ROY JONES, the most wanted man on Steve Collins's list of opponents, who most observers thought was wrongfully denied an Olympic boxing championship at the 1988 Seoul Games, may receive a gold medal after all.

The International Olympic Committee president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, has told United States Olympic officials that he will look into the matter, following a meeting last week at IOC headquarters in Lausanne.

After Collins had successfully defended his WBO super middleweight title in London last Saturday night, he accused Jones, the current IBF super middleweight champion of "running away" from a unification bout between the two. Collins has also threatened to turn up on Jones's doorstep to challenge him face to face.

The US Olympic Committee president, Bill Hybl, says Samaranch might grant Jones a measure of justice to offset South Korean boxer Park Si-hun's controversial 3-2 decision over Jones in their middleweight gold medal bout.

The decision was met with derision at the time and Jones was later voted "best boxer" of the Games. "President Samaranch, I feel, was receptive and concerned about the 1988 decision of Roy Jones," Hybl said yesterday. "He has indicated that he is personally going to review the data involved, including the fight itself, which I think is fair and just."

The USOC does not want Park stripped of his medal. "We are requesting, in this special case, that recognition is given to Roy Jones in the form of a gold medal," Hybl said. "It's only fair. Most importantly, it's a case where the facts demand an adjustment."

Officials dubbed the verdict a humiliating shame. A private firm hired to count punches found Park landed 32 and Jones connected on 86.

A USA Boxing appeal of the decision was denied, even though the three judges favouring Park were later suspended.

"The American won easily so easily, in fact, that I was positive my four fellow judges would score the fight for Jones by a wide margin," judge Hiouad Larbi of Morocco said.

"So I voted for the Korean to make the score only 4-1 for the American so as not to embarrass the host country." Judges from Uruguay and Uganda did so as well.

"Based on the admission by the Moroccan judge, it's a real injustice to Jones," said Hybl.