Shawn O'Sullivan, 1984 Canadian Olympian

[williefromrichmond]

SHAWN O’SULLIVAN

Born May 9, 1962, Toronto, Canada

5’ 10” 157

Orthodox stance

Began boxing 1977

Amateur record (career): 94-6, with 68 KO’s

Partial record below: 36-6, with 22 KO’s

Turned pro, 1984

1977
Dec. - Won his first bout.

1978

Jan. - Ontario Golden Gloves junior featherweight champion.

Jan. - Quebec Golden Gloves junior featherweight champion.

July 1 - Canadian Golden Gloves junior 112-119 champion; Whitehorse, N. W. T. (Winnipeg Free Press 7-7-78:71).

1979

xxxx -New York State Golden Gloves featherweight champion.

1980

Moved up to the light-middleweight division.

Nov. xx -

Nov. xx -

Nov. xx - Jan Franek (Czechoslovakia) L w/o
Tammer Tournament light-middleweight finalist; Tampere, Finland. Named the most outstanding boxer in the competition.

1981

Mch. - New Zealand Games light-middleweight champion.

Apr. 25 - Ed Hollett W pts
Canadian light-middleweight champion; Toronto. (Winnipeg Free Press 4-27-81:39).

June 24 -
Canada vs. Finland.

July xx - Shagdarin Bajarsajhan (Mongolia) W pts 5-0
July xx - Armando Martinez (Cuba) W pts 3-2
July xx - Oleg Koliadin (Soviet Union) L pts 2-3
Cordova Cardin Tournament light-middleweight semifinalist; Havana.

Nov. xx - Oleg Koliadin (Soviet Union) W pts 5-0

Nov. 16 - Perez Landinez (Venezuela) W rsc 1
“Adhering to a pre-fight plan, O’Sullivan bashed away at the body of Landinez and polished him off with vicious right-left combinations at 2:06 of the first round. O’Sullivan listened to the advice of his coach, who told him to batter the body of his rangy opponent. ‘Sometimes, when you do that, a boxer can become flat-footed and at your mercy,’ said O’Sullivan. That would be an appropriate description of Landinez, who could do little more than wobble around the ring afer O’Sullivan’s assault” (Winnipeg Free Press 11-17-81:9).

Nov. 18 - Armando Martinez (Cuba) W pts 5-0
World Cup light-middleweight champion; Montreal. “’Martinez caught me cold in the first round because I hadn’t felt him out 100 per cent.’ O’Sullivan said after rebounding from two standing eight-counts to take a unanimous decision. ‘It was a very tough fight.’ Martinez dominated the opening round, forcing the two eight-counts and cutting O’Sullivan over the left eye late in the round with a right jab. But O’Sullivan was clearly the winner of the second and third rounds. In the final round Martinez was forced to take a standing eight-count and then lost a point when the referee ruled that he had hit O’Sullivan with an open glove. ‘I knew the only way to beat him was toe-to-toe,’ O’Sullivan said. ‘The Cubans are well conditioned and I figured it would come down to who would last longer, but I was sure I had won’” (Tyrone [Pennsylvania] Daily Herald 11-19-81:6).

1982

Feb. xx - Roland Wandelt W rsch 2
Canada vs. East Germany; Saul. Marie, Canada.

Apr. xx - Carmen Rinke L w/o
Canadian light-middleweight finalist; Medicine Hat, Canada.

June 23 - His record: 63-3.

June 24 - Roger McCane W pts 3-0
Canada vs. Finland/USA; Winnipeg. “O’Sullivan scored a unanimous decision, [but afterwards said that] he wasn’t all that fired up for his bout.... It is very hard to get excited for every fight,’ he explained” (Winnipeg Free Press 6-25-82:60).

July xx - Bob Olsen W rsc 3
Canadian Commonwealth Games Box-Offs light-middleweight champion; Montreal.

Sept. 29 - Ambrose Mililo (Zimbabwe) W rsch 3

Oct. 1 - Mark Yawn (Guyana) W ret 1
“O’Sullivan scarcely built up a sweat before Yaw retired with temporary blindness in one eye after taking two whiplash blows” (Kingston [Jamaica] Gleaner 10-5-82:5).

Oct. 6 - Tommy Corr (Northern Ireland) W ko 2
“O’Sullivan took out Corr at 2:37 of the second round after the Irishman was given four mandaory eight-counts” (Winnipeg Free Press 10-7-82:78).

Oct. xx - Nicholas Croombes (England) W ko 2
Commonwealth Games light-middleweight champion; Brisbane.

Dec. 21 - Domenico Raucci W ko 2
Canada vs. Italy; Montreal. “O’Sullivan had some initial difficulty. ‘I was a little rusty ... and he was a little bit of an awkward boxer... He was moving quite a bit after his jab, which eliminated my right hand over his left, which is usually a good punch for me,’ said O’Sullivan. Raucci was twice given standing eight counts and after the second, O’Sullivan finally landed the right, sending Raucci into the ropes to end the fight” (Winnipeg Free Press 12-22-82:56).

