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The fighter who took home the gold medal Floyd Mayweather was earmarked to win at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games is serving a three-year jail term.
In the final that year, Somluck Kamsing beat Mayweather’s conqueror Serafim Todorov, the last man to beat the boxing legend 29 years ago. However, question marks over the scoring of Mayweather’s loss have never gone away.
It’s widely considered that Kamsing owns the award that Mayweather would have had sitting in his cabinet had the points system been above board. As it turns out, Kamsing walked away with the top prize but did nothing with his career after taking the title.
Almost thirty years later, Kamsing is serving three years, one month, and 10 days of a sentence handed down for a heinous crime. Two months ago, the provincial court in Khon Kaen province convicted Kamsing of an indecent act following accusations.
The charges against him included abducting a minor for indecent purposes, committing a lewd act against a minor by using force, and attempted rape. The victim was a 17-year-old girl who Kamsing took back to a hotel room from a night spot in December 2023.
The judges who handed down the term also ordered Kamsing to pay the victim and her family 170,000 baht [around $5000] compensation despite their denials of any involvement.
It’s a shocking turn of events for Kamsing, who is notorious for becoming Olympic champion in a year when the glory was destined for Mayweather. They should have met in the final after Mayweather was robbed of a victory against Todorov. It’s since been proven that the Olympic scoring system in boxing was rigged for years.
Undoubtedly, Mayweather beat Todorov and would have defeated Kamsing. However, the former Asian champion defeated Todorov 8-5, took the podium as Mayweather failed to win a gold medal, and settled for the bronze medal.
In the following years, Kamsing remained an amateur and a national hero as Mayweather embarked on a Hall of Fame career of 50-0 in the paid ranks. Kamsing won only two fights at the next two Summer Olympics and became a Muay Thai fighter in another unsuccessful combat stint.
Since then, he’s tried his hand at being a singer and an actor, with the latter being the focus until his incarceration in 2023. Kamsing even starred alongside Jet Li in the movie Fearless despite having his scene cut outside of his home country of Thailand.
With a name that means ‘Boastful Forever, there isn’t much for Kamsing to get excited about these days as his reputation has nosedived due to the conviction.
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Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010.
