The Olympics’ opening weekend featured a ton of great boxing. Although the action in the ring was passionate and fast-paced, the fighters, referees, and judges all behaved themselves—an odd occurrence since Olympic boxing often seems to bring out some of the stranger stories from the Games. Here are a select few of our favorites from Games past:

He’s the Best, Pound-for-Quarter-Pounder
Antonio Tarver has had a brilliant pro career in which he’s racked up a 27-4 record with 19 KO’s and held numerous light heavyweight titles. You might also recognize him as Rocky’s opponent Mason “The Line” Dixon in 2006’s Rocky Balboa. An Olympic fast-food promotion nearly sidetracked his greatness before Tarver threw his first professional punch, though.

The Olympic Village for the 1996 Games in Atlanta housed a McDonald’s for the athletes. Not just any old McDonald’s, either. The competitors could walk up to the counter and get whatever they asked for without having to spend a dime. Tarver, the reigning Pan-Am Games gold medalist and World Amateur champ in the light heavyweight class, took full advantage of the burger joint’s generosity. As Tarver later said, “It was free, you know, double cheeseburgers and stuff, any time you want.” Unsurprisingly, his weight ballooned beyond the division’s limits, which meant he had to drop seven pounds before his first fight. He looked sluggish in early rounds following the weight loss, but he eventually came on strong and took home the bronze medal. His secret? “I just had to get some pasta and salad in me and eat smart.”

Hungriest Pugilist

At the 1924 Games, Frenchman Roger Brousse was giving British boxer Harry Mallin all kinds of trouble during their middleweight match. Brousse, it seems, would bare his teeth and take a big chomp on Mallin’s chest whenever the boxers locked up. Although Mallin complained to the ref, the nibbling continued unabated. When Brousse won by decision, Mallin protested and finally forced judges to inspect the bite marks on his chest. The officials then reversed the decision, and Brousse was done at the Games.

The Judges K.O. Roy Jones, Jr.
Roy Jones, Jr. has enjoyed a magnificent boxing career that earns him a place in any discussion of all-time great fighters. Despite his numerous professional championships, there’s one honor he’s missing: an Olympic gold medal. It’s not his fault, though, as Jones clearly earned the prize at the 1988 Games in Seoul. Jones looked unbeatable as he tore through the light middleweight ranks to make the gold medal bout against hometown favorite Park Si-Hun. Fearing that he might not get a completely fair deal from potentially-biased judges, the scrappy American came into the fight knowing that he needed to dismantle Si-Hun to bring home the gold.

“Dismantle” isn’t a strong enough word for what Jones did to Si-Hun, though. “Obliterate” might come closer. Jones was a flurry of punches and counters in his absolute destruction of Si-Hun; he outpunched his opponent 86-32 and forced a standing 8 count in the second round. Anyone watching knew that Jones had dominated the fight. Anyone, that is, except for judges from Uganda, Uruguay, and Morocco, who ruled against Jones to give Si-Hun a 3-2 decision and the gold.

Si-Hun admitted that Jones deserved the medal, and after the judges announced their egregious decision, the South Korean fighter even lifted Jones up so the spectators could cheer the American. Even though journalists heard the Moroccan judge admit he’d made the wrong call to please the South Korean spectators, Jones’ appeals never gained any traction, and he still doesn’t have the gold medal he deserved in his trophy case.

You can see the whole debacle for yourself:

South Koreans Perfect the Sit-In
South Korean flyweight Choh Dong-kih felt pretty good about his chances at the 1964 Games in Tokyo, at least until a bout against the USSR’s Stanislav Sorokin. Dong-kih earned himself a disqualification, but he wasn’t about to take his punishment with a smile. Instead he pulled his corner stool into the ring and staged a sit-down strike that lasted for 51 minutes until officials eventually coaxed him out of the ring. (Credit a fighter for using non-violent resistance, but this strategy made it tough for the rest of the bouts to start on time.)

Little did Dong-kih know he was starting a venerable tradition for his countrymen. When bantamweight Byun Jong-il took a loss at the 1988 Games in Seoul, his trainers attacked the referee while Jong-il himself plopped down and took a seat on the canvas, where he remained for 67 minutes.

Ethan Trex grew up idolizing Vince Coleman, and he kind of still does. Ethan co-writes Straight Cash, Homey, the Internet’s undisputed top source for pictures of people in Ryan Leaf jerseys.
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