Furious Andrade blames judges for Olympic defeat
3:08 PM Sun, Aug 17, 2008 | Permalink
Email
 |
 |
Projo Sports Blog |
|
« Andrade loses in welterweight quarterfinals |
Main
| Dwyane Wade visits the Great Wall, leaving chaos in his wake »
The dream died Sunday for Providence's Demetrius Andrade, thanks to a nightmare he'll never forget. "You know what was going through my mind [in the time between the end of the fight and the announcement of the judges' decision]? It was like, 'Damn, they might pull a Jones on me' -- and they did," Andrade said moments after he lost a controversial 11-9 decision to Kim Jungjoo of Korea in the boxing quarterfinals, ending his hopes of earning an Olympic medal. He was referring to a highly controversial decision at the 1988 Seoul Olympics when Roy Jones of the U.S. peppered South Korean fighter Park Si-Hun with punches, only to lose a 3-2 decision and the gold medal. Andrade was so upset upon hearing he'd lost that he left the ring before the decision was announced, leaving Jungjoo alone with referee Hassen Boughalmi of Tunisia. "It was no disrespect for [Jungjoo], but it was pointless for me to be in there," said Andrade. "There's no way he hit me 11 times. I blocked him . . . [He] probably scored three or four points, but not more than that." "I thought that was totally ridiculous," agreed U.S. coach Dan Campbell. "[Andrade] clearly landed more scoring punches. I was talking to the people back in the tape room and they saw the same thing we did. Demetrius should have had at least eight points going into that last round." But, according to the judges, Andrade never led in the bout, despite throwing more combinations than his opponent. He also appeared to score a knockdown, which was not counted. "I was landing a lot of punches, but the judges were not giving them to me," he said. "It's tough for the kids back home who want to take up boxing because if they come to the Olympics to be treated like this, there's no point in coming at all." Andrade's loss leaves the United States with only one boxer remaining in the tournament: Heavyweight Deontay Wilder, who struggled to beat Morocco's Mohammed Arjaoui on countback. Trailing 9-8, Wilder was awarded two points when Arjaoui was penalized for illegal ducking in the final minute. Arjaoui tied the score, 10-10, on a punch with 10 seconds left, but Wilder emerged victorious, 23-22, thanks to the convoluted Olympic scoring system of "accepted punches" among the five judges (the high and low counts are thrown out). Wilder said the only reason his fight was so close was because of Andrade's defeat. "I've been with Dee [Andrade] and my whole teammates for a whole year. We built a great bond together. We're like family. They're like my brothers," he said. "And when I saw [Andrade] come in [to the locker room] crying [because of the judges' decision], immediately I got emotional and broke down. I told him to stop because he was making me cry and lose focus. "I feel I was a way much better fighter than [Arjaoui]. I feel I could have done way better than what I did. It was just a lack of focus." Wilder, however, lived to fight another day. That's not the case with Andrade or any of the other American boxers, who -- prior to this year -- had never won fewer than two medals in any Olympics. Andrade controlled the action for much of the fight but, according to the judges, repeatedly failed to land scoring punches against his defensive, counterpunching foe. After the bell, he rested his head on the rope in frustrated exhaustion before looking up to the stands at his father, Paul, who yelled, "That's all right, Boo Boo," as he pounded his chest and held his arms open wide. "I fought my heart out," said Demetrius Andrade, "but sometimes life is unfair." 
18 CommentsLeave a comment |
New comments
New photos
Authors
New posts
Projo blogs
Archives
cousin we are very proud of you for making it as far as you did. we all love you. we saw the fight, and we know they cheated you out of the points. all good things will still come to you, because you are the best boxer in all the families eyes.
love judy crum fortes
and your whole family
Report Abuse
Demetrius,
Congratulations on a great job! Keep up the great work and never give up.
~Susan Riccio
(Your Kindergarten Teacher at Bishop McVinney)
Report Abuse
press forward dont look back . roy jones turned out ok so will you . you have the potential to be a world champ. focus on that . not on judges that are corrupt and dont know a damn thing about the sport of boxing.
Report Abuse
Its okay booboo you did fight you heart out and there is nothing to be ashamed of we are waiting for you back home you are always a champion
Kyle aka tight
Report Abuse
The worst scoring system in all off sports. There is nothing more to say. Andrade won the fight. Bottom Line.
Report Abuse
The whole Olympics has turned into a joke. Am I expected to believe that China has turned into an Olympic Boxing powerhouse over night? Have you seen Yang Li from China? He's terrible! He's been constantly beaten, he runs, he holds and the bouts are given to him. The Chinese wanted to outmedal the US in these Olympics. By shutting out the Americans and having their boxers given what amounts to byes, they have assured that they will get at least six medals in boxing and the US one. What a sham! Wake up people! This is being done deliberately to make us look inferior to China in the eyes of the world. These Olympics, aside from Phelps, have been a disgrace. Demetrius, you have nothing to be ashamed about. You're right, you were Jonesed. The same thing happen to Cotto, Holyfield and other great pro boxers.
