Ringside Report Looks Back at 1972 Olympic Boxer Louis Self

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

Born in Toledo. Idaho, Louis Self, 3-2, is a bit of an enigma. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, he was part of the Olympic team which included Ray Seales, Marvin Johnson and Jesse Valdez. Boxing at featherweight he was to appear at the Olympics with an amateur pedigree that was reportedly 29 wins along with 4 losses. At the time he went to Germany he had no international experience as a fighter so was not schooled in the arts of international competition. This was to rate as one of the US’s worst Olympic boxing performances, as they returned with only one gold and three bronzes.

His Olympic quarter final fight against Hungary’s Sotos Andreas where he lost by 3-2, was regarded as a complete travesty: Self was robbed blind.

In 1973 he was to turn professional and there is little doubt that being a former Olympian, though it did not hold the same kudos as it does now, helped him. But Self was not the kind of guy to exploit that and his eventual professional record – boxing once in 1973, then again in 1977 before making three fights in 1980 hardly speaks to a man with his own glory in his head. This was a man with a greater glory in his heart and he wandered away from the violence in the ring to share his love from a pulpit and became a minister with Majestic Praise Ministries. Through this he served as an advocate for wayward youth – much like he had been – in the juvenile court system.

And so, it his story as a man who became fascinated with boxing, before finding a new way to help those around him, that fascinates. And the enigma is how he is marked out where there is so little written about him and that is an intriguing part of his story. I am therefore grateful to Blade columnist Ron Musselman for his 2006 interview which made a great piece of reading.
Self was born in post war America, which was tough for any kid. In the city of Toledo, Self was, however, to find his fists handy on the streets. At the age of 11 he started in a downtown boys’ club boxing, but it was, according to Self himself, a few years later that he saw a couple of kids facing off against each other in a park. He asked the ref if he could face the winner. He did, and he won. From then it appears that only boxing was the apple of his eye.

By the age of 15 he was fighting competitively and began an amateur career that was to culminate in that Olympic appearance. Under the wing of initial trainer Fred Griffin and then Buddy Carr, he was now on his way. It was Carr, who saw greatness in the fists that Self threw, honed his skills and took Self to the National Golden Gloves title in 1972. At 125 pounds, there were no better fighters than Self in the States.

According to Self: “Buddy just kept encouraging me to keep going. He thought I was going to be the next wonder. He said I was the best fighter in Toledo at the time. He said, Louis, you don t know the potential you have. One thing led to another, and I was falling in love with it. I wasn’t getting many fights, but I was enjoying it. I worked out with people who were supposed to be better than me and I showed the skills that I had.”

The Olympic qualifiers saw Self have to impress the judges whilst in front of the legendary figures of fighter, Muhammad Ali and commentator, Howard Cosell. Mind you, Self had 10 brothers so perhaps he was well versed in showing the men in his life how he fought!

Once he was through the qualifiers, Self was installed by many as the favorite to bring back a gold medal at featherweight. This was despite some people having doubts as Self himself explained: “A lot of people felt that I was not qualified due to the fact I did not have enough international bouts. I just tried to block out the distractions and focus on the goal.” It paid off, “When I finally made the team, it was like, Glory, hallelujah.”

The Olympics, though no guarantee of riches for participants as it can be now for many, was still a huge deal. Cosell, having seen the qualifiers was well placed to commentate for ABC-TV and Self went in to beat first Maurice Apeang, 5-0, then Angelos Theotokatos again 5-0, before coming up against Hungary’s Sotos Andreas in the quarter finals.
Self lost 3-2.

Self was gutted and so too was Cosell. He called it a travesty, many called it a lot worse, but the dream was now over. The bitterness was palpable as Self himself explained: “Everyone in the ring knew I completely outboxed the Hungarian guy. He was bullish. He stayed on me, but he didn’t really hit me. At the end of the fight, when the decision was made, you could tell by the reaction of the people there that they didn’t think the right guy won, or the right decision was made. It hurts that I didn’t win a medal. That was my goal. I was right there on the cusp of the medal round. One more match and I was on my way.”

Munich was far from finished and a few days afterwards the terrible events that have defined this Olympiad occurred a few hundred yards from where Self was housed. It saw nine Israeli athletes killed in a terrorist attack. Such was the terror it inflicted, along with many other participants, Self did not attend the closing ceremony – the rumor was that there was going to be a bomb.
His professional career was begun in 1973 with his debut at Maple Leaf Gardens where he lost a split decision over four rounds to Danny Stokes who was also making his debut. His entire pro career lasted five fights and ended on the 6th of December 1980. At the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, he was knocked out in the second round of a scheduled eight by Forrest Winchester. It was on a Tommy Hearns undercard. Self recalled how it had gone: “I completely dominated the first round. He had a black eye and his nose was bleeding. After the bell rang for the second round, I stopped in the middle of the ring. I could not throw a punch anymore. After that fight, which I lost, I said, I’ll never fight again. I had a very spiritual awakening. Nobody believed me.” And he never did, despite appeals from both Fred and Buddy. But Self was far from forgotten and in 1996, carried the Olympic torch through Toledo on its way to Atlanta.

Upon retiring he went into General Motors as a technician and then served from his ordination in 1987 as a minister in his church. Still living in Toledo at the time he was interviewed, Self is one Olympian whose calling appears to have been for a high purpose than to simply dazzle between the ropes. And amen to that.

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