Heavyweight (>95 kilograms), Men

The 1981 and 1983 World Championships had been won by Yasuhiro Yamashita (JPN), but he elected to compete only in the open class in Los Angeles. The 1983 open class World Champion had been the 145 kg. (329 lb.) Hitoshi Saito, and he was the Japanese choice for this class. Saito won his early matches very easily, with three matches taking him only 90 seconds for three ippons. In the final, he faced the defending champion, France’s Angelo Parisi. Parisi had an unusual international record. He was European Champion in 1977, 1983, and 1984, but never placed at the World Championships. The final was a passive affair, with both fighters being warned for inactivity. Eventually Saito won a close match only by shido at the time limit. Parisi was Italian-born, but grew up a British citizen in England, and represented France by virtue of marrying a French woman.