Report Abuse
Hang in there Demetrius. You'll have the last laugh after you turn pro and eventually win a world title. Roy Jones Jr. and Evander Holyfield are two former olympians who go sucker punchend by olympic judges and look how they turned out.
Take this negative and turn it into a positive.
Report Abuse
Hang in there! The judging has been terrible in several venues. I'm from Tuscaloosa and we thought Wilder was going to be a victim too!
Report Abuse
Wait!A little unbiased perspective... I didn't see the fight but when I watched some of the other USA boxing matches where they were handed losses, they started to sound like a bunch of sore losers blaming the judges for their losses. Backing this cry baby approach was Teddy Atlas! Teddy Atlas is the best in the business and he seemed to voice a bit of concern with the excuse driven post fight feedback from our US fighters. In particular I'm speaking of the Yanez fighter who lost and it was clear that he threw 10 times more punches put in the Olympics they must land clean and square to score and they didn't! He sounded like a sore loser and Teddy Atlas agreed with the judges decision despite the Yanez comments during his post-fight interview. Because I didn't see the Andrade fight, my question is what did Teddy Atlas have to say about the fight? Did he agree with the judges on Andrade's loss? Hate to see our USA fighter lose, but even worse to have them acting like a bunch of sore losers; especially when leaving the ring prior to the the final announcement. Hey maybe Jimmy Burchfield can set up a re-match between the two and call it "East meets West" This time the helmets are off! Hey Andrade!, as evidenced by VInny Paz and Peter Manfredo we love our boxing and support our local champs; so keep your head up and live up to the Champion you can be in and out of the ring with pride, class, and determination. You can do all things through HIM. GOD Bless!
Report Abuse
Boo Boo,
Sometimes the Lord closes a door because he has bigger things in store for you behind the next door he opens. We're all very proud of you and what you've accomplished. Bigger and better rewards await you. Keep the faith and stay the course.
Report Abuse
DA, no need to be so upset with the "BULLYMPICS"!!!! I had called this bull from when it began and my first thoughts were I bet this great boxer will get robbed like Roy Jones Jr that I had watched years ago and I guessed right! I seen all you're fights at the bullympics and I said wow he is doing his thing until I seen the bull that you lost! I am DONE with bullympics it is just a crop of bleep! No need to worry you are a unbilievable boxer like Roy is and you are definetly going in hall you're great D and so gifted don't worry about the bull do you're shining now and I will make sure I will see everyone of you're fights coming up in Vegas, PPV, everywhereeeeeeeeee head up now time to get paid get more none which you already are and throw beatens like you did in bullypics but not get robbed! Now we no why 3/4 fighters don't want to go out of the US to fight here is you're prime example of what happens I am distgusted!!!!!
Report Abuse
Another bust like Jason Estrada in 2004. It wasn't the judges. Andrade is no Roy Jones Jr.
Report Abuse
Boo Boo, we are very proud of you regardless of the gold. Hold your head high and know that bigger and better things will be coming your way.
Love ya cuz
Report Abuse
Boo Boo, we are very proud of you regardless of the gold. Hold your head high and know that bigger and better things will be coming your way.
Love ya cuz
Report Abuse
You did lose the fight you bum, I lost respect for you. YOU did not congratulate your opponent you left the ring. You quit and you did not BOX your fight was like a street fight not BOXING. You lost admit it.
Report Abuse
Olympic boxing is in big trouble. AIBA (International Amateur Boxing Assoc.)needs to be completely reorganized. The International Olympic Committee should pull their charter until they can prove that their officals are not on the take or doing anything that is not acceptable by standards of "Ethics". i.e. accepting free Rolex's and a whole list of other goodies from countries that want to win their favor.
Demetrius will go on to be a world champion and make millions and those same officials who shamelessly robbed him of his dream will go back to their home countries and be "No Bodies" with nothing more than bragging rights about being at the Olympics.
HERES TO YOU BOO BOO!
Report Abuse
Hey Andrade keep this in mind they may be able to take the gold away from you, but the one thing they can't take is your god given talent in boxing. Keep your head up and don't let this stop you from punching forward, i'll tell you like i tell my son who's a basketball player, when you step on that court your playing against the refs as well. So Andrade always remember that when you step in that ring your also fighting against the gudges as well, its ashame that this is always the case when it comes to blacks in sports they always find a way to make us fight harder for what where trying to accomplish.
Report Abuse
I seen the fight and you out boxed that guy in every way. They guy was told to fight because he didnt throw a single punch in the first round(Scared). They robbed you of at least 13 points. You hit him alot of times with good clean punches. Dont feel bad. Mayweather only won a bronze medal. And now hes ther best in the world.....thats gotta tell u something about the scoring system.IM proud of you for representing the U.S
__ NJ Amateur Boxer__
Report Abuse