Heavyweight (>95 kilograms), Men

The Japanese would have been heavily favored as Sumio Endo and Yasuhiro Yamashita had won the heavyweight and open classes at the 1979 World Championships. In their absence the favorite was European Champion Angelo Parisi, although he had only recently moved up from the half-heavyweight division. He made it to the final where he faced the 1979 European Junior Champion, Dimitar Zapryanov (BUL), who was much larger than Parisi at 140 kg. Parisi won the gold medal by ippon, throwing Zapryanov with seoi-otoshi at 6:14 of the final. Yamashita, who would win the 1984 open gold medal, watched the competition and proclaimed Parisi the only man worth watching in Moskva. Parisi represented France, although he had been born in Italy. He moved to England as a youth and competed on the British team, but switched to the French team after marrying a French woman.