that three working judges were escorted to the Korean federation secretary's office and given white envelopes full of money. Bisbal reportedly refused and was pulled from the bout at the last minute.

Jerry Dusenberry, Former USA Boxing president, long had sought to have Jones awarded a gold medal, only to be rebuffed by IOC officials. But Dick Schultz, USOC executive director, intervened last fall and the IOC agreed to form a panel to investigate the circumstances around the Jones-Park bout.

The panel heard evidence in the case during a meeting last fall in Cancun, Mexico. The USOC's role grew when Hybl was elected president last October. After reviewing the evidence, he decided to approach the IOC personally.

Hybl said the USOC wasn't asking that Park be stripped of his gold medal.

"We are requesting in this special case that recognition is given to Roy Jones in the form of a gold medal," Hybl said. "It's only fair. Most importantly, it's a case where the facts demand an adjustment."