WARM DAYS IN MOSCOW
Felix Rosenthal
February 04, 1980
Unlike the U.S. track and field athletes in Portland, the two coaches and 15 fighters on the American amateur boxing team that fought last week in Moscow were firm in their view of the Olympic boycott—they don't like the idea. The fighters, who were in the U.S.S.R. for the latest of a 12-year series of annual bouts with Soviet boxers, had even ignored an 11th-hour State Department request that they not make the trip.
But predictably the loudest crowd reaction was reserved for the home-country favorites, especially 18-year-old heavyweight Aleksandr (Sasha) Yagupkin. Though outweighted by 65 pounds by his U.S. opponent, 22-year-old David Bey of Philadelphia, Yagupkin disposed of Bey in a three-round decision. As the bout drew to a close, the Soviet fans, perhaps a little giddy from the U.S.S.R.'s resounding team victory, broke into chants of "Sasha! Sasha!" It was just the sort of celebration that the Soviet leadership hoped its people would enjoy come July, but now probably won't.
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