By Andy Johnston
Staff Writer
Article dated April 16, 1996

As boxers continued to win, the names became recognizable worldwide.

Floyd Patterson. Joe Frazier. George Foreman. Ray Leonard. Leon and Michael Spinks. Evander Holyfield. Pernell Whitaker. Roy Jones. Riddick Bowe. Oscar De La Hoya. And don't forget Cassius Clay, who later became Muhammad Ali.

But before they were professionals and before they became champions, they were U.S. Olympic medalists.

The newest edition of the U.S. Olympic boxing team will be decided at the U.S. Olympic Box-offs at the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center, starting Thursday at 7 p.m.

Twenty-four of the country's top amateur boxers - two in each of the 12 weight classes - will fight on Thursday-Saturday to decide who will represent the U.S. in Atlanta this summer.

``Amateur boxing in the United States and the Olympics has long been the minor leagues for the pros,'' said Tom Moraetes, coach of the Augusta Boxing Club. ``We've had some great amateur and Olympic champions who have gone on to become world champions. Throughout history, our amateur program and that Olympic exposure has sure helped our boxers become great professional champions.''

The U.S. has won at least two medals in each of the 12 amateur weight classes, but perhaps no team was greater than the 1976 U.S. squad which featured seven medal winners, including five gold medalists.

Leonard, the Spinks brothers, Howard Davis and Leo Randolph won the ultimate prize as the U.S. dominated the games in Montreal.

``That was a great year,'' Moraetes said.

But they are not alone.

The U.S. has won more medals in the lighter weight classes, but everybody mostly remembers the heavyweights. Clay (1960), Joe Frazier ('64), George Foreman ('68), Leon Spinks ('76), Holyfield ('84) and Bowe ('88) each won Olympic medals in the light heavyweight (178 pounds) or super heavyweight (201-plus) classes.

That doesn't even count the heavyweight class (201), which has only existed since 1984.

Henry Tillman won the gold in '84 after defeating Mike Tyson twice to make the Olympic team, and Augusta's Ray Mercer was the gold medalist in 1988.

Frazier was a last-minute substitute and was the only U.S. boxer to win a title that year.

The number of U.S. medalists declined to just three in 1992, when Cuba won seven gold medals and the only U.S. gold went to lightweight Oscar De La Hoya.

This year, light heavyweight Antonio Tarver is considered the country's best shot at a gold medal, but experts think the U.S. will better the showing from four summers ago.

``In this Olympics, I think we're going to see that the depth of amateur boxing in the United States is not that bad,'' ESPN boxing analyst Al Bernstein said. ``There are a good number of excellent boxers. I would say this team is easily capable of five to seven medals.''