In this edition of New Zealand’s Olympic boxing special moments, we pick up after World War 2 with Bob Goslin who travelled to the London Olympics without a specified manager.

It was nearly fifty years after Ted Morgan’s glorious victory, before another kiwi pugilist proceeded to the second round at the Olympic Games. Wellington welter David Jackson was selected for the 1976 Games in Montreal along with fellow Wellingtonian Robert Colley in the lightwelter class.

Jackson drew Fredji Chtiqui from Tunisia and despatched his opponent, with the bout being stopped in the second round. The second bout for the Wellington fighter was the Russian, Valery Rachkov, who beat the New Zealander on a 5 nil points decision.

Controversy surrounded the awarding of a silver medal to Kevin Barry at the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles. The disqualification of Evander Holyfield in their semi-final bout overshadowed the feat of Barry winning three bouts, to reach the medal round, in the cauldron of Olympic competition. This feat of four Olympic victories, ranks alongside Ted Morgan who also won four bouts in winning his gold medal in 1928.

The first victory was comprehensive, five judges to nil, point’s shutout over Trinidad’s Don Smith. A narrow three-two point win from Jonathon Kiriisa (Uganda) set up a quarterfinal contest with Jean Paul Nanga (Cameroon), which Barry took out 4-1.

The knockdown of the Kiwi boxer in his semi-final fight with Evander Holyfield (who later became an icon and world champion in the world professional heavyweight ranks) after the bell, resulted in the disqualification of the American boxer. The silver medal was hung around the neck of the Christchurch boxer, after he was adjudged medically unfit to contest the gold medal final.

The third Olympic medal was the Bronze awarded to Samoan born David Tua at the 1992 Barcelona Games. The Auckland youngster made an instant impression when arriving on the boxing scene as a 15-year-old. A New Zealand junior and intermediate title preceded his three senior heavyweight titles, all of which were won before he had turned 20 years of age.

In 1991, Tua went to the World Junior championships held in Peru, where he was beaten in controversial circumstances by the Cuban champion in the first round of the competition.

At the end of 1991 David Tua was rewarded for an impressive journey up the world amateur ranks, with a trip to the World Championships in Sydney, Australia. After winning his preliminary bouts, he was stopped in the first round of his semi-final fight with the Cuban Olympic and World champion Felix Savon, to earn a bronze medal.

In Barcelona Tua created a huge impression with two knockdown victories both within two rounds, before meeting Nigerian David Izonritei in the semi-finals. While the Kiwi lost his bout on points, to pick up a bronze medal, he managed to break the nose of his opponent during the bout.

1948 – LONDON, ENGLAND

• Featherweight:         
  • Bob Goslin (Wellington)
    Lost to Eddie Johnson (USA) - RSC-R3

Note: Bob Goslin travelled alone with no manager or coach.

1952 – Helsinki, Finland       

• No New Zealand boxers nominated by the NZBA

1956 – MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

• Lightweight:             
  • Paddy Donovan (Hawkes Bay)
    Lost to Toshito Ishimaru (Japan) - Points
     
• Welterweight:           
  • Graham Finlay (Greymouth)
    Lost to Kevin Hogarth (Australia) - Points
     
• Coach:                       
  • Dale Griffin (Otago)

1960 – Rome, Italy: 

• No New Zealand boxers were selected.

1964 – TOKYO, JAPAN

• Lightweight:             
  • Paddy Donovan (Hawkes Bay)  
    Lost to Hector Jorge Pace (Argentina) - RSC - R2/cut ear
     
• Light Welterweight: 
  • Brian Maunsell (Canterbury)
    Lost to Evgeniy Frolov (Russia) - RSC- R2/cut eye
     

• Manager:                  
  • Syd Ashton (Timaru)
     

1968 – Mexico City, Mexico 

• No New Zealand boxers were selected.

1972 – MUNICH, GERMANY

• Featherweight:          
  • Pat Ryan (Taranaki)
    Lost to Kazuo Kobayashi (Japan) - Points 4-1
     
• Welterweight:           
  • Jeff Rackley (Nelson)
    Lost to Guenter Meier (West Germany) - Points 5-0
     
• Manager:                   
  • D Tipping
     

1976 – MONTREAL, CANADA

• Light Welterweight: 
  • Robert Colley (Wellington) 
    Lost to Valery Limasov (Russia) - RSC-R3
     
• Welterweight:           
  • David Jackson (Wellington)
    Defeated Fredji Chtiqui (Tunisia) - RSC-R2
    Lost to Valery Rachkov (Russia) - Points 5-0
     
• Coach:                       
  • Alan Scaife (Wellington)
     

1980 – Moscow, Soviet Union

• New Zealand joined the boycott and didn’t send any boxers.

1984 – LOS ANGELES, USA

• Light Heavyweight:  
  • Kevin Barry Jnr (Canterbury) SILVER Medal
    Defeated Don Smith (Trinidad/Tobago) - Points 5-0
    Defeated Jonathan Kirisa (Uganda) - Points 3-2
    Defeated Jean-Paul Nanga (Cameroon) - Points 4-1
    Defeated Evander Holyfield (USA) - Disq-R2
    Final - Lost to Anton Josipovic (Yugoslavia) - Walkover
     
• Heavyweight:            
  • Michael Kenny (Wellington)
    Lost to Dodovix Owiny (Uganda) - KO 2
     
• Coach:                       
  • Kevin Barry Snr (Canterbury)
     

1988 – Seoul, Korea              

• No New Zealand boxers were selected.

1992 – BARCELONA, SPAIN

• Light Welterweight: 
  • Trevor Shailer (Manawatu)
    Lost to Laszlo Szucs (Hungary) - Points 0-7
     
• Light Middleweight: 
  • Sililo Figota (Auckland)
    Lost to Markus Beyer (Germany) - Points 2-16
     
• Heavyweight:            
  • David Tua (Auckland) BRONZE Medal
    Defeated Jose Ortega (Spain) - RSC R2
    Defeated Vojtech Ruckschloss (Czech Rep) - RSC R2
    Semi-finals - Lost to David Izonritei (Nigeria) – Points 7-12
• Coach:
  • ​​​​​​​Dr John McKay (Auckland)

Kevin Barry has his hand raised in triumph at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Article added: Wednesday, 17 July 2024​​​​​​​