1983

Jan. xx - Martin Love W ko 3
Jan. xx - Avery Madgett W ko 3
Invitational tournament light-middleweight champion; Chicago.

Mch. 18 - Aleksandra Koshkin (Soviet Union) W pts 3-2
World Challenge light-middleweight champion; Reno. “O’Sullivan came back from a second round knockdown to pummel Koshkin in the third round and force a standing eight-count” (Winnipeg 3-15-83:84).

Apr. xx - Reginald Boyer W rsc 2
Invitational tournament light-middleweight champion; Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Apr. 9 - Ken Billinghurst W rsch 2
Apr. 10 - Bob Olsen W w/o
Canadian light-middleweight champion; Sudbury, Ontario. “Olsen was unable to compete after suffering a hand injury in an earlier bout” (Lethbridge [Alberta] Herald 4-11-83:B-5).

Apr. 18 - Reggie Boys W ko 2
Canada vs. USA; Halifax, Nova Scotia. “Fighting the flu, O’Sullivan was floored about halfway through the first round. But he regained control before the round ended and in the second was the aggressor, landing body punches, left and right combinations and a hard right” (Lethbridge [Alberta] Herald 4-19-83:B-2).

July 27 - Announced that he “would not attend the [1983] Pan American Games because of an injured hand. His doctor and trainer have recommended that [he] not fight again until the North American Championships in September” (Lethbridge [Alberta] Herald 7-27-83:B-4).

Sept. xx - Mairo Moreira (Guyana) W ko 2

Sept. 16 - Orestes Solano (Cuba) W disq 3

Sept. 17 - Frank Tate (USA) W pts 3-2
North American light-middleweight champion; Houston.

Oct. 18 - Richard Finch (Australia) W pts 5-0

Oct. 21 - Romolo Casamonica (Italy) L pts 2-3
World Cup light-middleweight semifinalist; Rome. “O’Sullivan attacked from the beginning of the fight with Casamonica scoring on counterpunches as O’Sullivan waded in. In the second round O’Sullivan attacked even more aggressively and Casamonica seemed to tire. Asked if he thought he was the victim of a hometown decision, O’Sullivan replied: ‘I would say that is a big part of it.’ After the fight six Cuban boxers and their trainer all told O’Sullivan they thought he had won as did thre Australian fighters and an American team official” (Winnipeg Free Press 10-22-83:95).

Nov. 29 - Dennis Milton W ko 1
Canada/England vs. USA; Reno.

1984

Feb. 14 - Emanuel Ali W ko 1
Canada vs. Philadelphia; Toronto. “O’Sullivan needed only three minutes to demonstrate the skills that have made him the world amateur light-middleweight champion. He destroyed Ali before the first round cam to an end with a left to the midriff and a right cross that dropped Ali to the canvas” (Winnipeg Free Press 2-15-84:86).

Feb. 25 - Mike Cross W rsc 2
Canada vs. USA; Edmonton.

Apr. 13 - Frank Tate (USA) L pts 0-5
World Challenge light-middleweight finalist; Los Angeles. “Tate counterpunching with power shook O’Sullivan several times and won a clear decision” (European Stars and Stripes 4-15-84:26). But O’Sullivan had been suffering from the flu most of the week of the contest. The scoring, all for Tate: 59-57, 59-58, 60-57, 60-56, 60-57.

May xx - Lawrence Rolf W rsch 1

May 6 - Randall Thompson W rsch 1

May 6 - Bob Olsen W ret 3
Canadian Olympic Trials light-middleweight champion; Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Winnipeg Free Press 5-7-84:57).

May 25 - Lawrence Rolf W w/o
Canadian Olympic Box-Off light-middleweight champion; Burnaby, British Columbia. (Winnipeg Free Press 5-26-84:87).

July 29 - Received a bye.

July 31 - Mohamed Rajab Halibi (Lebanon) W rsch 2
“For almost two rounds, O’Sullivan was trying to discover a way to make effective use of his right hand. He said he noticed a few things in a slow-paced first round that were helpful. ‘I realized I didn’t have to worry about him coming at me. And I thought my reach would be beneficial. One thing I did find hard was to land a right hand on him. The jabs were fine, but I couldn’t seem to get through with the right.’ So O’Sullivan worked Halibi over with his left, using a hook to deck him for a standing eight count with 1:14 left in the second round. Twelve seconds later he landed a stinging right, Halibi took another count and the referee stopped the bout” (Winninpeg Free Press 8-1-84:54).

