Flyweight (≤51 kilograms), Men

No medalists from the 1982 World Championship were present for this class, notably missing Soviet Yury Aleksandrov, the world champion. The runner-up in 1982 was American Michael Collins but he did not make the US Olympic team, having moved up to bantamweight, and losing at the US Trials. The US representative at flyweight was Steve McCrory, who had been US flyweight champion in 1982 and 1983, had won a bronze medal at the 1983 Pan American Games, and was the brother of world professional welterweight champion Milton McCrory. After a walkover in the first round, McCrory won three easy matches and advanced to a final against Yugoslav Redžep Redžepovski, which McCrory won by majority decision, 4-1. Redžepovski commented after the bout, “As long as an American is standing on his feet for three rounds, it is hard to get a decision over him.“ McCrory turned professional later in 1984 and had a decent career, getting a few world title shots, but never winning a crown. His career ended in 1991, with a record of 30 wins, 5 losses and 1 draw, a career hampered by his abuse of recreational drugs. He later pawned his gold medal and died in poverty from an unknown cause when only 37-years-old. One of the losing quarter-finalists in Los Angeles was Australia’s Jeff Fenech, who lost to Redžepovski. After turning professional, Fenech had the best career of any fighter from this Olympic class, later winning world titles as a super-bantamweight and featherweight. He fought through 1996 and then oddly made a comeback in 2008 at age 44, fighting once and winning.