Teofilo Stevenson 3 times olympic medal winner - how would he do as a pro?
hi im not sure if you all will know much about stevenson so ill give you a lil backround info;
his name is teofilo stevenson
he was born in cuba,1952
At the age of 20, this Cuban boxer made his Olympic debut at the 1972 Games in Munich - and won the games.
By then, he had become a national hero in Cuba, and was a household name in Cuba. This was the point where he was the closest to sign a professional contract, American fight promoters offering him the amount of five million dollars to challenge world Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in his first professional bout.
But he refused, asking "What's five million dollars worth, when I have the love of five million Cubans?"
he won gold at that olympics and went on to win in '76 montreal and '80 moscow. he was at the time the 2nd fighter ever to win 3, and he did them all in a row.
Stevenson might have won a fourth gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, but the Soviet Union boycotted the games in retaliation for the United States boycott of the 1980 Moscow competition. Cuba followed the Soviet's lead, and Stevenson was deprived of the chance to earn a fourth gold. He retired from boxing shortly after.
During his career as a boxer, he has won 301 fights out of 321.
When Stevenson refused to turn professional and fight Ali, the heavyweight scene was vibrant, with fighters of the calibre of Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, George Foreman and Joe Frazier competing. Stevenson would certainly have stirred up the professional boxing world, and fight fans continue to debate the possible outcomes had he fought in the star studded days of heavyweight boxing.
the fact that one of his opponents celebrated when he lasted the full 4 rounds with stevenson says it all.
stevenson had the unique quality of having great speed as well as incredible ko power.
we all know that cuba produce quality boxers but this guy was something special. i think he wouldve given ali a run for his money and would most definately have been heavyweight champion.
how do you think he would've done as a pro?
teofilo stevenson
i remember seeing stevenson fight. if i remember correctly, he was a southpaw, about the same height and weight as ali and this was the big turn on about him. i think those who have responded to this query are in the ballpark: you can't fight the heavyweight champion of the world in your first fight. i think if he had taken 10-15 fights and learned the "pro" style, it would've been interesting to see how he would've done.
realistically, i think at least one or two of the fighters in that era (60s-70s) would have given stevenson trouble. Who? no one could say for sure.
i agree that stevenson was a "man amoung boys" in his era.
too bad we will never know.
as for felix savon: a lennox lewis wannabe and lennox owes everything to emanuel steward who fixed his footwork and developed him into a heavyweight version of tommy hearns. savon i think would have gone the same route of jorge luis gonzalez, the guy who riddock bowe made mincemeat out of in the pro ranks.
oldwarrior
Cuba
Punch the fact that he was ofered the fight with Ali had just as much to do with him being from CUBA as it did with his being a 3 time olympian. Look, BOXING PEOPLE know what would have happened....Any number of guys would have wiped him out in the pro ranks. People talk about the three gold medals he won but they dont talk about all the amateur figths he lost, too. Amateur and pro are verydiofferent worlds.....even a great amateur like Andre Ward is matched VERY carefully as a pro. If being a great amateur meant so much he would be fighting Atwon Echols or Robert Allen type fighters already but they arent dumb enough to put him in that deep yet.
the fact that he was offered to fight against ali in a title fight on his pro-debut shows he was something special.
I saw some of his amateur fights. He was a great amateur, and no way he goes into a fight with Ali as his first pro fight and has any chance. None.
Alot of great amateurs are cruddy professional fighters.
Stevenson was a great Amateur, but let's face it, the big boys are in the pros. He was offered 5 million dollars to fight Ali, and turned it down. Ali would have kicked his ass all the way back to Cuba, no matter how many professional fights he had.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda, too late to know now.
Stevenson was a great amateur. If he had taken his first professional fight against Ali for the title, his manager should be shot. Let's get real. Name one amateur that could have won a title in their first professional fight. Against anyone, let alone Ali.
the fact that he was offered to fight against ali in a title fight on his pro-debut shows he was something special.
Stevenson was a great amateur. If he had taken his first professional fight against Ali for the title, his manager should be shot. Let's get real. Name one amateur that could have won a title in their first professional fight. Against anyone, let alone Ali.
He was a grown man KOing BOYS.
Professionally....Prime guys like Ali, Holmes, Foreman, & Tyson would have creamed him.
i think that is a very harsh comment. boys do not enter the olympics, and if they do, they do not get as far as the q/fs,semis maximum. stevenson was a great boxer and the fact that he was offered a large amount of money to fight ali for the title says it all.im not saying that he would have beaten ali but he would have given him a hard fight. also we must remember that many great fighters have made it big from the olympics, amateur boxing should not be underestimate IMO.
Yeah....
jabs & big right hands.
They were excellent to watch....but I put an imaginary asterisk next to them, because of the youngins they were beating on.
This goes for a lot of the Cuban squad. I think they are outsatnding, but wonder if a great part of it is the "man vs. boy" factor.
He was a grown man KOing BOYS.
Professionally....Prime guys like Ali, Holmes, Foreman, & Tyson would have creamed him.
Interesting, that is how I viewed Felix Savon.
I thought Savon was nothing special, could you compare the two?
Whenever my dad and uncle talk about heavyweights they bring Stevenson up but it can be nothing more than a what if.
I know little about him in terms of watching him on film but I have watched Felix Savon quite a bit and not that Im comparing the two but Savon was to me nothing special, Stevenson on the other hand sounds like one hell of a story and it is too bad that he was never afforded the opportunity to strut his stuff, same goes for Savon.