The U.S. team won gold medals in nine of the 12 weight divisions, and captured medals in 11. Only in the bantamweight division did the Americans fail to bring in any hardware. The bonanza surpassed even that of the legendary 1976 U.S. squad, which won five golds and seven medals overall.
Granted, the task of the 1984 team was easier, since the Los Angeles games were boycotted by Soviet Bloc countries, including boxing powerhouse Cuba. But the squad's mettle was legitimized by the success its members later attained as professionals.
American Capture Nine Golds
American gold was captured by light flyweight Paul Gonzales, flyweight Steve McCrory, featherweight Meldrick Taylor, lightweight Pernell Whitaker, junior welterweight Jerry Page, welterweight Mark Breland, junior middleweight Frank Tate, heavyweight Henry Tillman and super heavyweight Tyrell Biggs.
Middleweight Virgil Hill took silver, and light heavyweight Evander Holyfield settled for bronze after a freak disqualification in the semifinals. Holyfield failed to hear the referee's command to "break" and instead knocked down New Zealand's Kevin Barry. The DQ cost Holyfield a shot at gold against Yugoslavian star Anton Josipovic.
The only American who did not reach the medal stand was bantamweight Robert Shannon, who lost in the round of 16.
Seven Team Members Win World Titles
Seven members of the 1984 squad later reigned as world champions in the pro ranks; and all but Page and Shannon fought for a world title at point or another.
Gonzales, who was named Most Outstanding Boxer at the 1984 Games, captured an International Boxing Federation bantamweight crown. Breland reigned twice as World Boxing Association welterweight champion, and Tate held the IBF middleweight belt. McCrory, who died in 2000 after a long illness, had a moderately successful pro career which included an unsuccessful bid for an IBF bantamweight belt.
Taylor won an IBF junior welterweight crown and a WBA welterweight title, but is probably best known for his controversial loss to Julio Cesar Chavez in 1990. Taylor outboxed the legendary Mexican slugger for the better part of 12 rounds before being pummeled in the final round. Referee Richard Steele stopped the bout with two seconds remaining, declaring Chavez the victor by TKO. A tally of the official scorecards revealed that Taylor would have won on points if Steele had not stepped in.
Whitaker, Holyfield, Hill Lead Way
Whitaker was perhaps the most dominant product of the 1984 Games. A shrewd defensive fighter, he unified the world lightweight title, and also won IBF junior welterweight, World Boxing Council welterweight, and WBA junior middleweight crowns. He was rated as the No. 3 lightweight of all time by Ring Magazine in 2001. ESPN.com ranked him No. 44 all-time on its list of greatest fighters pound-for-pound in 2007.
Two of the non-gold medalists from 1984 also enjoyed sparkling pro careers.
Holyfield lasted the longest and acheived the greatest fame of the group, winning a world heavyweight title four times in addition to reigning as a cruiserweight champion. He was active as recently as 2008, losing a controversial decision to 7-foot Russian champion Nicolay Valuev in a WBA heavyweight title bout. Ring ranked Holyfield as the No. 3 heavyweight of all time in 1998, and ESPN.com placed him at No. 40 on its list of greatest fighters.
Hill never drew attention like Whitaker and Holyfield, but he did put together a pair of lengthy title runs. He reigned as WBA light heavyweight and WBA cruiserweight champion, managing a combined 20 title defenses.
Tillman and Biggs did not fare as well. The former was stopped by ex-teammate Holyfield in a bid for the cruiserweight title, and the latter was flattened by Mike Tyson in a heavyweight championship bout.
Tyson, ironically, did not make the 1984 Olympic team, being edged out by Tillman at the U.S. trials.
Was 1984 US Team Better Than '76 Squad?
Twenty-five years later, debate still rages over whether the 1984 team had the skills to match the 1976 USA squad.
After all, Tate and Biggs captured gold only after winning highly controversial decisions over favored Canadian fighters. And like their teammates, they did not have to face Cubans, East Germans or Russians because of the boycott, and were fighting on U.S. soil. The 1976 U.S. team did have Soviet Bloc countries among the competition and still managed to impress at Montreal.
The '76 group featured Sugar Ray Leonard and Michael Spinks, two all-time greats. Leonard, rated by Ring as the fifth-best welterweight and by ESPN.com as the No. 14 all-time boxer, captured world titles in four other weight classes during his much-publicized career.
Spinks, listed by Ring as the No. 3 light-heavyweight in its all-time rankings, claimed world championships in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. His brother Leon, a light heavyweight gold medalist in 1976 at Montreal, reigned briefly as world heavyweight champion, as did Olympic teammate John Tate, the bronze medalist in the heavyweight division.
Another '76 champion, Leo Randolph, went on to win a world bantamweight crown, and Montreal gold medalist Howard Davis Jr. was a longtime lightweight contender who was unsuccessful in three world title tries. Davis was the most highly rated of U.S. boxers in 1976, and was named Most Outstanding Boxer in Montreal.
The 1976 team also included Charles Mooney, a silver medalist who never fought professionally; as well as Davey Armstrong and Clint Jackson -- amateur greats who each fell one win short of medals at Montreal.
The 1984 vs. 1976 debate cannot be settled without time machine. But there can be no argument over one thing: The '84 U.S. squad was the winningest team in Olympic boxing history.
