FROM envelopes full of cash to “crooked” judges – Roy Jones Jr was cheated out of a gold medal in the biggest Olympic boxing scandal of all time.
Jones, just 19 at the time, reached the 1988 light middleweight final in Seoul to face boxer Park Si-Hun.
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And he seemed to have made easy work of South Korea’s Park – hitting 86 shots to 32 against him.
Two standing eight counts should have cemented Jones’ victory and Olympic gold – but the solution was right.
Because only two of the five judges scored in favor of the American – to the chagrin of those who watched.
After reading the shocking result, Italian referee Aldo Leoni reportedly whispered to Jones: “I can’t believe they’re doing this to you.”
Bob Kasule, from Uganda, Alberto Duran, from Uruguay, and Hiouad Larbi, from Morocco, shamefully scored the fight for Park.
And in a sensational confession shortly after the fight, Moroccan Larbi admitted that he gave it to Park on purpose to avoid a humiliating washout.
Larbi said: “The American won easily; so easily, in fact, that I was sure 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 just 4-1 for the American and not embarrass the host country.”
Larbi, Kasule and Duran were suspended for six months pending an investigation – but were eventually cleared by the International Boxing Association (AIBA).
Jones received the Val Barker trophy as the best boxer at the 1988 Olympics – and the irony was not lost on him.
He said Joe Rogan in 2020: “Well, that’s a contradiction. How come the best boxer here didn’t win the gold medal?”
The IOC investigated the result and in 1997 concluded that although officials had been wined and dined, there was “no evidence of corruption at boxing events in Seoul.”
In the years since Jones’ heartbreaking loss, more damning evidence has come to light.
Because Karl-Heinz Wuhr – the general secretary of AIBA – also worked for the secret police agency of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
And when secret Stasi files were released after the collapse of the Soviet Union, investigative journalist and author Andrew Jennings found allegations of outright bribery.
Wuhr wrote: “They [the host nation] I didn’t miss the chance to try to corrupt or influence me.
I won a gold medal that night in Seoul in 1988. The judges were dishonest and I’m sure they weren’t the only ones.
Roy Jones Jr.
“They repeatedly tried to persuade me to withdraw my decisions, punishing judges in whom they seemed to have an interest.
“There were always judges prepared to declare a South Korean boxer the winner, even if it was completely ridiculous.”
He alleged that bribes were paid to several judges, including three from Africa and one from South America.
Ref Leoni – of the infamous Jones fight – supported the accusations.
He claimed that a fellow Argentine received an envelope full of money from Korean boxing authorities.
Stunned, Jones questioned whether he would ever be able to box after his Olympic devastation.
But it ended up being a small setback in an incredible career.
‘My life became dark’
Jones became boxing’s biggest star in the late 1990s and early 2000s by winning titles in four weight classes.
Meanwhile, Park lived to regret his tainted Olympic gold.
He told the AP: “I didn’t want my hand to go up, but it went up and my life became dark because of it.
“I keep thinking how much happier my life would have been if I had finished second.
“The emotional stress was like taking a hammer to the back of the head, over and over again.
“A gold medal is important, but no Olympic medal is satisfying and glorious?”
Park struggled with suicidal thoughts after the defeat and contemplated moving countries amid backlash from a result he could not control.
He retired from boxing following the controversy and spent 13 years as a high school teacher before returning to the sport as a coach.
In fact, Jones kept in touch with Park years after their infamous fight – but the sickening sense of unfair defeat followed him.
He said: “To see an opposition hand raised by judges who were dishonest, to see a mistake and injustice not corrected.
“I won a gold medal that night in Seoul in 1988. The judges were dishonest and I’m sure they weren’t the only ones.
“I will never forget that feeling, when they lifted the Korean’s hand over mine.”
Park returned to coach the South Korean boxing team in 2001.
And Jones, 55, continues to fight to this day, losing a decision to former UFC champion Anthony Pettis, 37, in April 2023.
In the years following his Olympic ordeal, he received a glimpse of redemption when two of the three judges were banned for life.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
