Maurice O'Sullivan (boxer)

Maurice A. O'Sullivan (born 4 December 1952) is a British boxer. As a teenager, he won the Welsh Amateur Boxing Association title before being selected to represent Great Britain at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He won his first bout at the Games before suffering a defeat to eventual silver medallist, Ugandan Leo Rwabwogo.

Maurice O'Sullivan
Personal information
Full nameMaurice A. O'Sullivan[1]
NationalityBritish
Born (1952-12-04) 4 December 1952
Cardiff, Wales
Height5 ft 3.5 in (1.61 m)[1]
Sport
SportBoxing

Career

Born in Cardiff, Wales, O'Sullivan represented Roath Youth Amateur Boxing Club.[1] He was selected to represent Wales as a teenager and fought Johnny Owen in the 1974 Welsh Amateur Boxing Association Championship, winning a controversial judges' decision. O'Sullivan reportedly offered the trophy to Owen after the fight, although Owen refused to accept.[2][3]

O'Sullivan was chosen to represent Great Britain in the men's flyweight boxing event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.[1] At the Games, he was drawn against Rabah Kaloufi of France in the first round. O'Sullivan won the bout via a judges decision, outscoring his opponent by three points. The second round of the competition was disruted by the withdrawal of Argentine Jose Viccario following a fight in the Olympic Village.[4] O'Sullivan would have drawn Japanese boxer Fujio Nagai,[4][5] but instead faced Leo Rwabwogo of Uganda.[1] Rwabwogo had won a bronze medal at the previous games, the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, having reached the semi-finals of the competition.[6] O'Sullivan was defeated in the first round when the referee stopped the contest after 1 minutes and 20 seconds.[1] Rwabwogo floored O'Sullivan with a right hand; O'Sullivan returned to his feet but, when Rwabwogo struck another strong punch, the referee ended the bout.[5] Rwabwogo went on to win the silver medal.[6]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Maurice O'Sullivan Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  2. Broadbent, Rick (2006). The Big If: The Life and Death of Johnny Owen. Macmillan. pp. 68–69. ISBN 1405052988.
  3. Murphy, Jeff (2004). Johnny Owen. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. pp. 71–72. ISBN 1840189290.
  4. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Boxing at the 1972 Summer Olympics: Men's Flyweight". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. Crowther, Brian (1 September 1972). "Fifth gold for Spitz". The Guardian. p. 22. Retrieved 5 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Leo Rwabwogo Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
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