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A little background for South Korea Sports
In the second big major sporting event hosted by South Korea, we couldn?t avoid the huge scandals that the first one brought, the Olympic Games in Seul in 1988. The scandal at the time was the same as today: where is the limit for the host country to receive benefits from judges or referees in order to earn gold medals. Everyone expects the host country to receive some favors (they always win many gold medals compared to a regular event somewhere else) but how many favors and in what manner? This limit of favors is usually set at a certain point where everyone can see it, because it is good business and good money (also good politics) for the host country to be successful also because they have to be repaid somehow of all the economic and human resources they employed to organize the event. The important thing should be not to exaggerate, not to pass that limit, and mainly to know the meaning of the word ?shame? maintaining some integrity. The meaning of the word ?shame?, looking at what is happening and at what happened in the past, seems unknown to South Koreans. The limit of favors whenever the event is in South Korea seems to be a little higher, a mile higher.
In fact, Seul ?88 was defined by some people as the Olympics of Shame. The scandal of Ben Johnson, even if very big, was surpassed by the reputation and behavior of the judges in the Seul Sport Arena during the boxing event.
Roy Jones paid a very high price for it. He was 18 at the time, a talent from Pensacola Beach. Today, world champion of the middle-weight (one of only two boxers to hold at the same time the belt of all 3 the boxing federations, WBA, WBC, and IBF), he is the holder of an incredible record, 37 wins (31 ko) and 1 loss. He arrived in Seul as the main favorite of his category, the super-welters.
According to the experts before the games, only one man could possibly think about about having a chance against him, italianman Vincenzo Nardiello. Nardiello was a talented boxer with a ko punch. What happened instead was that in the quarter finals Nardiello met a South Korean boxer, Si Hun Park. Si Hun Park is a mediocre boxer, but he never falls down, he always puts his head against the body of his avversaries which causes terrible cuts on their upper foreheads. Vincenzo attacks for 3 rounds and punches the Korean winning all 3 rounds. His only mistake is not to be killer enough to finish him. He plays with Park like a doberman with a little scared cat. During the third round Nardiello doesn?t want to chase him anymore because he thinks he already won the fight to go to the semifinals. The last 30 seconds of the match are like a little dance with the Italian and the Korean just looking at each other. Although he received a lesson, the Korean seems satisfied of his match. Park?s confidence comes from the fact that what he needed was to stay up until the end. What happens is that, the verdict says the Korean won, the ref raises Park?s arm, while Nardiello falls on his knees in disbelief and started to cry while people try to console him. The Italians start yelling at the judges and the intervention of one Italian official is necessary to bring him down the ring while the next two boxers are waiting to fight.
Park Si Hun goes to the semifinals where he fights Abdallah Ramadan from Sudan. This fight goes only one way as well. The Korean amateur takes punches from everywhere. But the destiny of the Sudanese is like the one of the Italian because Si Hun Park goes to fight Roy Jones in the final.
The final match of truth is referred by an Italian, Aldo Leoni. The Arena is an inferno. A little before the final, another Sudanese, refused to fight in the semifinals because his opponent was Korean and he wanted to protest against the decision against Ramadan. In another semifinal match, a Bulgarian, wins against a Korean and what happens is seriously shameful. When the ref reads the verdict favorable to Khristov, Koreans start throwing chairs on the ring and then hitting the ref with kicks and punches while the police watches.
This is the atmosphere preceding the Jones-Park match. The whole world watches. Everyone wonders how the judges will intervene to favor Park, considering that his opponent is so talented and strong. Everyone hopes that the judges can maintain some integrity. Some hope that the Korean goes down quickly so as to decide the match. Everyone hopes but in vain.
The match goes like it was supposed to and like everyone expected. Jones wants the Korean?s blood and starts punching him wildly. They are 3 dramatic rounds. Roy knows that the Korean must fall down in order for him to hope to win the gold and therefore the match becomes a bloody torture for Park. Blood is everywhere, cuts all over his face, the Korean runs away from Jones for 3 rounds but Jones punches him every second of the match. All the jabs and uppercuts reach Park?s face, which now looks like a Picasso?s drawing. But he doesn?t go down, The final bell comes and Roy Jones doesn?t even raise his arms to celebrate while the Korean full of blood starts cheering.
An unreal atmosphere surrounds the ring minutes before the decision is read. The hope is that this time justice will triumph. Everyone saw the massacre and nobody can believe the judges will go for the Korean. The Italian ref opens the decision and becomes pale and looks around. With a very low voice he reads the decision. His face has to read the unthinkable shame that was perpetrated and he must raise Park?s arm. Park, without any respect for himself, starts cheering, he won the gold medal. Roy is lost, doesn?t know what to do.
The scandal ends with a four year probation for the judges responsible for that decision and the trophy Val Backer (for best olympic boxeur) to Roy Jones (the only defeated boxer to ver win the trophy)
But Park kept the gold medal, like the soccer team will keep (at least) the semifinal in the World Cup.
