The U.S. has qualified its first male boxer for the Rio Olympics.

[Eff Pandas]

Yea getting into the Olympics these days is confusing as f#ck. To the best of my understanding there was a World Championship Box off winner, US Champion & the finalists in 3 different US Trials qualifier tournaments who got into the US Olympic Trials. The US Olympic Trials double elimination tournament starts Dec. 7 iirc. From there I assume there is a few international qualifier tournaments to get into the Olympics. By the time you get to the Olympics cats gonna be worn out lol.

I liked the old days when if you made your national team you were in.

[Eff Pandas]

The US team is mainly cannon fodder these days anyway. They need to step aside and let the big dogs go at it.

The US team definitely isn't like it used to be & some countries have become powerhouses during the US's fall, but there is some element of luck at the Olympics. If you can get a good bracket draw it can ease your road to a medal.

If being a amateur boxer wasn't a viable career path in some countries & everyone was turning pro in their early 20's I think things would be a lot more even.

[Dr Rumack]

The US team definitely isn't like it used to be & some countries have become powerhouses during the US's fall, but there is some element of luck at the Olympics. If you can get a good bracket draw it can ease your road to a medal.

If being a amateur boxer wasn't a viable career path in some countries & everyone was turning pro in their early 20's I think things would be a lot more even.

Why is the US team not what it was? Is it a case of other countries raising their game, or a decline in participation levels in boxing in the US itself?

[Eff Pandas]

Why is the US team not what it was? Is it a case of other countries raising their game, or a decline in participation levels in boxing in the US itself?

I'm sure its a lil of both.

The US program isn't what it used to be & the participation doesn't seem, as well as I can notice as I don't think there are stats on that, quite as deep as it used to be. And clearly there have been several countries who've established strong "pro-like" amateur programs that are often led by 26-28yr old boxers with or nearly with a decade of open level experience that are difficult for most boxers 21-22yr old with half or less open level experience. There's a lot of men vs men fights among these "pro" amateur boxing teams & a lot of men vs boys/young men fights among these "pro" amateur boxing teams vs most countries teams (of which the US is surely one of those type teams with a steady stream of amateurs who turn pro to make money upon a successful amateur run). I basically think amateur boxing is a more viable & lucrative career to be in in some countries while in the US & most countries there isn't much upside til you turn pro.

Just comparing 1992 Gold Medalists vs 2012 Gold Medalists you can see the difference the last 20yrs has had.

1992 avg age, 22.7yrs
21yrs old or younger boxers, 4 of 12 (33%)
24yrs old or older boxers, 4 of 12 (33%), 3 of which were Cuban who have no pro boxing

2012 avg age, 24.9yrs
21yrs old or younger boxers, 1 of 10 (10%)
24yrs old or older boxers, 8 of 10 (80%), 1 of which was Cuban who have no pro boxing (not gonna count WSB which is semi-pro at best imo, but thats a whole other debate)

I'm sure you could go over more Olympics & see that trend become established more & more in the years between the ones I pulled. And I mean it makes sense. Its much better to have older cats boxing who've got more open experience, but the US doesn't seem to have a program which can support older fighters & that hurts them (& other countries).