Roy Jones Jr will not be upgraded to Olympic champion by the IOC despite the fighter who controversially defeated him at the 1988 Games giving him his gold medal 35 years on.
The result of the light-middleweight final in Seoul sparked a storm of controversy given the American’s clear dominance against the South Korean Park Si-hun, with the IOC later launching an investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption.
But that did not conclude with a change in the result, because of a lack of evidence of wrongdoing, and the IOC now says “the statute of limitations applies” which in this case is ten years, meaning the outcome cannot be officially reversed — even though Jones now has the gold medal.
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Even Park believed it was unfair for the judges to award him a 3-2 victory in Seoul. He responded to the result in the ring by lifting a stunned Jones into the air. He has since said the criticism he received and the depression he felt sometimes led to suicidal urges.
In 2021 the two former fighters gave a joint interview to The Times, with Park saying he wanted to give Jones the medal. He said he was simply waiting for the approval of the IOC.
Jones revealed last week that Park had in fact travelled to the American’s home in Pensacola, Florida, two years later to give him the gold. It was a surprise visit that was kept secret from Jones until he walked into his gym, for what he thought was a media interview, only to find Park in the ring with the families of both ex-boxers.
“I had the gold medal, but I wanted to give it back to you. It belongs to you,” Park said through his son, who translated.
In the interview with The Times, Jones said he also wanted the IOC to change the result of the bout in its record books.
The criticism Park received after the light-middleweight final in Seoul left the South Korean with depression
JOHN IACONO /SPORTS ILLUSTRATED VIA GETTY IMAGES
He said: “It would be up to the IOC to change it with the history books. But if Mr Park was prepared to come forward and make the exchange, how could I not accept it? I’d be a fool after all these years. They [the IOC] should be happy to do something the two fighters feel should be fixed.
“I appreciate there are a lot of things they need to fix, but when a fighter says I genuinely know I didn’t win, I want to get what I rightly deserve, it’s kind of hard to say no to that. You know that there was corruption, so why not fix it? They got us into this situation in the first place, so if they want to get us out of it, it would be the right thing to do.”
The Times therefore asked the IOC if it would now consider changing the result. On Tuesday the organisation responded by saying its hands were tied.