Olympic Medals in boxing, are you already a top level boxer if you have one or do you still have to progress ?

Question

I was reading a question on the site where some answerers are calling an Olympic silver medallist a club fighter. I disagreed with this myself but then i started thinking and that is all he has achieved so far in his career so it might be fair comment in some peoples eyes. Do fighters have to prove it in the pro game or can you be classed as a top level fighter because of your achievements in the amateur game ?

Answer 1

Most olypic boxrs can fight good.  ANd when they get their metal, they go pro.  

I think a lot of olypic boxrs turnd pro, and did well.  Oscr won gold, I think JT was a metalist and so on.

But not evry olypic boxr is suited for pro game.  Olypic boxr wares hed gear. Same as amatuer.

Mike T not make olypic team asn see what he done.

Olypic better compared to amature than pro.

Answer 2

First, I would never call an Olympic medallists a club fighter. Many of these medallist go on in the pro rankings and have good or decent careers. True, there are very few who don't have as great of a pro career as they did an amateur career. Either way, bad or good pro career, the one thing I think most, if not all, medallists have in common is that potential talent of a top level boxer.

Most of these medallist come into the professional ranks with instant hope from fans and media, as well as probably pressure of being the next elite fighter, because of his/her Olympic success. Because there have been some disappointments in some medallists at the pro level, I can't say that having a medal makes that person top level, though the potential is there. I think they have to prove themselves just like any other fighter in the sport.

Overall, having a medal basically shows me that a fighter has the potential of having what it takes to win at the next level. Potential has to be proven and not all potential in each fighter is fully reach.

That's my opinion on the subject.

Answer 3

You have to be a truly gifted and talented fighter to achieve such status.  Nothing could be further from the truth as to equate a silver medalist a club fighter.  Most that achieve this status go on to very solid pro careers and many win World Championships of course as we all know such as Leonard, Spinks brothers, Holyfield and so many more.  Of course the pro game is different with different ways of judging fights and longer fights and a fighter has to be able to adapt to the changes such as no headgear etc, but that's not usually a problem at all for top flight boxers.  Good question sir, thanks.

Answer 4

Well, the majority of the time, fighters who win olympic medals do very well in the pros.  However, there have been some cases where a fighter won a medal, or was extremely good in the amateurs, but fizzled out in the pros.  I don't think that any of them could be classified as a club fighter because it takes class to beat the best amateurs from around the world to win a medal, its just that some of them don't do so well in the pros; here are a few examples:

Mark Breland won a gold medal at the 1984 olympics, and he did win a world title, but only had it for three defenses before losing it to Marlon Starling.  He did okay as a pro, but it can't compare with what he did as an amateur.

Romallis Ellis won a bronze medal at the 1988 olympics, but never won a world title.

Terrance Cauthen won a bronze medal at the 1996 olympics, but never won a world title and lossed badly in all of his biggest fights.

Clarence Vinson won a bronze medal at the 2000 olympics, but never even challenged for a world title.

Rocky Juarez won a silver medal at the 2000 olympics, but so far in his career he has lost all of his biggest fights and has yet to win a world title.

Ricardo Williams won a silver medal at the 2000 olympics, but only had 12 fights as a pro and lost 2 of them.

Audley Harrison won a gold medal at the 2000 olympics, but he has not beaten anyone worthwile in his pro career and everytime he seems to get his career on track, he ends up losing badly.

Paolo Vidoz won a bronze medal at the 2000 olympics, but has lost all of his biggest fights as a pro.

Answer 5

In the past being an olympic medalist in the US meant you had great skills and experience.  They would soar up the ranks like Evander, Oscar, Leonard, Ali.  Now it doesn't mean as much and even the best fighters like Andre Ward are protected and kept from real competition far too long.

Answer 6

No, you are not a top level boxer if you win a Olympic medal, but you dohave  have a slight edge going into the pro.

But difference between Pros and Amatauers is like lthe difference between NFL and college football. How many star college football players do we see that do not do well in NFL. A lot.

All comes down to whether a fighter has a style that can translate well into the pros. Take Tyson. His style of fighting and throwing punches with "bad intentions" instead of throwing punches to score points did not fit amatauer fighting, but it made him the youngest HW Champ ever.

A lot fighters with long amatauer careers go to the pros, where they use "shoe shinning," a tactic to throw a lot meaningless punches to score points, on to be hit by hard reality that pros not about scoring points, but more about throwing most damaging punches.

Answer 7

The pros are the only thing that matter .You can be a great amateur Howare Davis Jr. and not be anything as a pro Jerome Coffee Clent Jackson Roger Leonard the list goes on and on here is the best one Oscar De La Hoya