By Matteo Alderson
When Andre Ward turned professional the other night on HBO it got me thinking about the relationship between the Olympics and professional boxing. Why was this young man’s first professional fight was being televised on HBO when there are countless world champions that haven’t had the opportunity to fight on the network. So I started to think about the Olympics and all of the great American fighters that have came out of the games and how their success at the professional level has made it possible for young amateur champions like Andre Ward to make some money before they even embark on a professional career.
Prior to the 2000 Olympics a number of fighters from five consecutive Olympic teams had tremendous success as professionals. In fact it seemed liked investing in and signing young Olympians was almost a sure thing. From the Montreal games in 76 to the 96 games in Atlanta, American Olympians left an indelible mark on the professional boxing landscape.
In Montreal, Sugar Ray Leonard and Michael Spinks both became two of the fifty greatest fighters in History. Sugar Ray beat Benitez, Hearns, Duran, and Hagler while Spinks became the first and only Light-Heavyweight Champion to win the linear Heavyweight Crown. And in a shocking upset Michael’s brother and teammate, Leon, beat Ali for the Heavyweight title in 1978. Leo Randolph also became one of the world champions from this star-studded group.
The 1984 team was just as successful. Pernell Whitaker dominated the pound for pound rankings for years and Evander Holyfield made more money than any other fighter in history. Meldrick Taylor became a two-time world champion and his fight with Chavez is considered to be one of the greatest moments in boxing history. Virgil Hill, the least publicized member of the squad, was one of it’s most successful. Virgil defended his WBA Light-Heavyweight title on countless occasions, partially unified the title against Henry Maske, and even won a Cruiserweight title late in his career. Main Events, which at the time was controlled by the late Dan Duva, signed a number of the fighters from this 84 squad and their success enabled the company to compete neck and neck with King and Arum through out the 90’s.
The members of the 1988 team also reached the sport’s pinnacle. Roy Jones was an HBO fighter for over 10 years and really never lost a fight until his mid-thirties and Riddick Bowe won the heavyweight title and engaged in a thrill-all-ogy with Evander Holyfield. The little guys, Michael Carbajal and Kennedy McKinney also made their marks as champions. Carbajal became the first fighter weighing less than 115 pounds to make a million dollars for a fight and dominated the Junior-Flyweights for four years. Everybody talks about Arum’s accomplishments and the wonderful job he did with the Golden Boy and Erik Morales, but I think they overlook what Bob did with Michael. I mean Ricardo Lopez was probably a better boxer and he regularly made 50 grand for title defenses. Kennedy McKinney successfully defended the junior-featherweight title on five occasions and engaged in some big fights with Junior Jones and Marco Antonio Barrera. If you really think about it, Ray Mercer had a successful career. He made 500k for the Morrison fight, at least a million for the Holmes bout, and earned a number of other six figure paydays while he was a fixture in the Heavyweight division for a decade.
The 1992 team with the exception of Oscar De La Hoya seemed like it wasn’t going to fare very well in the pro-ranks, but Vernon Forrest and Chris Byrd ended up having some unexpected success late in their careers. Byrd upset Vitali Klitchko in 2000 and Tua in 2001. Vernon Forrest parleyed two victories over Sugar Shane Mosley into an HBO contract. Tim Austin was a solid bantamweight champ and if Don King hadn’t neglected him, he probably would have made a hell of a lot more money. Compared to the 84 and 88 teams, the 92 team’s overall performance wasn’t quite up to par, but it still has to be considered a success due to De La Hoya’s accomplishments.
The 1996 team has done well. Floyd Mayweather is universally recognized as the second best fighter in the world. Fernando Vargas lost a couple of big fights, but he made millions in wars against Ike Quartey, De La Hoya, Trinidad and established himself as a marketing powerhouse, regularly selling out venues. David Reid’s career was kind of disappointing, but he fought numerous times on HBO, won a world title, and was in a big fight against Trinidad. Eric Morel had some success and held the WBA 112 pound title for a few years, but if truth be told, Antonio Tarver’s achievements of late have really improved the squad’s overall performance, and now you have to consider the 96 team as having made a successful transition to the pros. Just look at the numbers, six of the eleven Olympians have won world titles.
Now the crop from the 2000 games has been a big disappointment. Ricardo Williams lost twice and is being indicted for cocaine trafficking, Michael Bennett was knocked out on three different occasions and has already retired, Clarence Vinson has lost twice to journeymen, and Calvin Brock still hasn’t come close to beating anybody in the top 20. Of the entire team, only Rocky Juarez and Jermaine Taylor look like they have the potential to possibly become solid champions, but it’s still doubtful if either of them can achieve the level of success that Sugar Ray, Holyfield, Jones, De La Hoya, and Mayweather have achieved.
