goodbye roy, hello andre!

[Ranger2408]

especially when the cubans dominated the olympics in terms of boxing

[J !]

Gotta go with Garrett on this one, being a great amateur is indicative you have great boxing talent but by no means certain that you will become a great champ. To mention any amatuer in the same breath as Jones is somewhat foolish. Its two related but very different sports.

[SonnyG8R]

Obviously Ward has a lot to prove as pro before he is mentioned in the same breath as Jones, but that doesn't mean we can't be interested/excited about seeing him get in their and show what he can do.

[J !]

NO OF COURSE NOT MATE.

its been a similar thing over here about Amir Khan, if someon does well they deserve kudos I just dont think that we should heap too much pressure on these guys before they have even had a pro bout, for all we know they could have decidedly dodgy whiskers!!!!

then all thats left is to be dissapointed!

[nohero]

hes droppin all the way down to 160 in the pros

Don't know if 160 is the best weight class to jump into... sure Hopkins will be gone by the time Ward is thinking of championship belts but Taylor will be there and all roads will most likely lead to him.

[The Noose]

ok, this is intresting. Anyone know which american gold medalists have turned pro and not become champions or have been really bad professionals?
Just wondering the successs percentage.

[tracylee]

I like Ward alot, but I do think he has a long way to go before earning the 'title' of great. He's just starting out and still has alot to learn about pro boxing; it differs from the amateurs too much for him to just jump in unprepared.

[Ranger2408]

ok, this is intresting. Anyone know which american gold medalists have turned pro and not become champions or have been really bad professionals?
Just wondering the successs percentage.

Ray mercer was good but never got the shot he deserved

[Kalion]

Interesting topic.

[Crazylegs77]

i read a column that made me think. in roy's fight on saturday, we saw him wearing ward's olympic medal around his neck. i think now that jones' retirement is coming, andre ward is the next to take his place. im really excited to see ward as a professional. he was the only reason to watch US boxing during the olympics. ...

gee I dont recall Jones using excessive holding to win fights..he just dominated his opponents with his ability. So no Ward is nowhere near the next Jones.