A Fighter’s Golden Opportunity

Demetrius Andrade, 20, is the top-rated amateur welterweight in the world and the odds-on favorite to win a gold medal in Beijing. The Providence, R.I., native is a tall (6-foot-1-inch), rangy southpaw with good power, fast hands, and a solid chin. He’s the 2007 World Amateur Champion, a two-time National Amateur Champion, two-time National Golden Gloves Champion, and the best pro prospect on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.“I went through what Andrade is going through.”The speaker is Mark Breland.In the long history of the Olympics, only three New Yorkers have won gold medals in boxing. Breland is one of them.Frankie DiGennaro was the first. Born in the Bronx in 1901, he captured a gold medal in the 112-pound division at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp. Later, he fought professionally under the name Frankie Genaro and won both the National Boxing Association and International Boxing Union flyweight crowns.Floyd Patterson was born in North Carolina, grew up in Brooklyn, and won Olympic gold as a middleweight (165 pounds) at the 1952 Helsinki games. Four years later, he claimed the heavyweight throne vacated by Rocky Marciano with a fifth-round knockout of Archie Moore.Breland, now 45, was the third (and last) boxer from the city to win an Olympic gold medal. Born and raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, he accomplished the feat in the welterweight division at the 1984 Los Angeles games.Going into the Olympics, Breland was one of the most celebrated amateurs in boxing history. He won an unprecedented five New York Golden Gloves championships (1980-84), the United States Amateur Championship (1982), and the World Amateur Championships (1982). His amateur record after the Olympics was an extraordinary 110 victories against a single defeat.“The Olympics were hard for me,” Breland recalls. “I was the top-rated welterweight in the world, so everyone was gunning for me. The first fight I had, I won, but I only looked so-so. Second fight, same thing. At that point, I was kind of depressed. But then it all came together for me, and I won the rest of my fights more impressively.”“The best moment for me,” Breland said, “was when I was on the medal stand. When they played the anthem, I knew it was over. People had been saying since 1982 that I couldn’t lose. That’s a lot of pressure for a kid. All the pressure to look good and win took a lot of the fun out of the Olympics for me.”Apart from Andrade, the best hopes for an American medal in boxing in Beijing remain with flyweight (112 pounds) Rau’shee Warren and bantamweight (119 pounds) Gary Russell.Warren, now 21, was the youngest member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team in any sport. He’s a three-time U.S. National Amateur Champion and 2007 World Amateur Champion. He’s a good puncher with fast hands and a shot at gold. Russell, 20, has won both a U.S. National Golden Gloves Championship and U.S. National Amateur Championship. He has good speed but only modest power, and doesn’t figure to do better than bronze.The lone New Yorker on the 2008 U.S. Olympic boxing team is lightweight (132 pounds) Sadam Ali, 19, from Brooklyn. Ali is a two-time National Golden Gloves champion and the first Arab-American boxer to compete in the Olympics.“Sadam Ali is a good fighter,” Breland said. “I don’t follow amateur boxing like I used to. But I watched the team work out at Gleason’s Gym [on July 10th]. They all can fight. Sadam is fast, slick, and can punch a bit. The problem I see with most of them is, because of the amateur rules, they don’t commit on their punches enough to do real damage. They just want to get in and out and score points.Breland turned pro after the 1984 Olympics and enjoyed a 13-year career highlighted by a two reigns as the World Boxing Association welterweight king. He now lives in the Clinton Hills section of Brooklyn and trains two fighters: lightweight prospect Jorge Teron (21-0-1, 14 KOs) and longtime lightweight contender Zahir Raheem (29-3, 17 KOs).As for the Olympics, Breland looks back on that long-ago time and acknowledges: “Right now, I have to say, the Olympic gold medal means more to me than my professional championships. Championships come and go, but they can never take an Olympic gold medal away from you.”thauser@rcn.com

A Fighter’s Golden Opportunity

A Fighter’s Golden Opportunity

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