World Boxing Organization (as they did with several established champions in the lower weight divisions), the WBO sanctioned a fight between two relatively unknown fighters, Francesco Damiani (winner of the super heavyweight silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics) and Johnny DuPlooy, to determine the inaugural holder of its own heavyweight title in 1989. All other sanctioning bodies of boxing recognized the then-undefeated Mike Tyson as the undisputed heavyweight champion. Damiani, meanwhile, went on to become the first WBO heavyweight champion. At heavyweight, especially in the United States, the organization initially struggled to gain credibility as a major sanctioning body, with WBO heavyweight
Boxing at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Light heavyweight Boxing at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Light heavyweight The men's light heavyweight boxing competition at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney was held from 20 September to 1 October at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. Like all Olympic boxing events, the competition was a straight single-elimination tournament. This event consisted of 28 boxers who have qualified for the competition through various qualifying tournaments held in 1999 and 2000. The competition began with a preliminary round on 20 September, where the number of competitors was reduced to 16, and concluded with the final on 1 October. As there were