If Savon and Stevenson had gone pro...

[VG_Addict]

What if Felix Savon and Teofilo Stevenson had gone pro? Could they have become world champions?

[dchampishere]

In my humble opinion yes they could of become professional boxing champions if given the chance and proper professional training.

[CHEECH]

they were dam good so I woud say yes. but in perspective Stevenson was probably in his prime when he whacked out john tate in the 76 Olympics. sometime within the next couple years ali lost title and then reclaimed it v spinks, larry holmes beat ken Norton for his belt and john tate beat coezee for a belt and then lost it to mike weaver. given a standard, no not standard but accelerated build up for teo as a pro from after his 76 gold medal games, there's about 4 ways for teo to have gotten a world belt- imo he whup spinks, old ali, ken Norton, john tate n mike weaver. so yeah teo would been a champ. savon? looked real solid at 201 at his prime which I think was like mid 90's but i'm not so sure. but if that's so, I doubt he fights cruiser which was 190 back then so that puts him with lenox lewis, olivermccall, Tyson,bowe n holyfield so not so sure if he gets a world title. even if he was to fight Bruno for that belt or even herbie hide for the wbo belt, I'm not so sure. so Stevenson definitely woulda been a world champ, savon maybe not

[Dynamite76]

It's debatable, but in Teofilo Stevenson's case, no.He couldn't beat Igor Vysotsky in two tries, and he's going to face a bunch of those types as a pro.Plus, Greg Page would've gave him the beating he didn't get to give him in the amateurs.

[StarshipTrooper]

Stevenson sure as hell doesn't beat Holmes (ie the real champion from the late '70s onward). Maybe before that he could have lifted the title from a washed-up untrained Ali the way Leon Spinks did. Once Holmes came up Stevenson had no chance.

Poet

[SCtrojansbaby]

The Cuban amateur I think would of been the best pro is Ariel Hernandez.

[CHEECH]

igor vysotsky in two tries? we got a historian in here, so when did the vysotsky fights happen n y did vysotsky not pick up a gold medal in 72 or 76? did page not fight Stevenson? I know jimmy clark did fight them both and he beat page but not Stevenson but they mighta fought more than once so I don't know what the actual records between them all were. anyway, I'm stickin with my story, teo gets a belt easy, not against holmes but against the aforementioned other four belt holders

[StarshipTrooper]

I believe the question was whether Stevenson could have become a world champion. I presume that means a real world champion and not a phony-ass alphabeltholder.

Poet

[TBear]

There is such a difference in the pro and amateur game. Many great amateurs have been knocked off before the even get in the rankings. My first impression is that the would do well because they were great amateurs but you never can tell. Take Jorge L Gonzalez for example. He wasn't quite Savon or Stevenson but he did beat Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis in the amateurs.
Jimmy Clark beat Stevenson in the amateurs but never cracked the top ten as a pro.
I guess it would depend on how they were handled as a professional and how well they were managed. But you never know.

[Dynamite76]

igor vysotsky in two tries? we got a historian in here, so when did the vysotsky fights happen n y did vysotsky not pick up a gold medal in 72 or 76? did page not fight Stevenson? I know jimmy clark did fight them both and he beat page but not Stevenson but they mighta fought more than once so I don't know what the actual records between them all were. anyway, I'm stickin with my story, teo gets a belt easy, not against holmes but against the aforementioned other four belt holders

Vysotsky fought Stevenson first in 1973, and then in 1976.It's my understanding that because he was a bleeder, Igor wasn't put in the Olympics.