I know Jeff Lacy already won the IBF 168 pound title with an impressive performance against the very capable Syd Vanderpool, but before that he went the distance with Ross Thompson and Richard Grant. Do those sound like performances from a fighter with the nickname Left Hook? Fernando Vargas knocked out Ross Thompson at junior middleight. I really think that Omar Sheika exposed Lacy in their fight. It’s not like Omar is a world-beater, every time he steps up to a top ten guy he loses. Joe Calazghe, Thomas Tate, Scott Pemberton, and Tony Booth have all beaten him and then all of a sudden he goes life and death with Lacy and the boxing experts are saying that Omar is rejuvenated. Yes, Omar probably fought better that night than he had in years, but I also think that the competitiveness of the fight had something to do with the fact that Lacy isn’t as good as Gary Shaw or some of the internet scribes think.
The fact is the 2000 team hasn’t lived up to the standard set by the previous teams and their overall performance as professionals has been dismal and has had negative economic repercussions on the sport. Remember Lou DiBella the former Vice President of HBO Sports that started the After Dark Series. Well when he left Tim Warner in 2000 around the same time that then President Seth Abraham bolted to Madison Square Garden, he got a golden handshake, which included a large some of money and guaranteed HBO dates. With the cash, Lou went to the games in Sydney and signed a number of the American Olympians to contracts. In fact, he gave Ricardo Williams a 1.4 million dollar signing bonus. He also signed Clarence Vinson, Jermaine Taylor, Brian Viloria, Jose Navarro and Michael Bent. Needless to say Big Lou hasn’t been happy with the return on his investment and recently commented that the money that the 2000-team members received was ”insane. It was out whack with reality.”
Do you think Big Lou would have made those comments if a couple of the Olympians he signed were on pound for pound lists and headlining HBO telecasts?
What does this mean for Andre Ward and the 2004 Olympians? It means that the size of their bonuses and their early purses won’t be as large as they would have been had the members of the 2000 team been more successful. Although there are various other factors contributing to the development of this less lucrative market, the 2000 team’s failure to make a successful transition into the pro-game is the primary factor that has negatively impacted the financial prospects of the 2004 Olympians. As a result Andre Ward received a 400 thousand dollar signing bonus for his Gold Medal while Ricardo Williams got 1.4 million for his silver medal. 400K isn’t chump change and maybe at the end of the day the lack of financial security will motivate this crop of Olympians to take their careers more seriously, something that Ricardo Williams failed to do.
1976 TEAM
106: Louis Curtis
112: Leo Randolph (1st)
119: Charles Mooney
125: Davey Lee Armstrong
132: Howard Davis Jr. (1st)
139: Ray Leonard (1st)
147: Clinton Jackson
156: Charles Walker Jr.
165: Michael Spinks (1st)
178: Leon Spinks (1st)
+178: John Tate
1984 TEAM
106: Paul Gonzales (1st)
112: Steve McCrory (1st)
119: Robert Shannon
125: Meldrick Taylor (1st)
132: Pernell Whitaker (1st)
139: Jerry Page, Columbus (1st)
147: Mark Breland, Brooklyn (1st)
156: Frank Tate, Detroit (1st)
165: Virgil Hill, Williston
178: Evander Holyfield
201: Henry Tillman (1st)
+201: Tyrell Biggs (1st)
1988 TEAM
106: Michael Carbajal
112: Arthur Johnson
119: Kennedy McKinney (1st)
125: Kelcie Banks
132: Romallis Ellis
139: Todd Foster
147: Kenneth Gould
156: Roy Jones
165: Anthony Hembrick
178: Andrew Maynard (1st)
201: Ray Mercer (1st)
+201: Riddick Bowe
1992 TEAM
106: Eric Griffin
112: Timothy Austin
119: Sergio Reyes
125: Julian Wheeler
132: Oscar De La Hoya (1st)
139: Vernon Forrest
147: Pepe Reilly
156: Raul Marquez
165: Chris Byrd
178: Montell Griffin
201: Danell Nicholson
+201: Larry Donald
1996 TEAM
106: Albert Guardado
112: Eric Morel
119: Zahir Raheem
125: Floyd Mayweather
132: Terrance Cauthen
139: David Diaz
147: Fernando Vargas
156: David Reid (1st)
165: Rhoshii Wells
178: Antonio Tarver
201: Nate Jones
+201: Lawrence Clay-Bey
2000 TEAM
106: Brian Viloria
112: Jose Navarro
119: Clarence Vinson
125: Ricardo Juarez
132: David Jackson
139: Ricardo Williams Jr.
147: Dante Craig
156: Jermain Taylor
165: Jeff Lacy
178: Olanda Anderson
201: Michael Bennett
+201: Calvin Brock.
Notes:
The 1980 team did not compete at the Olympic due to the boycott implemented by the U.S. government in protest to the games being held in Moscow.
Leon and Michael Spinks are the only two brothers to have held the linear Heavyweight title.
The Russians and Cubans did not compete in the 84 Olympics in Los Angeles and as a result the U.S. team easily dominated the event that year.
Mike Tyson did not make the 1984 Olympic team. He lost to Henry Tillman at the trials. As a professional Tyson knocked Tillman out in one round.
