America's worst performance in men's Olympic boxing

They might have topped the final medal tally but America is losing its dominance in many of the sports in which podiums were never complete without US presence. Most visible was the dismal performance of the American men boxing team. Once famous for its star studded lineup the 2012 team America wasn't even close to its own shadow. The traditional American challenge was known for the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Leon Spikes and countless other pugilists who were not only terror in the ring but went on to become legend of the sport.The 2012 team failed to get even a single medal. This is America's second worst Olympics performance and the worst in recent memory.
Since inclusion in the schedule, the Olympics' boxing is dominated by the Americans. Boxing made its debut in the 1904 St Louis games where America was the only participant and hence won all the medals. So far it has won 109 medals (48 gold)- the best Olympic performance by any country. Even after the rise of Cuban and Russian boxers, the Americans retained their control of the ring. It was however the final bout of the light middleweight category in the 1988 Seoul Games that marked a watershed moment in America's Olympic Boxing history.
The games are still remembered for the controversial decision in the gold medal bout between America's Roy Jones Jr. and South Korea's Park Si-Hun. Even after receiving 86 punches against his 32 the South Korean was declared winner. Reportedly it was later discovered that the judges had partied with the officials. Although the decision still stands but Olympic boxing changed forever because of the incident. The new scoring system introduced after the 1988 games ended the American supremacy in the ring.
In 1988 the US won 8 medals- three gold, three silver and two bronze. Their performance has dipped since then. In 1992 they won three medals (G-1, S-1,B-1), 1996 six (G-1, B-5), 2000 four (S-2,B-2), 2004 two (G-1,B-1) and in 2008 the American team came home with one bronze medal.
So what went wrong? Experts point that the new scoring system worked against the Americans. The new scoring system in armature boxing is a mix of manual and computerized scoring. The five judges give points for each round which is then calculated by a computer. To avoid favoritism or prejudice the highest and lowest scores are not counted. The final point is the average of three similar scores. Apart from this points are awarded for clean punches. In professional matches points are also awarded for style, aggression and control of the ring. Most of the Americans train to become professional and that's why they have failed to adapt to the change induced by the new scoring system. Countries like Cuba and Ukraine has thrived in the Olympics boxing as the majority of boxers remain forever amateur.
Interestingly London's boxing rings seem to have a particular despise for American boxers because the Americans have always underperformed in the British capital. In the 1908 games they failed to win a single medal. The boxing rings of the 1908 Olympics were marred by controversial decisions. Britain won all the medals except the middleweight silver that went to Australian boxer Reginald Baker. The controversial gold medal was awarded to test cricketer Johnny Douglas, whose father was the match's referee. In the 1948 games also the Americans came home with a solitary silver medal.