The next summer Olympics will be held in 2020 in Japan, where Hilo’s Joe Feliciano hopes to be if he can score another star.
The next summer Olympics will be held in 2020 in Japan, where Hilo’s Joe Feliciano hopes to be if he can score another star.
Feliciano, 57, is a two-star AIBA boxing referee. The highest level is three stars, and those officials are eligible for the Olympics.
The 1976 Hilo High graduate didn’t earn his third star after the Olympic trials qualifier in September in Philadelphia.
So, he sat home and watched the Rio Games, especially his beloved boxing, on the tube.
But maybe it was a good thing that he wasn’t eligible to referee in Brazil, where things turned upside down in an unprecedented ugly fashion.
There was controversy over the fairness of the boxing judges and referees. That’s rarely something new in boxing.
But boxing officiating, across the board, at the Rio Games turned into a black eye.
AIBA, the amateur boxing governing body, suspended all 36 referees and judges who officiated during the Rio Games.
During the Olympic trials in Philly, Feliciano worked the fight for bantamweight (123 pounds) winner Shakur Stevenson, who lost the gold medal in a split decision to Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez in Brazil.
On Wednesday, Feliciano leaves for Costa Rica, where the Central American Games will be held over the weekend, featuring the host country, Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, and Guatemala.
Feliciano will work amateur matches under the watchful eyes of AIBA supervisors, who could give him a coveted third star.
Then he’ll pick up more frequent flier miles when he heads to Kansas City for the Elite, Youth and Junior National Championships, which run Dec. 4-10.
Again, the embattled AIBA (Amateur International Boxing Association) will run the show and scout referees.
While the amateur AIBA goes with stars, USA Boxing uses levels, 1, 2 or 3. Feliciano is already a Level 3 referee and has done pro fights.
“I was thinking of moving to Las Vegas to do pro fights,” Feliciano said. “I’d have to join the Las Vegas Boxing Commission. But my son is here.”
However, it’s the AIBA’s third star that he’s still chasing.
“Once you get that there a lot of roads you can go on,” Feliciano said.
In 2011, AIBA started the World Series of Boxing for international pro boxers to maintain their Olympic eligibility.
Feliciano would like to referee one of those matches, but he’ll need to earn his AIBA third star, which opens the door to his future summer goal: the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.