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Sports » rec.sport.boxing » Olympians
| Olympians [message #1005070] |
Thu, 04 May 2006 21:57 |
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I have always viewed Olympic Boxers akin to High School All-Americans,
McDonald's or Parade to be more specific. McDonald's All Americans were
usually cant miss prospects and they was always a mega star who was ready to
blossom. Guys like Jordan, O'Neal, Bryant, etc....
Rarely did MAAs have disappointing collegiate careers and most of them
usually made it to the pros.
At a time, Olympian Boxers were viewed this way. Most teams produced a Hall
of Famer at the least with a few all time greats.
The scoring system is so horrible now and I think that is part of the
disappointment.
There are a lot of great amateurs who were not Olympians who are making good
names for themselves now. My question is, are the Olympians no longer the
cream of the crop? Are they fighters simply exploiting a flawed scoring
system? Please note I am speaking of U.S. Olympians because most of them
are young in comparison to other countries.
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| Re: Olympians [message #1005074 ] |
Thu, 04 May 2006 23:35 |
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sneeke wrote:
> I have always viewed Olympic Boxers akin to High School All-Americans,
> McDonald's or Parade to be more specific. McDonald's All Americans were
> usually cant miss prospects and they was always a mega star who was ready to
> blossom. Guys like Jordan, O'Neal, Bryant, etc....
>
> Rarely did MAAs have disappointing collegiate careers and most of them
> usually made it to the pros.
>
> At a time, Olympian Boxers were viewed this way. Most teams produced a Hall
> of Famer at the least with a few all time greats.
>
> The scoring system is so horrible now and I think that is part of the
> disappointment.
>
> There are a lot of great amateurs who were not Olympians who are making good
> names for themselves now. My question is, are the Olympians no longer the
> cream of the crop? Are they fighters simply exploiting a flawed scoring
> system? Please note I am speaking of U.S. Olympians because most of them
> are young in comparison to other countries.
There may be some truth to that. Ali, Patterson, Torres, Papp,
Frazier, Foreman, the '76 team (almost all), the 84 team, 88 had some.
Now it doesn't seem to be happening. Could it be the new scoring
system?
Who was the US superheavy in '96? The gold medal was won by Wlad
Klitchko.
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| Re: Olympians [message #1005078 ] |
Fri, 05 May 2006 00:39 |
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pmfan57 wrote:
> sneeke wrote:
>
>>I have always viewed Olympic Boxers akin to High School All-Americans,
>>McDonald's or Parade to be more specific. McDonald's All Americans were
>>usually cant miss prospects and they was always a mega star who was ready to
>>blossom. Guys like Jordan, O'Neal, Bryant, etc....
>>
>>Rarely did MAAs have disappointing collegiate careers and most of them
>>usually made it to the pros.
>>
>>At a time, Olympian Boxers were viewed this way. Most teams produced a Hall
>>of Famer at the least with a few all time greats.
>>
>>The scoring system is so horrible now and I think that is part of the
>>disappointment.
>>
>>There are a lot of great amateurs who were not Olympians who are making good
>>names for themselves now. My question is, are the Olympians no longer the
>>cream of the crop? Are they fighters simply exploiting a flawed scoring
>>system? Please note I am speaking of U.S. Olympians because most of them
>>are young in comparison to other countries.
>
>
> There may be some truth to that. Ali, Patterson, Torres, Papp,
> Frazier, Foreman, the '76 team (almost all), the 84 team, 88 had some.
>
> Now it doesn't seem to be happening. Could it be the new scoring
> system?
>
> Who was the US superheavy in '96? The gold medal was won by Wlad
> Klitchko.
>
Lawrence Clay-Bey
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| Re: Olympians [message #1005079 ] |
Fri, 05 May 2006 01:05 |
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>> Who was the US superheavy in '96? The gold medal was won by Wlad
>> Klitchko.
>>
>
> Lawrence Clay-Bey
Funny thing, Clay-Bey was such a waste, I have that fight on tape and
Clay-Bey was doing absolutely nothing, just cruising. In the last round I
think, he went crazy and hurt Klitschko bad. He couldve stopped Klitschko,
he was very unmotivated and undisciplined and it carried over into his pro
career.
some more all time greats were
The Spinks 76
Leonard 76
Whitaker and Holyfield 84
Jones Jr. 88
DLH 92
Mayweather 96
The Boycott team of 80 did not get to reap the rewards of the big contracts
coming from Olympic fame, Donald Curry was a notable from this team.
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| Re: Olympians [message #1005105 ] |
Fri, 05 May 2006 18:28 |
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On Thu, 04 May 2006 19:57:58 GMT, "sneeke" <dwilliams68 [at] nc.rr.com>
wrote:
>I have always viewed Olympic Boxers akin to High School All-Americans,
>McDonald's or Parade to be more specific. McDonald's All Americans were
>usually cant miss prospects and they was always a mega star who was ready to
>blossom. Guys like Jordan, O'Neal, Bryant, etc....
Good description.
>The scoring system is so horrible now and I think that is part of the
>disappointment.
The scoring system is fair and has narrowed considerably the
chances for blatant cheating. The scoring system has nothing to do
with who does well in the amateurs, as an Olympian, or as a pro.
>
>There are a lot of great amateurs who were not Olympians who are making good
>names for themselves now. My question is, are the Olympians no longer the
>cream of the crop?
Each country has a method of picking their best boxer, usually
a tournament pitting the best against each other. In the U.S., there
are 8 advancing tournaments that lead to the Olympic Trials and
Box-offs. The best U.S. boxers are chosen in this manner. After each
country's Olympic team is determined, they must then compete for a
slot in the Olympics in their weight class by participating in a
continental tournament(s). The U.S. boxers have three chances in the
North American Continent tournament to go to the Olympics. To further
confuse you, whoever wins the gold at the Pan American Games has then
qualified for the Olympics - but must make the U.S. team in order to
participate (there are no At Large teams at the Olympics). In my
opinion, given the selection process for all boxing countries, that
the Olympians are still, and will remain, the cream of the crop. But
like any crop, how they survive depends on how they are nutured and
taken care of.
In the 19 years I have been involved with amateur boxing, I
have seen excellent boxers in the age 16 and under division (JO) who,
when turning open as a 17 year old, don't do well at all. I've also
seen the reverse. A good case in point is Diego Corrales who was not
a good JO but an excellent senior (open) athlete. Some can make the
transition from JO to Senior, i.e., Shane Mosley, Oscar DeLaHoya, and
others.
There are always good, above average boxers who don't make the
Olympics but who are good pros. There are always Olympians who don't
make good pros and there are Olympians who do. I really think it
depends on the individuals ability in the ring, the way they are
promoted and handled and the opponets they are given that determines
how any former amateur boxer does in the pros.
Also, in order to keep boxing in the Olympics, the rules have
changed since Ray Leonard, Ali, and George Foreman's days so it really
isn't fair to compare the pre-1984 boxers to the current crop.
Plus, in every country but the U.S., amateur sports are funded
by the government which means the athletes don't have to work and can
put 100% concentration into training and competition. The U.S. has
three teams only who do nothing but boxing - the U.S. Army, the
Marines and the Olympic Education Program at Northern Michigan
University. The rest of the athletes have to miss school or miss work
in order to compete or attend training camps. Many of our good
amateurs have gone pro "for the money" because they couldn't afford
miss work, especially if they had families.
Last, but not least, please remember that amateur and pro
boxing are two different sports. Some amateurs can make the
transition, others can't.
Mel
Amateur Boxing News at
www.amateurboxing.com
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