A little background for South Korea Sports
In the second big major sporting event hosted by South Korea, we couldn?t avoid the huge scandals that the first one brought, the Olympic Games in Seul in 1988. The scandal at the time was the same as today: where is the limit for the host country to receive benefits from judges or referees in order to earn gold medals. Everyone expects the host country to receive some favors (they always win many gold medals compared to a regular event somewhere else) but how many favors and in what manner? This limit of favors is usually set at a certain point where everyone can see it, because it is good business and good money (also good politics) for the host country to be successful also because they have to be repaid somehow of all the economic and human resources they employed to organize the event. The important thing should be not to exaggerate, not to pass that limit, and mainly to know the meaning of the word ?shame? maintaining some integrity. The meaning of the word ?shame?, looking at what is happening and at what happened in the past, seems unknown to South Koreans. The limit of favors whenever the event is in South Korea seems to be a little higher, a mile higher.
In fact, Seul ?88 was defined by some people as the Olympics of Shame. The scandal of Ben Johnson, even if very big, was surpassed by the reputation and behavior of the judges in the Seul Sport Arena during the boxing event.
Roy Jones paid a very high price for it. He was 18 at the time, a talent from Pensacola Beach. Today, world champion of the middle-weight (one of only two boxers to hold at the same time the belt of all 3 the boxing federations, WBA, WBC, and IBF), he is the holder of an incredible record, 37 wins (31 ko) and 1 loss. He arrived in Seul as the main favorite of his category, the super-welters.
According to the experts before the games, only one man could possibly think about about having a chance against him, italianman Vincenzo Nardiello. Nardiello was a talented boxer with a ko punch. What happened instead was that in the quarter finals Nardiello met a South Korean boxer, Si Hun Park. Si Hun Park is a mediocre boxer, but he never falls down, he always puts his head against the body of his avversaries which causes terrible cuts on their upper foreheads. Vincenzo attacks for 3 rounds and punches the Korean winning all 3 rounds. His only mistake is not to be killer enough to finish him. He plays with Park like a doberman with a little scared cat. During the third round Nardiello doesn?t want to chase him anymore because he thinks he already won the fight to go to the semifinals. The last 30 seconds of the match are like a little dance with the Italian and the Korean just looking at each other. Although he received a lesson, the Korean seems satisfied of his match. Park?s confidence comes from the fact that what he needed was to stay up until the end. What happens is that, the verdict says the Korean won, the ref raises Park?s arm, while Nardiello falls on his knees in disbelief and started to cry while people try to console him. The Italians start yelling at the judges and the intervention of one Italian official is necessary to bring him down the ring while the next two boxers are waiting to fight.
Park Si Hun goes to the semifinals where he fights Abdallah Ramadan from Sudan. This fight goes only one way as well. The Korean amateur takes punches from everywhere. But the destiny of the Sudanese is like the one of the Italian because Si Hun Park goes to fight Roy Jones in the final.
The final match of truth is referred by an Italian, Aldo Leoni. The Arena is an inferno. A little before the final, another Sudanese, refused to fight in the semifinals because his opponent was Korean and he wanted to protest against the decision against Ramadan. In another semifinal match, a Bulgarian, wins against a Korean and what happens is seriously shameful. When the ref reads the verdict favorable to Khristov, Koreans start throwing chairs on the ring and then hitting the ref with kicks and punches while the police watches.
This is the atmosphere preceding the Jones-Park match. The whole world watches. Everyone wonders how the judges will intervene to favor Park, considering that his opponent is so talented and strong. Everyone hopes that the judges can maintain some integrity. Some hope that the Korean goes down quickly so as to decide the match. Everyone hopes but in vain.
The match goes like it was supposed to and like everyone expected. Jones wants the Korean?s blood and starts punching him wildly. They are 3 dramatic rounds. Roy knows that the Korean must fall down in order for him to hope to win the gold and therefore the match becomes a bloody torture for Park. Blood is everywhere, cuts all over his face, the Korean runs away from Jones for 3 rounds but Jones punches him every second of the match. All the jabs and uppercuts reach Park?s face, which now looks like a Picasso?s drawing. But he doesn?t go down, The final bell comes and Roy Jones doesn?t even raise his arms to celebrate while the Korean full of blood starts cheering.
An unreal atmosphere surrounds the ring minutes before the decision is read. The hope is that this time justice will triumph. Everyone saw the massacre and nobody can believe the judges will go for the Korean. The Italian ref opens the decision and becomes pale and looks around. With a very low voice he reads the decision. His face has to read the unthinkable shame that was perpetrated and he must raise Park?s arm. Park, without any respect for himself, starts cheering, he won the gold medal. Roy is lost, doesn?t know what to do.
The scandal ends with a four year probation for the judges responsible for that decision and the trophy Val Backer (for best olympic boxeur) to Roy Jones (the only defeated boxer to ver win the trophy)
But Park kept the gold medal, like the soccer team will keep (at least) the semifinal in the World Cup.
