Russian and Ukrainian amateur system.

[anonymous2.0]

Not true. Loma and Kov have skills bruh. Vic had skills, Dervy showed skills on Friday. And yes I know Vic is Armenian but we all know that's Russki land.

good thing we don't have any turkish nationals here lolol


But my opinion is that ukraine/russian fights are flavors of the month, bump this thread in a year and i may change my mind based on what we see coming out of that region

[The Hammer]

I would hate to see PED use being a major component of their success.

None of the current boxers from Eastern Europe have tested positive.

If they can't compete clean then I don't want them in the sport.

Even though they've tested clean, you don't want them in the sport.

But you never complain about boxers who HAVE tested dirty like Bey, Berto, Tarver, Pederson, L Ortiz, G Jones, Olubamiwo, Whyte, Briggs, Toney, etc.

And then there's Evan Fields and Shame Mosley.

[soul_survivor]

It's not just Ukraine and Russia, it's also Kazakhstan and the UK, both of which, if I'm not mistaken have produced more Olympic medalists recently than the Russians. But whichever country and system you want to pick, they produce top level amateurs which, more often than not, convert to top level professional fighters.

There really isn't a secret behind it beyond good funding, good coaching and good amateur competitions. The US had the exact same thing going from the 40s-80s, the longest sustained run of amateur and professional success in the sports history. Issue is now, the amateur system is underfunded, the coaches aren't as good the competitions not as competitive.

[StefanTosic]

It's for sure that they are so tough mentally and are training like there's no tomorrow, dedication combined with great schools took them here.

But one of the greatest assets of very scientific soviet boxing schools is a boxing program called a "combinated style of boxing", or it's called something along those lines. In fact they created it in order to get more medals than the US in the olympic games. They gathered their best coaches, their best PHD's and scientist to create this program. After the analysis they agreed that the problem of soviet amateur boxers at that time was of a technico-tactical nature. Their program consisted of schooling their boxers how to be successfull at boxing at any given distance (at long rage, mid-range and at the short-range), and then to school them how to change the distance fluently and flawlessly from any actual distance they are finding themselves into to any of other 2 distances at any giving moment.

[Weltschmerz]

Historically, the Russians and Ukrainians (and former Soviets) have strenuous approaches to training methods. This is one reason they excelled in the Olympics, for instance. It's a special school of thought and belief system. Athletes are identified and hand picked at an early age, and nutured all the way through 'scientifically based' training programs and techniques, utilizing a technology based approach. A Russian or Eastern European amateur typically has an extensive amateur background against top-tier competition before having his first pro fight. It's a tradition of competitivenss, effectiveness and success which carries through to this day.

[MDPopescu]

Vyaceslav Lemeshev...

... From his back foot, Lemeshev stops a southpaw pressure fighter from the U.S....



... Lemeshev wins Olympic gold after surgically KOing Virtanen (Finland)...

[Weltschmerz]

Vyaceslav Lemeshev...

... From his back foot, Lemeshev stops a southpaw pressure fighter from the U.S....



... Lemeshev wins Olympic gold after surgically KOing Virtanen (Finland)...

Lemeshev was a great talent, he was just 20 yrs old in those clips you posted. Youngest Soviet Olympic champion. Sadly, alcohol addiction mainly ruined his later career, and life.

[MDPopescu]

Lemeshev was a great talent, he was just 20 yrs old in those clips you posted. Youngest Soviet Olympic champion. Sadly, alcohol addiction mainly ruined his later career, and life.

I know Lemeshev's story... I only wanted to provide a "Soviet School" top example here...

[ShoulderRoll]

None of the current boxers from Eastern Europe have tested positive.

Are you suggesting that Mariusz Wach isn't from Eastern Europe? Or that he didn't test positive? Or that he isn't a current boxer?

Even though they've tested clean, you don't want them in the sport.

Nice try but I clearly said that IF they are using then I don't want them in the sport. Same as I would say about Anthony Joshua or Erik Morales or anybody else that is suspect. This isn't a nationalistic or race issue to me.

The sport should be about clean athletes proving who is superior against other clean athletes.

[soul_survivor]

Keeping inline with failing amateur fortunes, what about the CUbans? I know they aren't as bad as the Americans but they have fallen behind many of the Europeans and central Asians. I know the problems with the US story, but what about the Cubans?