Professional boxers in Olympics is a bad idea, say fighters

[p4pking]

I said often because some Cubans have defected in recent years, understand that stuff. Yes hockey is rough of course, but it's still not the sole object of the game to hurt the other players, and there are a far greater number of elite pros compared to boxing, as there is in any team sport. It's also a pretty limited number of countries that typically do well, if Russia was set to play Fiji I wouldn't be terribly interested in that either, but boxing is very international. I said I don't follow the amateurs so I'm pleading ignorance here, but how could they simply "not allow" fights to take place, if that's otherwise how the format would work? Doesn't that just cause more problems? Would they make an established pro exempt from having to qualify the way anyone else would, etc?

OK, follow me on this ....Felix Savon WAS a "professional amateur boxer" the same way that the USSR had "professional amateur hockey players". Those guys never had jobs outside of their sports, they never wanted for anything, they were housed, they were fed, they were allowed to train 24/7 and focus on their respective sports, they were given the best equipment, the best coaches none of which THEY had to pay for.....how is that not "professional"?!?!?! What is that if not the life of a professional athlete

Think about this for a second, there's no threshold for professional boxers, Mullet Boxer wasn't an amateur boxer, why allow guys who can't even fight to box professionally without headgear, without a referee who is legitimately focused on safety first?

What is all the ?!?!?!?! about? Cubans and Soviet Russians who never wanted for anything, is that a joke I get your point about the coaching, equipment and caliber of a select few guys, but you seriously don't think they would have rather earned some real money? The fact they couldn't is inherently about as unprofessional as it gets. I googled it out of curiosity, and Telifio Stevenson and Savon were as far as I can tell the only boxers to ever medal in more than one olympics. Outside of Cuba and perhaps Russia, there are virtually no boxers to even compete more than once.

Of course there are terrible pros and mismatches happen all day, many commissions are woefully incompetent, but in theory they are still there to put a stop to that. The amateurs have tournaments where you may fight anyone and have to qualify that way.

[El Kabong]

What is all the ?!?!?!?! about? Cubans and Soviet Russians who never wanted for anything, is that a joke I get your point about the coaching, equipment and caliber of a select few guys, but you seriously don't think they would have rather earned some real money? The fact they couldn't is inherently about as unprofessional as it gets. I googled it out of curiosity, and Telifio Stevenson and Savon were as far as I can tell the only boxers to ever medal in more than one olympics. Outside of Cuba and perhaps Russia, there are virtually no boxers to even compete more than once.

Of course there are terrible pros and mismatches happen all day, many commissions are woefully incompetent, but in theory they are still there to put a stop to that. The amateurs have tournaments where you may fight anyone and have to qualify that way.

Just so we are clear you're saying that earning money makes you a professional rather than having a sport as your vocation (which is what Stevenson and Savon did)? I know PLENTY of "professional boxers" who have jobs outside the ring. Remember that Glen Johnson was still working outside of boxing (construction I believe) before RJJ fought him which allowed for Glen to focus solely on boxing.

As for your question "but you seriously don't think they would have rather earned some real money?", Teofilo Stevenson at least was a true Commie scoffing at the idea of fighting Ali saying: "What good is 1 million dollars compared to the love of 8 million Cubans?"....the government subsidizes those athletes in a manner which is as professional as you can get!


Felix Savon was able to JUST BOX....how many US amateurs are able to do that? How many British amateurs are able to do that? If they want to allow pros to fight in the Olympics then go ahead, it'll only make the Golden Gloves and Goodwill Games the new must have prizes for the amateurs. Guillermo Rigondeaux won 2 Gold medals, Lazlo Papp won 3 Olympic Gold medals, Vasyl Lomachenko won 2 Gold medals, Zou Shimming won 2 Gold medals and 1 Bronze medal, Paddy Barnes won 2 Bronze medals, Artur Olech won 2 Silver medals, Maikro Romero won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medal, Istvan Kovacs won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medal, Mario Kindelan won 2 Gold medals, Jerzy Kulej won 2 Gold medals, Hector Vinent won 2 Gold medals, Roniel Iglesias won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medal, Oleg Saitov won 2 Gold medals, Juan Hernandez Sierra won 2 Silver medals, Ariel Hernandez won 2 Gold medals, Zbigniew Pietrzykowski won 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal, Soren Peterson won 2 Silver medals....it happens quite a bit actually.

[p4pking]

What is all the ?!?!?!?! about? Cubans and Soviet Russians who never wanted for anything, is that a joke I get your point about the coaching, equipment and caliber of a select few guys, but you seriously don't think they would have rather earned some real money? The fact they couldn't is inherently about as unprofessional as it gets. I googled it out of curiosity, and Telifio Stevenson and Savon were as far as I can tell the only boxers to ever medal in more than one olympics. Outside of Cuba and perhaps Russia, there are virtually no boxers to even compete more than once.

Of course there are terrible pros and mismatches happen all day, many commissions are woefully incompetent, but in theory they are still there to put a stop to that. The amateurs have tournaments where you may fight anyone and have to qualify that way.

