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His way or the highway U.S. coach instills discipline in boxers
SYDNEY, Australia -- Ricardo Williams joined his teammates with another lopsided win Wednesday, even exceeding the 15-point mercy rule by a point when the referee couldn't hear the bell. So far, every one of the U.S. boxers, save Brian Viloria, has had either a knockout or an easy decision. The question is, why? Well, there's the luck of the draw, to begin. Viloria, the world champion light flyweight, has been the only fighter to get another elite boxer in first-round action (he had to fend off nemesis Serguei Kazakov of Russia earlier). There's also the matter of the team's high-altitude training, which coach Tom Mustin swears has produced better conditioned athletes. Five weeks in Colorado Springs and his boxers are fresh as daisies come the fourth round.
But another, more subtle factor might be team discipline, which the U.S. has not had in recent campaigns, any more than it has had gold medals. Mustin, a crusty 54-year-old from Tacoma, Wash., says it's made all the difference in the world. "In '92," he said, "our authority was an idle threat." The fighters didn't listen to coaches, they were late, they had lawyers arguing over who they would fight in training camp; in short, they just generally ran the asylum. "I remember one tournament in Oregon, knocking on the front door and girls running out the back," Mustin said. "Curfew was a joke." But once Mustin became the head coach, officials agreed that if U.S. medal fortunes were to change, so would camp discipline. For the first time the team had rules that were enforced. Breaking curfew was a $50 fine, with the amount doubling each violation. One boxer, who remains on the team, was assessed a $500 fine. "And he was glad to pay it," Mustin said, "because the other option was getting kicked off the team." After Mustin tossed world champion Michael Simms off the team earlier this year, for use of profanity and continual tardiness, the rest of the fellows knew Mustin was for real. Simms had always been late for workouts, but the coach finally had enough when Simms was caught having dinner with two girls the night before a big tournament, which he lost. Out. Mustin felt he had no choice. "Leaving him on could have destroyed the whole team," he said. He knew, no matter what everybody else said, that the move had an impact. "Guys try to be hard and street," he says, "but it sent a little shock out there. It sent a message." Not that he isn't still tested from time to time. Just last week light middleweight Jermain Taylor left training in a huff, saying he hated Mustin. But he was back the next day, hugging the coach and then telling reporters what a great family the boxing team is. Tough love. So that could be one reason nobody on this team has lost (the U.S. is 7-0). Or it could be that no Americans yet have faced a Cuban, all of whom trained in the mountains of Uruguay and none of whom are much in the habit of back-talking Fidel. We'll see. Sports Illustrated senior writer Richard Hoffer is in Sydney covering the boxing competition for the magazine and CNNSI.com. Check back daily to read Hoffer's behind-the-scenes reports from Down Under.
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