Comments Thread For: WBA Stands With WBO, Offers Support To Pros Targeting Olympic Games

[messimania]

Pros competing with the amateurs is already a reality since AIBA started World Series of boxing in 2010. It continued with the AIBA Pro Boxing League (APB), and since 2016 also at the Olympics, World Championships and even national level. Mostly the pros have lost more than they have won against top amateurs. In the recent women World Championships there were almost 20 pros who took part and most of them didnīt medal, including some professional World champions.

Even experienced pros have to adapt to a faster boxing with bigger gloves for only 9 minutes; same day weigh-in, tournament system, neutral venues, etc. And lets be real, most of the top amateurs are full-time pros who in many cases earn much more money being "amateur" than the average pro.

[Angeljuice]

yeah I'll be like a nba player playing a pick up game dunking everybody ohh wait

Can you translate that for somebody who doesn't know netball?

[Tonylove]

I don’t love this



I don’t love this but I also don’t hate it.

[jonnyc420]

After his latest s**t show I can't think of a better time for a reality check for these morons when it tanks.

[KillaMane26]

The age of all the medalists from 2016 Olympics seems to average around 22-24 with only 4 I could find that would be under 19 at the time.

Joahnys Argilagos
Shakur Stevenson
Nico Hernandez
Bektemir Melikuziev

Every other sport in the games is rife with professionals so why not boxing? The Olympics are a joke at this point and their corruption is almost on par with boxing so what's the big deal?

The other sports aint Boxing...Boxing aint a normal sport.

Let the kids have their shine

[KillaMane26]

This is BS... Now u can have some pro gatekeeper go in the AMs with intentions of knocking these kids out. Plus we already have a death issue in boxing, as soon as a kid die from the hands of some old ass nigg@ its gonna look soo bad

[dan_cov]

Nobody see the 2016 summer olympics? Why are people worrying about the amateurs? lol
Worry about the pros!

Its practically a different sport. The pro's is all about planting your feet and setting up power where the amateurs is about point scoring. You could argue the amateurs is the real sweet science.

They wasn't good enough for the olympics years back while in their athletic primes let alone now after training a pro style. They will get picked apart in the amateurs just like N'Dam, Ruenruong & Tommasone did in summer 2016.

[dan_cov]

I think its a great idea and a way to attract more attention to amateur boxing and the fighters.

Unless its Lomachenko , Usyk or the Cuban kid who lost his pro debut whose name escapes me going back to the amateurs I don't see why not.
They're not going to 'ruin some little kids dream' if anything they will be made to look like the amateur.

[messimania]

I donīt get how people who follow boxing think all amateurs are kids of 18-19 years? Apart from the Cuban and former Eastern Bloc countries boxers, who mostly have stayed in the amateurs to their late twenties or even thirties, there are also plenty of western boxers, including US and British boxers, who boxed in the Olympics after 25.

Some US Olympians names and age:
Ray Mercer, 27
Antonio Tarver, 27
Michael Bennett, 29
Dominic Breazeale, 27
Calvin Brock, 25
Lawrence Clay-Bey, 30
Larry Donald, 25

British boxers:
Joe Joyce, 30
David Price, 25
Audley Harrison, 28
Anthony Fowler, 25
Courtney Fry, 25

Even old-timers like **** McTaggart (29 at his third Olympics) and Pete Rademacher (27) were no kids back in the days.

Other recent examples of some gold medalists:
Robson Conceicao 27
Oleksandr Usyk, 25
Ryota Murata, 26

In London 2012 the finalists in the 49 kg category were Zou Shiming (31) and Kaew Pongprayoon (32). And the bronze medalists were David Ay****tian (28) and Paddy Barnes (25). Barnes also boxed in Rio when 29.

In womenīs boxing we have:
Katie Taylor, 30
Nicola Adams, 33
Anna Laurell Nash, 36
Mikaela Mayer, 26
Natasha Jonas, 28
Savannah Marshall 25
Mary Kom was 29 when she won bronze in London and now at 37 sheīll try for another Olympic medal.


The Olympics is not any kind of youth tournament. Itīs for the best boxers who can fight for 9 minutes in a tournament format. Now it has opened up for pro boxers and so far those who have tried to change back have struggled.

[lparm]

How about the wba show support for boxing and stop their facking 3 belts in every division rule that’s confusing and killing the sport