Once-strong U.S. team crumbles

American fighters have combined for 14 medals over past five Olympics.

LONDON — Olympic boxing begins today, and with it comes the question: Has the U.S. boxing program, once a pugilistic superpower, regained its muscle after a generation of decline?

On the plus side, the United States emerged from international qualifying events with fighters in 12 of the 13 weight classes, more than any other country. “We have a good tactical approach and we’re not afraid to match up against anybody,” Basheer Abdullah, the team’s head coach, said.

Women will box for the first time in Olympic history, and each American in the three female divisions — the flyweight Marlen Esparza, the lightweight Queen Underwood and the middleweight Claressa Shields — has a reasonable shot at a medal. So do some of the men, including Rau’shee Warren, a flyweight in his third Olympics.

But there are also reasons to doubt a return to the glory days. Many of the U.S. fighters are relatively inexperienced in international competition, in part because USA Boxing, the governing body of the Olympic effort, is chronically short of cash. Many nations had extended training camps for their boxers; the U.S. session was four weeks.

Money is merely one problem. Within a month of the London Games, the U.S. team still lacked a head coach. When the job finally went to Abdullah, he arrived with a big drawback: Because he had worked in a professional fight during the past six months, international rules prohibited him from being in the corner during Olympic bouts. Two of his main assistants are similarly barred from ringside.

“Rules are rules, and none of our coaches with Olympic experience will be able to work the corners, and that’s a shame; an experienced coach can make all the difference in a close bout,” said Abdullah, who was also head coach in 2004.

“But our first-time coaches are capable, and we’ll be fine.”

His technical adviser, Al Mitchell, coach of the 1996 Olympic team, said experience in the corner was “really important,” and to emphasize the point he repeated “really” nine more times.

Esparza, 23, is a six-time national champion. When she was told this month that an unfamiliar coach would be in her cor- ner, the news hit her like a haymaker, and for a few seconds she closed her eyes. “This is just so bad,” she said. From 1952 to 1988, U.S. boxers won 52 medals, 31 of them gold. Among the gold medalists were the amateur incarnations of Floyd Patterson, Cassius Clay (before he became Muhammad Ali), Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Ray Leonard. But in the past five Olympics the United States has managed only 14 medals, three of them gold, and the trend is in a nose-dive: four medals in 2000, two in 2004 and one — a bronze — in 2008.

Many reasons are mentioned for the decline: the rush of young U.S. fighters to turn pro, inconsistent coaching, a lack of preparation for international competition, more nations producing excellent fighters. Then there is the matter of USA Boxing. The organization has been flailing about for years.

The Olympic committee provided $440,000 of USA Boxing’s $3.3 million budget for 2012. The financial support would have been greater if the team’s prospects appeared brighter.

“I wasn’t confident that resources we were going to invest were based on a solid, longer term plan,” said Alan Ashley, the chief of sport performance for the USOC.