Just so we are clear you're saying that earning money makes you a professional rather than having a sport as your vocation (which is what Stevenson and Savon did)? I know PLENTY of "professional boxers" who have jobs outside the ring. Remember that Glen Johnson was still working outside of boxing (construction I believe) before RJJ fought him which allowed for Glen to focus solely on boxing.

As for your question "but you seriously don't think they would have rather earned some real money?", Teofilo Stevenson at least was a true Commie scoffing at the idea of fighting Ali saying: "What good is 1 million dollars compared to the love of 8 million Cubans?"....the government subsidizes those athletes in a manner which is as professional as you can get!


Felix Savon was able to JUST BOX....how many US amateurs are able to do that? How many British amateurs are able to do that? If they want to allow pros to fight in the Olympics then go ahead, it'll only make the Golden Gloves and Goodwill Games the new must have prizes for the amateurs. Guillermo Rigondeaux won 2 Gold medals, Lazlo Papp won 3 Olympic Gold medals, Vasyl Lomachenko won 2 Gold medals, Zou Shimming won 2 Gold medals and 1 Bronze medal, Paddy Barnes won 2 Bronze medals, Artur Olech won 2 Silver medals, Maikro Romero won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medal, Istvan Kovacs won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medal, Mario Kindelan won 2 Gold medals, Jerzy Kulej won 2 Gold medals, Hector Vinent won 2 Gold medals, Roniel Iglesias won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medal, Oleg Saitov won 2 Gold medals, Juan Hernandez Sierra won 2 Silver medals, Ariel Hernandez won 2 Gold medals, Zbigniew Pietrzykowski won 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal, Soren Peterson won 2 Silver medals....it happens quite a bit actually.

We are never going to be clear if you keep moving the goal posts. Most pros don't make any money, but they have the opportunity to, if they are good enough! Amateurs may get sponsorship or kickbacks from their commie governments, but I don't see how you can say that's akin to being a pro, they still don't have the right to negotiate and demand their market value. I suspect this being the case will make this argument a moot point as very few pros will show any interest in going to the olympics unless they are near the end of their earning potential. Didn't realize Rigo and Loma had medaled more than once but it makes sense with their age. I'm sure they are happy to have turned pro and made a better living as well.

[Silkeyjoe]

What is all the ?!?!?!?! about? Cubans and Soviet Russians who never wanted for anything, is that a joke I get your point about the coaching, equipment and caliber of a select few guys, but you seriously don't think they would have rather earned some real money? The fact they couldn't is inherently about as unprofessional as it gets. I googled it out of curiosity, and Telifio Stevenson and Savon were as far as I can tell the only boxers to ever medal in more than one olympics. Outside of Cuba and perhaps Russia, there are virtually no boxers to even compete more than once.

Of course there are terrible pros and mismatches happen all day, many commissions are woefully incompetent, but in theory they are still there to put a stop to that. The amateurs have tournaments where you may fight anyone and have to qualify that way.

Just so we are clear you're saying that earning money makes you a professional rather than having a sport as your vocation (which is what Stevenson and Savon did)? I know PLENTY of "professional boxers" who have jobs outside the ring. Remember that Glen Johnson was still working outside of boxing (construction I believe) before RJJ fought him which allowed for Glen to focus solely on boxing.

As for your question "but you seriously don't think they would have rather earned some real money?", Teofilo Stevenson at least was a true Commie scoffing at the idea of fighting Ali saying: "What good is 1 million dollars compared to the love of 8 million Cubans?"....the government subsidizes those athletes in a manner which is as professional as you can get!


Felix Savon was able to JUST BOX....how many US amateurs are able to do that? How many British amateurs are able to do that? If they want to allow pros to fight in the Olympics then go ahead, it'll only make the Golden Gloves and Goodwill Games the new must have prizes for the amateurs. Guillermo Rigondeaux won 2 Gold medals, Lazlo Papp won 3 Olympic Gold medals, Vasyl Lomachenko won 2 Gold medals, Zou Shimming won 2 Gold medals and 1 Bronze medal, Paddy Barnes won 2 Bronze medals, Artur Olech won 2 Silver medals, Maikro Romero won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medal, Istvan Kovacs won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medal, Mario Kindelan won 2 Gold medals, Jerzy Kulej won 2 Gold medals, Hector Vinent won 2 Gold medals, Roniel Iglesias won 1 Gold and 1 Bronze medal, Oleg Saitov won 2 Gold medals, Juan Hernandez Sierra won 2 Silver medals, Ariel Hernandez won 2 Gold medals, Zbigniew Pietrzykowski won 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal, Soren Peterson won 2 Silver medals....it happens quite a bit actually.

Just with regards how many British/US amateurs can just box. Quite a lot of them I would say. Huge investments have gon into amateur boxing. In Ireland if you are a top amateur boxer and train in the high performance unit you get funding as you say and these guys wouldnt have other jobs (theyd get extra funds through sponsorships etc. Also with the WSB and APB you get paid per fight. This would be similar in a lot of countries. I know that Azerbaijan has spent a fortune investing in amateur boxing. Couldnt comment on the US lads but I would imagine a lot of them wouldnt have other jobs.