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how do you think Teofilo Stevenson would've done as a pro?
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Teo at best would have been a good boxer, but this cat was beaten twice by Igor Vysotsky, and Jimmy Clark gave him hell in a couple of his fights.If Mitch Green or Greg Page had gotten hold of him, they would've taken him, like around 78 or 79.
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Teo at best would have been a good boxer, but this cat was beaten twice by Igor Vysotsky, and Jimmy Clark gave him hell in a couple of his fights.If Mitch Green or Greg Page had gotten hold of him, they would've taken him, like around 78 or 79.
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Originally posted by SABBATH View PostHe had the natural ability and power and with a good trainer would have been succesful as a professional but to what degree who knows.
Keep in mind that many of his victims at the international amateur level came against young heavyweight fighters that hadn't fully developed into men.
RING magazine did a round by round description of a fantasy match between Larry Holmes and Stevenson in 1984. If memory serves me correctly Holmes won a 4 round decison.
As an interesting sidenote, I was in Cuba in 1989 and spoke with many Cubans about sports in general which they are quite passionate bout. Everyone I spoke with idolized Stevenson and no one I spoke with had heard of Muhammad Ali.
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Originally posted by SABBATH View PostHe had the natural ability and power and with a good trainer would have been succesful as a professional but to what degree who knows.
Keep in mind that many of his victims at the international amateur level came against young heavyweight fighters that hadn't fully developed into men.
RING magazine did a round by round description of a fantasy match between Larry Holmes and Stevenson in 1984. If memory serves me correctly Holmes won a 4 round decison.
As an interesting sidenote, I was in Cuba in 1989 and spoke with many Cubans about sports in general which they are quite passionate bout. Everyone I spoke with idolized Stevenson and no one I spoke with had heard of Muhammad Ali.
Castro nixed their proposed fight in 76, but Ali was spent after Frazier 3, and Teo coulda taken him.
Otherwise, Castro fighters have never panned out as pros in America, so with Teo it was like Wilt.
One and done.
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Three time Olympic Champion
Three time World Amateur Champion
Two Time Pan-American Champion
Val Barker Trophy for the best boxer at 1972 Olympics
12-0 record at the Olympics with 9 knockouts, 2 decicions and 1 walk over win
Beat future world champions like John Tate, Tony Tubbs and Michael Dokes
Could have won a fourth gold but Cuba boycotted the 1984 games (he beat the eventual winner, Tyrell Biggs, twice)
"He is the most perfectly balanced fighter I have ever seen," said Enmanuel Steward.
"Everyone wanted Teofilo," recalls Angelo Dundee, Ali's legendary manager. "I think I was never after him because I had the champion. I had Ali. I had the guy who was going to beat him, you see? But everyone loved Teofilo and I say everyone. They were going to give him a million dollars. And a million dollars then it was money. "
"He would be great as a professional," said an ecstatic Don King. "He has the same class as Ali and Frazier."
"If with Bonavena I look for 100 thousand or 200 thousand dollars, I see you as a green bag of millions" -A man who claimed to be the manager of Oscar Bonavena-
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Poorly! He would have had none of the intangibles that separates an amateur boxer from a professional prize fighter.
Had he tried to step-up directly from a three round amateur to a 15 round professional in one jump he would have, against Ali, looked as overwhelmed and ineffective as Loma did against Lopez.
Had he followed the course o a true professional, maybe a different story, but Fidel got in the way of that happening.
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