Should Robeisy Ramirez defect from Cuba and turn pro?

[Scipio2009]

So it's been over a week since he won his gold, this guy is highly talented and still only 22. I feel like he could have a bright future ahead of him in the pro game, he's already won 2 gold medals which is great.

Guys like Rigo, Lara, Gamboa, Barthelemy etc defected and have become world champion professionals so do you think he should follow suit?

Another option could be to stay for one more olympics to try and become a 3 time gold medalist and then turn pro at 26.

In the end it's up to him but what do you guys think? Also does anyone know whether he wants to turn pro?

There's no need for him to defect; the US and Cuba are currently working through the process of establishing formal and normalized trade/diplomatic relationships. On top of that, Ramirez is only all of 22 years old.

Fight at the 2020 Olympics (where he'd still be a fresh 26 years old), hopefully have a chance to win a third gold medal, and then get the opportunity to be the first Cuban athlete in how long, who is "free" to travel the world and achieve as much stardom as his ability will get him, yet still come home to see his family and country whenever he wishes.

He likely won't have a super long pro career (starting off as a 5'5 115lb/118lb, and at 26 years old, likely gives him a good 5-10 year run where his skills would be prime), but I think that the chance to bring a formal world championship to Cuba would be worth the wait.

[Spacey1991]

So it's been over a week since he won his gold, this guy is highly talented and still only 22. I feel like he could have a bright future ahead of him in the pro game, he's already won 2 gold medals which is great.

Guys like Rigo, Lara, Gamboa, Barthelemy etc defected and have become world champion professionals so do you think he should follow suit?

Another option could be to stay for one more olympics to try and become a 3 time gold medalist and then turn pro at 26.

In the end it's up to him but what do you guys think? Also does anyone know whether he wants to turn pro?

I'd like him to, he's got a bit of an amateur style but he has the skill set to be able to adapt to the pro game, he'd have to be exciting and learn to speak English for it to work though, Rigo is a prime example of why.

As much as we'd like him to I don't think he will, he seems to have that 'fighting for Cuba' mentality to me and like many others over there I don't think he would want to be labelled a traitor for defecting. I could be wrong on that though, there's very few interviews of him so nobody truly knows how he feels about the position he's in.

Not only that I've heard defecting is rough (don't know the ins and outs of what's done), I could imagine trying it at 22 could be really daunting.

[CubanGuyNYC]

Yeah I would love to see him go pro. But in today's era, young fighters are typically moved along slow. Errol Spence Jr., Gary Russell, Oscar Valdez, etc. are all in their mid-20s and are still very much unproven.

On the flipside, you see guys who turn pro older like Loma, Beterbeiv, Rigo, etc. who turn pro and are title contenders within a handful of fights. Plus they can fight well into their 30s because their bodies aren't sustaining punishment at a young age.

Every fighter is different, but it just comes down which track gives him the best opportunity to succeed in the pros.

Being the first 3x Olympic gold medalist would be a HUGE selling point but as would turning pro now with 2 golds and being exposed to the American audience at a much younger age.

I just hope this isn't another Rigo or GGG situation where he doesn't get his opportunity until he's past his physical peak or leeches get a hold of him and stagnate his career.

I guess, ultimately, this is the concern with every young fighter, especially the Cubans. Boxing has always been about career handling, but much more so nowadays.

[Scipio2009]

My worry is that the closer the US and Cuba get the less likely America is to want to piss off the Cuban regime by welcoming guys like Ramirez with open arms. At least in the past when they were full on enemies, it would be a propaganda coup for the US to have boxers defecting to them

The dream is that Cuba becomes a fully capitalist western state and all their boxers are given a personal choice, but i dont see that happening anytime soon

That's not the dream for Cuba, though imo; Cuba wants to be free to be Cuba, in a world where the artificial barrier to full-on world relations is removed.

The "dream" is likely that "Cuba be Cuba" (government provided service with limited openings for the Cuban people to do more for themselves in sectors where the government doesn't perform well, a more free movement of Cuban people [though with clear, and likely some onerous, regulations about the people who are free to leave and for what for; as a means to bring more benefit into the nation and not simply to have the entire cream of Cuban society leave the country]), things open up for needed national investments (no different than most of the rest of the world, I have no doubt that Cuba will likely have steep limits to foreign nationals coming into the country and owning majority stake in anything), and Cuba gets to have a seat on the world stage (no doubt largely focused in on the going ons of Latin America)

[CubanGuyNYC]

I'd like him to, he's got a bit of an amateur style but he has the skill set to be able to adapt to the pro game, he'd have to be exciting and learn to speak English for it to work though, Rigo is a prime example of why.

