How great could he have been?

[JAB5239]

I rate Billy Conn in the top thirty best p4p fighters all time. How much better and how much higher may he have been had he had an amateur career?

[1SILVA]

I rate Billy Conn in the top the best p4p fighters all time. How much better and how much higher may he have been had he had an amateur career?

I don't know Jab if an amateur would have prevented him from losing to Joe Louis twice, He was winning the first fight when he decided to veer away from his gameplan and get ko'd. There have been many great amateurs that had disappointing careers(Tyrell Biggs, Clint Jackson, Jerry Page, Paul Gonzales, Sugar Ray Seales and Pete Rademacher), so maybe Conn was as great as he was going to be without an amateur career.

[TheGreatA]

I don't know but he could have had more career-defining fights if not for the Second World War. He was well on his way to building one of the greatest resumes until then. When he came back, he was no longer the same fighter. Louis was still good but Billy was shot.

[JAB5239]

I don't know Jab if an amateur would have prevented him from losing to Joe Louis twice, He was winning the first fight when he decided to veer away from his gameplan and get ko'd. There have been many great amateurs that had disappointing careers(Tyrell Biggs, Clint Jackson, Jerry Page, Paul Gonzales, Sugar Ray Seales and Pete Rademacher), so maybe Conn was as great as he was going to be without an amateur career.

I can respect that train of thought, but here's another. If he had an amateur career he probably wouldn't have had those eary career losses and may have had the experience to have beat CorbettIII, Yarosz and Krieger instead of losing to them the first time around. This is not a given, but if it had happened it would have surely enhanced his career, no?

[1SILVA]

I can respect that train of thought, but here's another. If he had an amateur career he probably wouldn't have had those eary career losses and may have had the experience to have beat CorbettIII, Yarosz and Krieger instead of losing to them the first time around. This is not a given, but if it had happened it would have surely enhanced his career, no?

Excellent point. With a solid career, he probably wins those early fights. Conn got better probably because he learned alot from losing those fights. He wound up being an all-time great, and while an amateur career would have served him well early in his career, by the time he was 175 pound king, he was as great as he ever was going to be.

[1SILVA]

I rate Billy Conn in the top thirty best p4p fighters all time. How much better and how much higher may he have been had he had an amateur career?

Meant to say with a solid amateur career, he might not have lost those early losses in his career.

[Joey Giardello]

I can respect that train of thought, but here's another. If he had an amateur career he probably wouldn't have had those eary career losses and may have had the experience to have beat CorbettIII, Yarosz and Krieger instead of losing to them the first time around. This is not a given, but if it had happened it would have surely enhanced his career, no?

To behonest jabs i think long amateur careers are over rated! jeff chandler, dwight braxton, carmen basilo, nate campbell, carl thompson, anthony mudine and **** tiger all had none to very little amateur experience and become well rounded fighters who had good careers some of them had great one's. Besides them few very early defeats when conn was green i dont think a long amateur career would of made any difference, if anything he might of been burnt out even faster you see alot of top amateurs turning pro and they have left there best work behind them in the unpaid ranks you only have to look at mark brealand, but thats just my thoughts! not every one will agree! anyway intresting thread jabs

[JAB5239]

To behonest jabs i think long amateur careers are over rated! jeff chandler, dwight braxton, carmen basilo, nate campbell, carl thompson, anthony mudine and **** tiger all had none to very little amateur experience and become well rounded fighters who had good careers some of them had great one's. Besides them few very early defeats when conn was green i dont think a long amateur career would of made any difference, if anything he might of been burnt out even faster you see alot of top amateurs turning pro and they have left there best work behind them in the unpaid ranks you only have to look at mark brealand, but thats just my thoughts! not every one will agree! anyway intresting thread jabs

Very, very true. It may only have helped with those early fights as you've already pointed out. But for every successful fighter to have no amateur career there are dozens who did and went on to celebrated careers themselves. I see you're point though and appreciate your contribution. Thanks man!