Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 110

PAGE 110 PHILADELPH A DAILY NEWS 2W3W FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 1996 Tonga's singing songas Celebration starts for first medal ever by Rich Hofmann Daily News Sports Columnist ATLANTA Before Wednesday night, the most famous Tongan boxer might just have been Vai Sikahema, the former Eagles wide receiver, who did some celebrating one afternoon at Giants Stadium by going three rounds with the padding on a goalpost. Now, Sikahema's been surpassed, and he was there to witness it, sitting in the stands and waving the Tongan flag as his cousin, a 300- pound guy named Paea Wolfgramm, with 23 amateur fights, pulled off the 1 upset of the Olympic boxing tournament (and maybe the Olympics) when he won a decision over Cuban super-heavyweight Alexis Rubalcaba. The win gave Wolfgramm a berth in the semifinals and at least a bronze medal. It was the first-ever Olympic medal won by a Tongan athlete. It also came accompanied by faxed and telephoned encouragement from tons of Tongans, including King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV.

And it came with this word: People at home were fasting for victory. "They put out the word that I was fighting," Wolfgramm said. "They were fasting the day before It's a very religious country." The tradition in Tonga, a country made up of more than 170 volcanic and coral islands in the South Pacific with a population of 106,000, is apparently Mormon. The tradition apparently is not boxing. Wolfgramm actually moved to New Zealand as a kid, and was attending the University of Auckland and playing rugby when the boxing bug bit.

He quit school more than a year ago to give his Olympic dream a go. His wife works and supports him, but he does have one job. "I work as a clerk," Wolfgramm said. "A mild-mannered ed clerk." Somewhere in his trip to the Olympics, the mild manner was lost, at least in the ring. Wolfgramm was all over the Cuban from the very beginning of the fight.

The middle was a little dicey, but Wolfgramm gained control by the end. "I hurt him first," Wolfgramm said. "Then I hurt him a second time. Then I saw a change in his expression "When you're talking about Cuba, you're talking about the pinnacle of amateur boxing. This was a gold medal fight for me, And as the fight wound down, the crowd in Alexander Memorial Coliseum took up the chant: "Tonga, Ton-ga, Ton-ga." "I sort of have that effect on Bronze medal for Cauthen ed ty adidas Tonga's Paea Wolfgramm nails Cuba's Alexis Rubalcaba people," Wolfgramm said.

The decision was a formality. As soon as he stepped out of the ring, Wolfgramm received a celebratory hug from a cheering bystander: boxing promoter Lou Duva. "You have to give him credit," Wolfgramm said. "He walked up like he knew me for 15 years. He just kept calling me his boy." As it turns out, Duva already knew Wolfgramm a little bit.

Last year, he had him for a very short time in a training camp in Virginia Beach, Va. Asked if he had pro potential, Duva said he'd need to lose some weight and that "it would take some work." He fights for the silver tonight against Nigeria's Duncan Dokiwari. Whatever happens, his place in Tongan sporting history is now secure, probably surpassing even the rugby team that beat Australia in the mid-'70s. You remember. Anyway, what if he won the whole thing? What if Tonga gets a gold? "I'll die," said his coach, former pro heavyweight Tony Fulilangi.

"Coach will die, and maybe the king will give me half of Tonga," Paea Wolfgramm said. I by Sam Donnellon ATLANTA The American crowd was cheering. This should have been Terrance Cauthen's first hint of trouble. The entertainment-addicted fans of Alexander Memorial Coliseum were up and down out of their seats with each punch and counterpunch, as Philly's favorite amateur lightweight traded shots with Bulgaria's favorite lightweight. This is not how Cauthen wins fights.

He wins by jabbing his opponent with sharp flicks of his forearms, throwing foes off by switching between a lefthanded and righthanded stance, and by swarming out of harm's way. He wins by being boring and by being booed. "He caught me," Cauthen admitted after a 15-12 loss to Tontcho Tontchev ended his gold-medal hopes last night. "But I caught him with a lot more clean shots. "I did the same thing I did the whole tournament." Not really.

Cauthen didn't take an early lead as he had throughout the tournament. Neither did the other two Americans fighting last night. That means there are only three Americans left with gold-medal hopes. USED CAR WAREHOUSE USED CAR WAREHOUSE USED CAR WAREHOUSE 2 YOU'RE APPROVED GUARANTEED! DRIVE HOME INCLUDE YOUR LOW BANKRUPTCIES TODAY! NO PROBLEM! INSURANCE PAYMENT! CH. 7,11,13 WE NO DISCHARGE NEEDED ALL MAKES 200 VEHICLES UNPAID STUDENT LOANS OVER STOCK! TAX LIENS IN ALL PAY YOU STUB: NOW OPEN CIVIL JUDGEMENTS NEED: CURRENT ADDRESS TO THE DIVORCE CHARGE-OFFS VALID DRIVER'S MUST HAVE PUBLIC! LATE ON ANY PAYMENTS PROOF LICENSE RESIDENTS LIABILITY INSURANCE Take 95 South Exit at Directions Academy from Road.

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U.S. coach Al Mitchell, who often has been outraged with the scoring during this tournament, had no problem with it last night, except to say that Cauthen's fight could have gone either way. "Really, it was a hard fight to judge," he said. "Both were throwing wide punches haymakers, hooks nobody was going down the pipe, where the judges like Said Cauthen: "I'm not going to be able to agree with him this time. Terrance Cauthen fought his fight.

I didn't get any scores from the hook like I was all tournament." In truth, Cauthen's bigger problem was one of poise. Stunned by a hard right hand early in the bout that put him behind, 2-1, the 20-year-old gave away points as he fought tentatively and defensively. Tontchev, a 23-year-old veteran of the 1992 Olympics he lost, 16-7, to American gold medalist Oscar De La Hoya took a quick 5-1 lead. Counterpunching effectively and scoring nearly each time, Tontchev maintained a slim lead in points throughout. When the bout was over, the usual outrage Mitchell has expressed after American losses was missing.

Even the give-me-goldor-give-me-death rhetoric was missing in Mitchell's voice, replaced by the sound of a proud father. "They didn't expect him to get this far," he said after quietly hugging Cauthen and telling him how proud he was of him. "I don't know if he felt he could get this far." Maybe he didn't at first, but Cauthen was convinced until yesterday that God's plan for him included a gold medal. "The Lord works in mysterious ways," Cauthen said. "Whatever blessing He gives, I've got to take it.

I've got to be grateful for what I've got. I could have gotten nothing. I could have been out the first round, back home watching all the guys on TV." For his hometowns of Trenton and Philly, that may be the most frustrating aspect about the loss. Had he won, Cauthen would have been prime time tomorrow. "The coaches got all we could out of him," Mitchell said.

"And he pushed it to the limit. He's a class act, he's from Philadelphia, and he's got a bronze medal." Said Cauthen: "I'll go down in history with a bronze medal. I'll take that and run with it.".