As much as we'd like him to I don't think he will, he seems to have that 'fighting for Cuba' mentality to me and like many others over there I don't think he would want to be labelled a traitor for defecting. I could be wrong on that though, there's very few interviews of him so nobody truly knows how he feels about the position he's in.

Not only that I've heard defecting is rough (don't know the ins and outs of what's done), I could imagine trying it at 22 could be really daunting.

Robeisy strikes me as pretty aggressive. I think he has the temperament and consequent fighting style to make it as a pro. Ramirez appears to be very patriotic, as many athletes competing at the Olympics seem to be. However, I don't think he's necessarily "fighting for Cuba." And you are correct. Defecting is tough, especially for such a tou ng man.

[kidbazooka]

Robeisy has a lot of aggression and you can clearly see it when he turns it up on his opponents.

There were a lot of guys in the Olympics that have that strictly amateur style but Robeisy wasn't one of them.

Ramirez out of all these past olympians has the best style to turn pro.

[Scipio2009]

What if the division he enters is too hot to be fast tracked?????

Ramirez won his second gold medal at 123lbs, after winning his first gold medal at 115lbs. You add in that, at 22 years old, he's all of 5'5, and it's likely that he fights professionally at 115/118 (without the need to hold the weight for more than just a moment on a scale, rather than a full tournament, the weight shouldn't be too bad.

In five years time, the turnover at those weights would ridiculous. With a hopeful three gold medals around his neck, assuming he's good enough, I don't imagine a scenario where he gets shut out of anything, especially at 115/118 (have no doubt that a Florida-based promotional outfit with some relationship with TV could basically bring enough money to the table to open up most opportunities at the weight)

[Spacey1991]

Robeisy strikes me as pretty aggressive. I think he has the temperament and consequent fighting style to make it as a pro. Ramirez appears to be very patriotic, as many athletes competing at the Olympics seem to be. However, I don't think he's necessarily "fighting for Cuba." And you are correct. Defecting is tough, especially for such a tou ng man.

I rate him highly mate, I think he has a great mix of defence and offence, mixed with a massive skill set and ring intelligence. I have no doubt he could make it work if he has the right people around him and learns how to promote himself before its too late.

I loved watching him when he was in the London Olympics and have kept an eye out for him since, was looking forward to seeing him in Rio, I've still not got round to seeing him vs Stevenson yet, was looking forward to it but was busy when it was on, I remember being pissed when Conlan got robbed because him vs Stevenson would of been great and then the winner against Ramirez in the final - such a shame corruption ruined what could have been a good set of match ups.

As for fighting for Cuba, I got that vibe from the very few interviews there are of him, and the perception I get form their culture (you would know far more about that than me though, I'm just guessing really), and yeah I could imagine defecting at 22 would be difficult.

[Tom Cruise]

Robeisy strikes me as pretty aggressive. I think he has the temperament and consequent fighting style to make it as a pro. Ramirez appears to be very patriotic, as many athletes competing at the Olympics seem to be. However, I don't think he's necessarily "fighting for Cuba." And you are correct. Defecting is tough, especially for such a tou ng man.

You obviously know way more than me about this, but the impression i get from many if these guys is that they extremely patriotic and loyal to 'Cuba' but that doesn't necessarily extend to the Cuban regime.

Like Rigo and Lara always wears Cuban shorts yet they defected to go make money for themselves in the US

[Caught Square]

A lot of interesting points Made in this thread, I can definitely see the argument for him waiting another 4 years, age is on his side which is good and moving to the US could be less complicated.

Still, with his talent it seems like it's time to move onto bigger and better things. Pbp you're right that he could be fast tracked in 2020 like loma or rigo to win a title but those two's careers (especially Rigo) seem to have stagnated since their signature wins over Russel and Donaire. I reckon turning pro now gives him more superstar potential, he could probably win a title in 15-20 fights which he still pretty quick and a fight with Shakur would be huge and easy to sell, all that and he's STILL in his mid 20's.

Will he even be motivated to stay another 4 years to win gold is the main thing, he's been there done that twice at an age most haven't even done once at his age.