Boxing is funny, Crawford couldnt even qualify for the Olympic team

[Prince Madison]

Lol diaz and Gamboa are half the size of Crawford are we supposed to impressed by that?

Apparently so.

[pillowfists98]

Not that surprising. Plenty of great pros that didn't do much in the amateurs and vise versa.

[SplitSecond]

The headgear makes the transition weird. The next wave of pros in boxing will see a larger talent pool with the removal of headgear.

[!! Shawn]

Who’s the 3rd Gold Medalist ??

Can’t really compare ams to the pro game

Look at Diaz who has he beaten in his professional career ? His best win isnt even a win but a controversial loss to Lamont. And he just lost to Fransico Santana

Gambia was inactive and undersized when he fought Bud

From what I understand about the US program that picks the Olympians , many times they don’t pick the best fighter in the division but the one who is favoured by the committee. That’s why the States have so many elite boxers that never made the US team and a fair share of US Olympic boxers don’t amount to anything as pros.

This still doesn’t change the fact that Crawford hasn’t been in up against another fighter near his skill set ( Gamboa ) in over 4 years and since then every opponent is at least a level or two or three below Crawford.

Doesnt really work like that. Other countries work like that, where if their top fighter had on off day in their national championship and lost, they will still select them over the winner

Daniel Jacobs was famously beaten by Shawn Estrada in the US olympic trials, and Shawn Estrada went to the olympics even though Jacobs was widely considered as our best hope for a medal had he gone to the Olympics that year.

The Olympic trails in the USA are basically a large tournament like the National Championships. From that point there is no differences as all boxers put forth by national federations must further qualify for the olympics by achieving placement at one of the international olympic qualifier events.

Or through ranking top2 in the WSB or a few other avenues.

This contrasts to other countries like Cuba where for example Oldanier Solis beat Felix Savon, in the Cuban Nationals in both 1999 and 2000, but he was not sent to the olympics so that Felix Savon could attempt to win his 3rd consecutive Gold Medal, which he ended up doing.

Solis was held back until the 2004 olympics where he would win his Gold medal.

[FRANKIE420247]

Who cares the kid is the p4p best in the world right now, a millionaire and he has a good attitude.

[boxingfan91]

Who cares the kid is the p4p best in the world right now, a millionaire and he has a good attitude.

But he has gapped teef

[FRANKIE420247]

but he has gapped teef

lmao!!!😅😅😅😅

[Tails]

Sadam Ali beat him too, surprisingly. Although back then Ali might have been using PEDs (tested positive for a stimulant/wouldn't surprise me if he still was using it).

But here's the thing: the amateurs are extremely competitive. There are so many talented and skilled fighters who never turn professional, that's a fact.

Check this fight out, Errol Spence Jr. vs. Sapiyev--- although this isn't the guy he lost to in the Olympics, this is the dude that beat him at Worlds 2011 (and he was a hell of an amateur boxer):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=nQFmIYgecvw

It just goes to show, the American amateur system is very weak. Our fighters all have so much talent, but aren't brought up well compared to other countries. Only in the professionals do our guys really shine, because they probably start earning money to provide better coaching, training, dieting, and so forth...


tldr; American amateur boxing lacks funding to provide proper training and support. Only once fighters become Professional and stand to gain lots of money do they start getting the support they need to become greater fighters.

"There are so many talented and skilled fighters who never turn professional, that's a fact."

That statement you made is very true. I wouldn't necessarily say there is an abundance of talented fighters but there are a handful who are just so naturally skilled that you notice them from the get go. But they end up wasting that talent through lack of discipline (Frankie Gomez comes to mind) or getting in trouble.

Personally I can recall one person from the amateurs who was a few years older than me who just had the IQ, reflexes, and pop in his punches to go with it. Long story short he ended up having a few kids and ended up in prison for drug dealing.

[chrisJS]

"There are so many talented and skilled fighters who never turn professional, that's a fact."

That statement you made is very true. I wouldn't necessarily say there is an abundance of talented fighters but there are a handful who are just so naturally skilled that you notice them from the get go. But they end up wasting that talent through lack of discipline (Frankie Gomez comes to mind) or getting in trouble.

Personally I can recall one person from the amateurs who was a few years older than me who just had the IQ, reflexes, and pop in his punches to go with it. Long story short he ended up having a few kids and ended up in prison for drug dealing.

Ricardo Williams? He seemed he'd be a sure thing.

There's been tons of excellent amateurs not turn pro and tons of kids who did nothing in the amateurs and were top level pro's. Crawford was a good amateur but not such a standout that he turned pro with heavy fanfare. He competed in a lot of tournaments in a lot of places and beat some good fighters (Mikey and Danny Garcia) he also lost to some dudes he'd wreck like (Robinson and Ali). He went under the radar and was picked up by TR when Mikey Garcia told Cameron Dunkin of his potential early on.

He just developed differently and has a more pro style. He's always learning. He used to start slow (amateurs are short fights too) and notice now he's a fast starter.

I do see more and more these days top amateurs translating to top pro's more and more but it's still far from an exact science judging a guy on his amateur successes. Loma obviously was/is great in both that was fairly obvious very early.

[New England]

power, conditioning, and chin matter a hell of a lot more in pro boxing. he was always a bit of a slow starter, that can be a death sentence if you're qualifying for the olympics.

you could tell from early on that crawford had an extremely deep toolbox as a pro. great variety of punches and always with good power, can fight left handed, one of the best chins in boxing, one of the best jabs, he's fast, he's accurate, he can fight inside, he can slug, he's got hte skills to clear his head with a round on the outside if he needs to, he can do it all.