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Keep in mind a ton of Olympic boxers aren't "teenagers". Lots of these guys are in their mid 20s and 30s. Lots of countries have guys that just fight in the amateurs and never turn pro, Cuba for obvious reasons but also Russia and eastern European countries in particular, guys who have long amateur careers trying to win tournaments and medals. Sure, in the US and the UK, typically guys want to turn pro quickly, but that probably isn't even the norm. It's always been that way, there has always been teenagers fighting grown men in the Olympics, that isn't new.
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Isnt there a lot of corruption in the amateurs and or Olympics? Why not focus on those issues instead of allowing the pros to enter. Clearly a money grab, but think about it how many pros are gonna want to get punched in the face for free anymore?Comment
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Yea tbh I love the idea of the best boxers fighting each other. I mean thats definitely not happening in boxing as often as it should so if some other entity could do that I'd have much respect for them.
Yea I used teenager for dramatic effect, but there are still key differences between the pro & amateur games is what my main point was.
And there for sure is a possibility if Pacquiao or any other notable high level pro were to make this jump they could still be fighting a teenager for the first time in a long time for many of them. There is definitely a David vs Goliath type of appeal with that I guess, but for me I'd garner little real enjoyment in seeing a 36 minute fighter be reduced to a 9 minute fighter. Thats like putting elite level guys in prizefighter type tournaments.
Granted the novelty of it would get my attention & maybe thats all the goal is here. Then again the NSAC wouldn't let Andre Ward fight a abc world ranked contender awhile back, but somehow the Olympics would allow a multiple world champion future HOFer to fight the #1 amateur boxer from Ghana or a similar type mismatch. That doesn't seem like a great idea for the sport of boxing.Last edited by Eff Pandas; 03-05-2016, 04:11 PM.Comment
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But Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, et al can embarrass the worlds teams, so there is that side of the argument (most other Olympic sports allow pros).
I don't really mind it myself because like you said, it can bring more attention to Olympic boxing, which lets be honest, it hasn't got nearly as much as attention as it did in years past (the new rules like no headgear and pro style scoring will help this too in itself).
I don't think its going to be a bad thing since its very unlikely we will see many, if any, really high profile pro fighters. They have to go through tournaments, qualifications, etc, it's a big process and I don't see much of an incentive for the real big names who make millions of dollars. It's not like every country will just have all the best pros fighting like in basketball or whatever, it will be one or two pros fighting here and there, and most likely they won't be real high profile stars. The young guys are still going to be able to shine. The few pros that do end up doing this will do so out of honor and national pride and obviously not because of money so that alone narrows it down quite a bit.Last edited by ИATAS; 03-05-2016, 04:55 PM.Comment
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Someone talk canelo into fighting in the olympics, then GGG enters and finally gets his fight.
For the top top guys, I think this might be the first and only time they do this. Pac fights for Philippines, ok. If only one top pro goes in then its not a big deal, he wipes out all the amateurs. If multiple top pros go in and then Pac ends up fighting Crawford or JMM in the olympics..... there goes a $$$$ fight down the drain that was fought for free.
If pac and floyd both go to the olympics, theyll end up fighting each other in the final, assuming they go at the same division which is likely because their weight is within a few pounds of each other..... you really think theyre going to fight for free when that is a $100 million fight for both of them, even considering selling way less PPV's for the rematch.
Im calling it now, after the first time two top pros end up fighting each other in the Olympics, nobody is going to do it again.Comment
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Pacquiao got the Freddie roach pose down in the picComment
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Would be a good thing, getting the pros in the Olympics we may actually see the fights we want.Comment
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Dont get why they think Pros fighting in the AMS is a good idea. You might end up having seasoned power puncher fighting against some 18 year old.....The AMS are supposed to be for prospects.Comment
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