It’s a year away from their 50th anniversary, when the USA 1976 Olympic team. The team didn’t win as many medals as the 1984 team, but that team didn’t have the Russians or Cubans competing. Since President Jimmy Carter didn’t allow the USA team to compete in the 1980 Olympics, both countries refused to go to the 1984 Olympics in Montreal, Canada.
‘Big’ John Tate was the heavyweight who was stopped by Cuba’s Olympic Gold Medalist Teofilo Stevenson in the semi-final after posting a pair of wins over boxers from Poland and West Germany. He would go on to win the vacant WBA title, winning a decision over South Africa’s Gerry Coetzee, 22-0, in October of 1979 in South Africa before 86,000 fans, improving his record to 20-0. Coetzee was coming off defeating another 1976 member, Leon Spinks. In his first defense, he was ahead going into the last round when he was stopped by Mike ‘Hercules’ Weaver, 21-9. He ended with a record of 34-3 with 23 stoppages from Knoxville, TN.
Leon ‘Neon’ Spinks won the Gold Medal at light heavyweight, stopping Cuba’s Sixto Soria. In his eighth fight, he defeated WBC champion Muhammad ‘The Greatest’ Ali by split decision in February of 1978, improving his record to 7-0-1, only to lose the rematch. He ended up with a record of 26-17-3 with 14 stoppages from St. Louis, MO.
Michael ‘Jinx’ Spinks, Leon’s brother, won the middleweight Gold Medal, stopping Uzbekistan’s Rufat Riskiev. He would go on to win the WBA Light heavyweight title in July of 1981, defeating WBA champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad 38-5-1, improving his record to 17-0. He would add the WBC title, defeating Dwight Muhammad Qawi, and the IBF title, defeating Eddie Davis. He would relinquish all the titles to go on to defeat heavyweight champion Larry ‘The Easton Assassin’ Holmes, 48-0, twice in September of 1985. After two defenses, he was stopped by ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, 34-0, finishing with a record of 31-1 with 21 stoppages from St. Louis, MO.
Chuck ‘White Chocolate’ Walker was the super welterweight, losing to eventual Gold Medalist Jerry Rybicki of Poland by controversial decision. He would go on to post a 9-1-1 with 3 stoppages record from Mesa, AZ. He was a professional tap dancer who would go on to produce films after his retirement.
Clint ‘The Sheriff’ Jackson was the welterweight, losing in the quarter finals to Venezuela’s Pedro Gamarro. Jackson was 102-14 in the amateurs and 25-7 with 9 stoppages in the pro ranks from Nashville, TN. He failed to win the USBA and NABF titles.
‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard was the light welterweight Gold Medalist. He was 145-5 with 75 stoppages in the amateurs and 36-3-1 with 25 stoppages from Palmer Park, MD.
He won world titles at welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight.
Howard Davis, Jr. won the Gold Medal at lightweight, defeating Simion Cutov of Romania. Davis would win the Val Barker Trophy as the top Olympian. He was 125-5 in the amateurs and 36-6-1 with 14 stoppages from New York, NY. He lost in two attempts at the WBC title and at the IBF and WBU titles.
Davey Lee Armstrong was the featherweight, losing in the quarter finals to Angel Herrea of Cuba. He was 107-16 in the amateurs and 24-3 with 14 stoppages from Puyallup, WA.
He won the NABF title defeating Nick Furlano, 27-6-1.
Charles Mooney was the bantamweight and only member never to turn pro, making the Army his career of 22 years, ending as SGT First Class. He won the Silver Medal, losing to North Korea’s Young Ju Gu in the finals by a controversial decision. He was from D.C.
Leo Randolph was the flyweight Gold Medalist, defeating Ramon Duvalon of Cuba, and ended with a 160-7 amateur record. He won the WBA Super Bantamweight title in May of 1980, defeating Ricardo Cardona, 21-4-1, of Colombia. Then lost his next fight, ending his career at 17-2 with 9 stoppages. He was from Spanaway, WA.
Louis Curtis lost in the first round in the light flyweight division Henryk Srednicki of Poland. He was 15-6-1 with 7 stoppages from D.C. He lost in four minor title attempts.
Last Updated on 04/20/2025
