BEST
1. 1984 Team
Most decorated U.S. team in history captured nine gold medals, a silver and a bronze in Los Angeles. Six of the boxers, including Evander Holyfield and Meldrick Taylor, became professional champions, and Pernell Whitaker already is in the boxing Hall of Fame.
2. 1976 Team
Anchored by Sugar Ray Leonard, Howard Davis Jr.,
and the Spinks brothers,
Leon and Michael, the team won five gold medals in Montreal.
3. Muhammad Ali
Known as Cassius Clay during the 1960 Rome Games,
the 18-year-old won the light heavyweight division and went on to become The Greatest.
4. Joe Frazier
Won heavyweight title at 1964 Games in Tokyo. Buster Mathis originally qualified to represent the U.S., but had to withdraw because of a broken knuckle. Frazier went on to win the only gold medal for the U.S. at those Olympics despite fighting with a broken hand.
5. Oscar De La Hoya
Fulfilling the wishes of his late mother, De La Hoya won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games and instantly was dubbed “The Golden Boy.” He would win 10 different world titles in six different weight classes as a pro and generate nearly $700 million in pay-per-view revenue.
WORST
1. Roy Jones Jr.
robbed at Seoul
He dominated South Korea’s Park Si-hun in the light middleweight gold medal match in 1988, outlanding his opponent 86-32. But Bob Kasule of Uganda, Uruguay’s Alberto Durán and Hiouad Larbi of Morocco gave Park the fight, with two others giving it to Jones, who has refused to wear his silver medal.
2. Evander Holyfield DQ’d
Yugoslavian referee Gligorije Novicic disqualified Holyfield in the second round of his 1984 semifinal fight with Kevin Barry of New Zealand for hitting after the ref said he called “Stop.” Barry couldn’t advance because of the knockout, giving Yugoslavian boxer Anton Josipovic the gold medal.
3. 1980 boycott
The Cold War was in the deep freeze when President Carter called for a boycott of the 1980 Games in Moscow. It denied future champions like Richard Sandoval, Johnny Bumphus and Donald Curry the right to represent their country.
4. 2008 Games
A bronze medal by heavyweight Deontay Wilder was the only hardware the U.S. could muster at Beijing. Gary Russell Jr. was disqualified after collapsing from dehydration while trying to make his 119-weight limit, and three of the remaining eight fighters lost in the first round.
5. Floyd Mayweather Jr. loss
Lost a chance at gold in 1996 because of a flawed scoring system, which gave Serafim Todorov of Bulgaria a 10-9 edge in the quarterfinals, though onlookers in Atlanta thought Mayweather dominated the fight. A U.S. protest was denied.