Today marks 10 days to the opening bell at Paris 2024, when 10 Team Ireland boxers will begin their campaigns.
July 27th will also mark the centenary of Irish Olympic boxing, and we’re revisiting every Irish Olympic boxing team in celebration.
Cork’s Kieran Joyce made an explosive start on his Olympic debut at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. The Sunnyside BC champion, boxing in the welterweight class, KO’d Basil Boniface of the Seychelles in the second round of his opening bout on August 1st of that year, but then lost 4-1 to Finland’s Joni Nyman – who claimed bronze after beating Dwight Frazier of Jamaica in the quarter-finals – five days later. In 2014, Joyce was presented with the Cork Boxer of the century Award.
Paul Fitzgerald was the only Irish boxer to win two bouts in LA. The Arklow man hammered out a unanimous decision (5-0) over Sudanese featherweight Tobi Pelly before earning a split decision (3-2) over Canada’s Steve Pagendam to reach the last-16 where he dropped a split decision to Uganda’s Charles Lubulwa, who was beaten in the quarter-finals.
Gerry Hawkins and Phil Sutcliffe, appearing in successive Olympiads, bowed out in the preliminaries to Italian opponents, both of whom finished amongst the silverware. Hawkins lost to Salvator Todisco, who was beaten by Paul Gonzalez of the USA in the light-flyweight final, and Sutcliffe was eliminated by Maurizio Stecca in the bantamweight class. Stecca, who beat Hector Lopez of Mexico in the final, eventually turned professional and secured the vacant WBO featherweight title in 1991, a belt he successfully defended twice. It was the second Olympics in-a-row in which Sutcliffe lost against an opponent who would go on to win three World titles in the pro ranks.
“What I remember about the LA Games was the organisation, recalled Sutcliffe, who has the distinction of winning two European bronze medals for Ireland at two different weight classes (light-flyweight and bantamweight) on both sides of the former Iron Curtain in East (Halle) and West (Cologne) Germany in 1977 and 1979. Of course, I was very disappointed to lose there as my target was to win a medal. My hand was broken at those Olympics. Los Angeles was a great tournament and we were really looked after well. We had a strong team going to the USA and we all fancied our chances of winning a medal but it wasn’t to be.
“I felt that I didn’t get a good run at Stecca, I drew him in the first round and he won and went on the win the gold.”
Sam Storey, a silver medal winner at the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland, was in against Italian light-middleweight Romolo Casamonica in his opening bout. Storey was on top in the opening two rounds, but then, exhausted, lost out in the final frame, Casamonica went out to Frank Tate of the USA in the next phase.
Tate progressed to win a controversial gold medal against Shawn O’Sullivan. The Canadian forced Tate into two standing counts in the 1984 decider, but the American was bizarrely handed a unanimous decision. Even Tate’s coach the late Emanuel Steward, who once coaches Andy Lee, Ireland’s only boxer at the 2004 Olympics, admitted that O’Sullivan may have won. “Although Frank is my fighter, I kind of feel sorry for O’Sullivan,” he said at the time.
Meanwhile, Tommy Corr, a bronze medal winner for Ireland at the 1982 AIBA World Championships in Munich, earned an impressive unanimous decision over Zimbabwe’s Arigoma Mayero in his opening contest in LA, but then lost to Jeremiah Okorodudu of Nigeria. Okorodudu went out to eventual gold medalist, Joon Sup Shin of Korea, in the next phase.
The USA took full advantage of the USSR’s and Cuba’s boycott of the 1984 Games to deliver nine gold medals and finish on top of the medals podium at the Memorial Sports Arena.
The LA Games saw the introduction of a 12th weight category (super-heavyweight). Likewise, Tyrrell Biggs of the USA became the first ever Olympic champion in this weight class following his win over Italy’s Francesco Damiani.
Henry Tillman, who had beaten a young man by the name of Mike Tyson in the Olympics trials for the USA heavyweight vest, also won gold, but Evander Hollyfield lost in the semi-finals to Kevin Barry of new Zealand on a disqualification.
Korea lost a number of quarter-finals on disputed decisions in LA. The lingering resentment at those results appears to have been a factor in one of the most scandalous verdicts in the history of the sport in Seoul four years later, a decision which almost cost boxing its Olympic status and led to the changing of the scoring system for Barcelona 1992.
The wearing of head guards in boxing was made compulsory for the first time at the 1984 Olympics.
Team Ireland: LA 1984
Light-flyweight: Gerry Hawkins (Holy Trinity)
Lost to Salvatore Todisco (Italy) 5-0
Bantamweight: Phil Sutcliffe (Drimnagh)
Lost to eventual gold medalist Maurizio Stecca (Italy) 0-5
Featherweight: Paul Fitzgerald (Arklow)
Beat Tobi Pelly (Sudan) 5-0
Beat Steve Pagendam (Canada) 3-2
Lost to Charles Lubulwa (Uganda) 2-3
Welterweight: Kieran Joyce (Sunnyside)
Beat Basil Boniface (Seychelles) TKO1
Lost to eventual bronze medalist Joni Nyman (Finland) 1-4
Light-middle: Sam Storey (Holy Family)
Lost to Romolo Casamonica (Italy) TKO3
Middleweight: Tommy Corr (Clonoe)
Beat Arigoma Mayero (Zimbabwe) 5-0
Lost to Jeremiah Okorodudu (Nigeria) 1-4
Check out the Opening Ceremony highlights:
After the financial problems of 1976, only Los Angeles bid for the right to host the 1984 Olympic Games. The bid was criticised for depending heavily on existing facilities and corporate sponsors. However, the Games produced a healthy profit of $223 million (USD) and became the model for future Games.
Athletes from 140 states competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Eighteen states made their Olympic debut: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Grenada, Mauritania, Mauritius, North Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Western Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and the United Arab Emirates. Zaire had previously competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics as Congo-Kinshasa. The People’s Republic of China made its first appearance in a Summer Olympics since 1952, while for the first time the Republic of China team participated under the name of Chinese Taipei.
Debuts and Firsts
Archer Neroli Fairhall of New Zealand was the first paraplegic athlete to take part in a medal event, competing in a wheelchair. The first Olympic women’s marathon was staged, and was won by Joan Benoit of the U.S. Rhythmic gymnastics, synchronised swimming and the women’s cycling road race also made their debuts.