Aug. 6 - Ahn Dal-Ho (South Korea) W rsc 1
“O’Sullivan won in spectacular fashion. He knocked An down twice and stopped the South Korean at 1:28 of the first round. O’Sullivan knocked An down with a left hook early in the fight. Then after a brief exchange, he landed a crunching hook to the head, and the referee gave An a standing eight-count. Moments later, An went down from another hook, and the fight was stopped” (Pacific Stars and Stripes 8-8-84:29).

Aug. 8 - Rod Douglas (Great Britain) W pts 5-0
“O’Sullivan was awarded a unanimous but unpopular decision over Douglas. He forced Douglas to take a standing eight-count in the third round. But some observers at ringside had Douglas winning the first two rounds on the strength of a left jab that continually popped O’Sullivan in the face. If O’Sullivan did win the fight with his overall aggressiveness and that third-round surge, it had to be by a small margin.... ‘What it boiled down to was who I was fighting,’ Douglas said. ‘He took three or four punches and got one. After the second round I thought I was ahead. He got the third round. I got the first two ; that’s what I thought....’ O’Sullivan said, ‘I was confident that I had won.... I felt like the first and second rounds had gone my way; something like 20-19 or 20-18, if you want numbers’” (Syracuse Post-Standard 8-9-84:C-7).

Aug. 9 - Christophe Tiozzo (France) W pts 4-1
“Admitting that he fought ‘sloppily,’ O’Sullivan ... needed a jury reversal to advance for a shot at the gold medal. He saw the judges score the fight 3-2 for Tiozzo. But, under rules that are being used for the first time at these Olympics, a 3-2 decision then goes to the five-member jury, made up of five International Amateur Boxing Association representatives from various continents. The jury gave O’Sullivan a 4-1 decision, which was met with boos from the crowd. ‘I was probably too tired to feel nervous waiting for the decision,’ said O’Sullivan. ‘I have to admit I wasn’t sure what it would be.’ O’Sullivan managed to record an eight count in the opening round, but thereafter, his punches seemed to lack zip and his defense could not prevent Tiozzo from getting through with blows of his own” (Winnipeg Free Press 8-10-84:43).

Aug. 11 - Frank Tate (USA) L pts 0-5
Olympic light-middleweight finalist; Los Angeles. “Tate counted on his left jab ring saavy in the third round to score a decision over O’Sullivan after he had been belted around the ring by the Canadian and forced to take two standing eight-counts. Tate’s victory was the most unpopular with the crowd. There seemed to be as many cheers aa boos when the verdict was announced, and O’Sullivan left the ring to a standing ovation” (Syracuse Herald-Journal 8-12-84:226).

Sept. 6 - Announced he was turning pro. His amateur record (career) 94-6, with 68 KO’s (Winnipeg Free Press 9-7-84:54).


Appreciation to Matt Mizerski, amateur boxing historian, for much of this information.

[Zelley]

The 1984 Olympic box-off in May 1984 at Burnaby.

The Box-off action was staged at the 1984 Junior Nationals
some of the juniors in action were Scotty Olson, Manny Sobral
and the late Stewart Hilton and many more.

In the 1984 BC AMATEUR ANNUAL - September 1984 by B. Zelley

Page 7" Part of the "Annual Round-Up"

."In Olympic box-off action, BC's WAYNE WESH and LAWRENCE ROLFE
lost out in their last chance to win a spot on the Olympic Team.
Winners of the box-off bouts were Steve Pagendam, John Kalbhenn,
Denis Lambert, Shawn O'Sullivan, Rick Duff and Ken Johnson.
All of the winners except KEN (JOHNSON) were selected for the Olympic Team
and joined Willie DeWit, Dale Walters, Lennox Lewis, Wayne Gordon and Billy Dunlop."

Note: At the time, I did not get the full facts on why KEN JOHNSON did not get selected
for the team. But, having him defeat the Canadian Champion and not get picked is an
issue that has been overlooked for 25 years. So if anyone from Manitoba Canada can
sort out this mystery of Amateur Boxing politics, it would be nice way of clearing the air.

Some other topics covered in the 14-page annual included:
"Effective Boxing", "The Third Man - Referees & Hints For Referees",
"Olympic Gold - What Price Glory". On page 2, there was also a tribute to 36
folks that had provided information or photos that were used between
November 1983 to September 1984. A sample of five of the most familiar names
in Canadian Boxing would be Bob Carswell,Bob Edgett, Bert Lowes, Jerry Shears,
and Dick McLean. But two of the most supportive were
officials Howard Curling, Rick Brough and coaches Bob Decker and Monty Brown.

[Dancin' Dan]

Shawn O'Sullivan really could have been a bigger pro. Thrown in to the big time in only his eleventh fight against non other than a prime Simon Brown (who had like 25 fights already). Allowed to develop further he was a very good straight up boxer/banger. Terrific amateur for sure. Solid pro.