Comments Thread For: Top Olympians Who Stayed Away From The Pro Ranks

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Lists of great Olympic boxers are stuffed full of the names of fighters who used the Games as a springboard for a lucrative future in the professional ranks, from Cassius Clay to Oscar De La Hoya and beyond.

But for some, either prohibited by politics or simply disinterested by the professional option, the Olympics remained the pinnacle of their respective careers, and winning multiple medals became the greatest challenge.
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[Russian Crushin]

Aleksei Tishchenko should be on that list

[Caballete333]

Aleksei Tishchenko should be on that list

Before Alexei Tischenko there are some boxers with better resumes than Tischenko.

Ariel Hernandez (CUB) - 2 Olympic Gold Medals, 2 World Amateur Championship Gold Medals and 1 World Amateur Championship Silver Medal
Hector Vinent (CUB) - 2 Olympic Gold Medals and 2 World Amateur Championship Gold Medals
Juan Hernandez Sierra (CUB) - 2 Olympic Silver Medals, 4 World Amateur Championship Gold Medals and 1 World Amateur Championship Bronze Medal.
Roberto Balado (CUB) 1 Olympic Gold Medal and 3 World Amateur Championship Gold Medals (Died at the age of 24 in a car accident).

.........Tischenko (RUS): 2 Olympic Gold Medals, 1 World Amateur Championship Gold Medal and 1 World Amateur Championship Bronze Medal

[tostao]

hungarian legend laszlo papp turned pro and has pro record of 27 wins , 0 losses and two draws . He fought in austria and germany and was european champion among professionals and defended his title seven times .

[Mr. Fantastic]

First thing that came to my head with the thread title was Cubans.

I remember Ch@mp telling someone they're 30 year old men fighting 15 year old boys. Probably the funnies thing he's ever said.

[ShoulderRoll]

I remember Ch@mp telling someone they're 30 year old men fighting 15 year old boys. Probably the funnies thing he's ever said.

Well, if they compete in 3 Olympic games they do have to be pretty old. Most US boxers for example only compete in 1 Olympics then go pro.

Laszlo Papp should not be on this list since he did compete as a professional.

[frosty-g]

stevenson's "sheer bulk"
stopped reading after that, author is obviously blind/dumb

[anonymous2.0]

At least with the Olympics, we know there's 1 gold medal, 1 silver, and 1 bronze, no 5 different commissions with regular, super, and diamond world champion belts, all claiming to be the best world strap rubbish.

[nycsmooth]

Stevenson as a pro would have had a tuff time, Castro stopped him but he reminded me of Mac Foster who J Quarry took apart..IMO TS wouldn't hang w/likes of Clay, Liston, Joe or 4man...Papp was another great pro, only 5'5'' for a middlewt, Communist Hungarian govt wouldn't let him challenge 4 world title but he couldn't have won vs SRR, or even Fulmer, but make no mistake, Papp was great!!

[edgarg]

Well, I'm glad that the writer is "Boxing Clever" enough to read the posts and "extract" his misinformation. Especially about Papp, who DID turn pro, being the first and ONLY Communist Bloc professional boxer ever. And Papp didn't "do it" like Stevenson. Stevenson "did it" like Papp. Papp was the first 3 time Gold medalist, beginning in 1948, and Stevenson was the second, 24 years later.

This unique, never mentioned fact may be of interest to purists; for Papp's 3 Gold Medals, he had 13 bouts. He won 6 by KO, and in the remaining 7, conceded only a single point TOTAL. This was to Jose Torres, later World Lt. Heavy Champion. Papp was only 5'5" tall, built like an oak tree, very fast, and aggressive.

Stevenson wasn't actually "massive", he was 6'3" with about early George Foreman's dimensions. And, although good enough to win 3 Golds, he had 20 losses in his career, and, significantly lost twice to Igor Vysotsky of Russia, who, in the second bout, 3 months before the 1976 Olympics, KDd him a few times before finally KOing him.

Harry Mallin had a remarkable record of about 350 wins and NO lossses, and was the first 2-time Gold Medal winner. He likely didn't turn pro because of his background-at the time he was a Sergeant in the London Police Force, at a time when most boxers were from poorer and less established circumstances. He boxed for the Eton Boxing Club, and a TV interview of a 92 year old sister and a nephew indicates that they were well educated. Mallin later became president of the ABA, and several times manager of the British Olympic team.

All the above could have been revealed by Mr. Boxing "Clever", if he'd intended to send in an informative report. Not for the first time, I wish he'd write under a different name.