YDNEY - A large chunk of America's boxing heritage crashed through the mat Sunday afternoon when the Yanks, down to their last two championship bouts, failed to win a gold medal at the Olympics for the first time since 1948.
Both Ricardo ''Rocky'' Juarez and Ricardo Williams lost their four-round matches, and the USA delegation immediately filed a protest in the Juarez decision, claiming that the referee made blatant blunders in not warning Juarez's opponent against numerous holding violations.
According to Gary Toney, president of USA Boxing, the International Amateur Boxing Association was considering the US protest as late as 4 p.m. Sunday. No immediate comment was available from the IABA. The Yanks were seeking to have the decision reversed and the gold medal presented to Juarez, and also to have referee Stanislav Kirsanov banned from refereeing international bouts.
By Toney's count, Kirsanov cautioned Kazakhstan's Bekzat Sattarkhanov nine times against holding Juarez. Toney said he believed a warning should have been issued against Sattarkhanov when the third caution was made, and the judges then should have begun deducting points with that first warning - and all subsequent warnings.
''It's really difficult to score blows when your opponent is holding you,'' said the angered Toney.
Juarez, who had won 68 consecutive featherweight bouts before getting dumped, 22-14, said he also believed his opponent should have been disqualified.
''I didn't come here to win a silver medal,'' said a tearful Juarez, who fell behind by too many points in the opening two rounds to think about chasing the title in the last two rounds - especially with the taller Sattarkhanov constantly clutching him.
''The guy practically had a stranglehold on him,'' said US coach Tom Mustin. ''The referee just let it go and go and go.''
In the next bout (139 pounds, 63.5 kilograms), Williams needed two rounds to warm up against Uzbekistan's Mahamadkadyz Abdullaev before he began to pummel his opponent early in the third and throughout the fourth. But the judges weren't scoring points in his favor. He landed shots, good scoring bids, but the punches didn't turn into points. The final: Abdullaev, 27-20.
''I thought I did enough in the last two rounds to win it,'' said Williams. ''But the judges didn't see it that way.''
Provided the protests didn't bring a reversal of fortune, the Yanks finished with two silver and two bronze medals. The total was respectable, but when there is no gold, the final product is a birthday cake without the candles.
''I don't want to be in that spot,'' said Mustin, prior to the afternoon's two bouts, pondering the possibility of not seeing one of his athletes atop the medal stand. ''I don't want to go home with that.''
When it was over, Mustin stood squarely right where he feared most.
''Yeah, it's tough,'' said Mustin, the majority of his boxers now eager to turn pro after competing in the ring of Rings. ''I thought the officiating was a little lacking ... Ricky Williams scored with some shots and got no points ... in Rocky's [Juarez] case, he couldn't score because the guy was holding him. I thought we had good action to win gold, but unfortunately ...''
Juarez, without a loss since 1998, was adamant after his semifinal victory that leaving without a gold would be devastating.
''You win the gold, or everything was for nothing,'' he said. ''That's the way I look at things.''
In part, that explained his tears as he left the ring after the loss to Sattarkhanov. He needed a few extra moments before he spoke to the media.
''I don't know what it was,'' he said. ''My opponent kept talking to the referee - I don't know what he was saying - but the ref warned him so many times about holding me and grabbing me. It seemed to me he should have been disqualified. I did the best I could do, but it wasn't good enough.
''I believe in my heart that I won the gold medal. The record book won't show that, but it's what I believe.''
