The Sugar Ray Leonard legacy: A blessing or a curse?

[elmersalsa]

It seems after every Summer Olympic Games, a boxer that wins the gold medal for the US is always measured up for stardom a la Sugar Ray Leonard...Many of the US boxers that won the gold medal were compared to Leonard in that sense, which to me, it is pretty UNFAIR, and did not came up to the billing, or did not came close like Sugar Ray.

I want to ask if this, winning the gold medal for the US is it a blessing or a curse? Do you have to win the gold medal in order ot have SUPER STARDOM STATUS and million-dollar paydays nowadays?

For example, these are the ones that failed:

Mark Breland
Meldrick Taylor
Oscar De La Hoya (he was a successful businesman, like Sugar Ray)
David Reid
Fernando Vargas (he did not win the gold medal, but an olympic star, nevertheless)

and others that are not on my mind faild to the billing.

Is winning the gold, is a blessing or a curse?

[IKSRTFO]

I don't really see how Vargas, DLH, or Taylor failed that much. They did better than a whole lot of olympians. Each of them eventually won belts which is hard to say for the gold medalists of 04. Leonard's legacy rested on his career and the people he fought. He was just a one of a kind fighter who came in the spirit of Ali, who wasn't by my knowledge an olympic gold medalist. It's pretty hard to measure any fighter of the past 20 years agaist Leonard.

[ringsider]

Ali won Olymipic gold in 1960 if my memory serves me right. He was still Cassius Clay, a LHW.

[elmersalsa]

Ali won Olymipic gold in 1960 if my memory serves me right. He was still Cassius Clay, a LHW.

That was pre-Leonard days...Now a fighter that wins the gold medal, especially if he is in the lower weight classes, the media and powers that be want to mold him into a superstar a la Leonard...Is it fair?

[Goodnight, Irene]

"...Oscar De La Hoya..." - Elmer



Too bad we can't have signatures on this forum. You could just scribble, "I Hate Oscar" & save us all the trouble. It's your business to hate him. But your bias is not as well hidden as you may think. I hate Felix Trinidad, & Floyd Mayweather. I bet you didn't know that from my posts.

[barry]

De La Hoya is not one of my more favorite fighters, but it is impossible, the honestly, discredit his career! Very, very few fighters of the last 25 years have fought the overall kind of top rate oposition that De La Hoya did...and lets not forget...in all truth Oscar really beat Trinidad as well as Mosley in their second bouts...Mosley won the first bout pretty convincingly, but the second should have went to De La Hoya, though I was for both Trinidad and Mosley in those bouts. Now that being said I think that De la Hoya was given a gift over Ike Quartey and his bouts with John-John Molina, Pernell Whitaker and Felix Strum were very, very close fights, but De La Hoya has had one of the very best careers of any fighter in history...especially in the era of 40 fight careers.

[ringsider]

......Leonard's legacy rested on his career and the people he fought. He was just a one of a kind fighter who came in the spirit of Ali, who wasn't by my knowledge an olympic gold medalist.........

I only posted my response in reference to what was said by IKSRTFO.

[Goodnight, Irene]

De La Hoya is not one of my more favorite fighters, but it is impossible, the honestly, discredit his career! Very, very few fighters of the last 25 years have fought the overall kind of top rate oposition that De La Hoya did...and lets not forget...in all truth Oscar really beat Trinidad as well as Mosley in their second bouts...Mosley won the first bout pretty convincingly, but the second should have went to De La Hoya, though I was for both Trinidad and Mosley in those bouts. Now that being said I think that De la Hoya was given a gift over Ike Quartey and his bouts with John-John Molina, Pernell Whitaker and Felix Strum were very, very close fights, but De La Hoya has had one of the very best careers of any fighter in history...especially in the era of 40 fight careers.

You've done it now, Barry. You've gone & pointed out that De La Hoya pursued & fought the best of his generation, defeated a number of champions, & never ducked anyone. You hinted that he made every big fight the fans wanted to see happen, for well over a decade.

Now prepare for the army of darkness to descend, smite you, & send you on your merry way

[Knucklez]

Audley Harrison. Won Gold in Sydney at superheavyweight, received a million pound contract from the BBC BEFORE his first ever pro fight, and then turned out to be the worst fighter in boxing history.

[elmersalsa]

"...Oscar De La Hoya..." - Elmer



Too bad we can't have signatures on this forum. You could just scribble, "I Hate Oscar" & save us all the trouble. It's your business to hate him. But your bias is not as well hidden as you may think. I hate Felix Trinidad, & Floyd Mayweather. I bet you didn't know that from my posts.

You right I do not like him...He fought the very best out there, but he did not live to the Leonard legacy...He made MILLIONS though.

[I Feel Fine]

I agree that De La Hoya has come up short in a majority of his biggest fights, but his career is hardly a disappointment.

Olympic Gold Medallists get more attention, but I would imagine it was always that way. Either they live up to expectations or they don't, but by winning that medal they are in a much better position than the average fighter, so I don't see that they have anything to cry about.

[zojo]

Any guy who wins a gold in the Olympics will get a million-dollar contract to fight for any one of the large promotional companies.

Take the money, put it in the bank...who cares if you lose your pro-debut, you still got your contacted money. Take the money and SAVE it. A few years later: go to college, buy a home, start a business....pay your kids college tuition, etc...

[locoxelbox]

For example, these are the ones that failed:

Mark Breland
Meldrick Taylor
Oscar De La Hoya (he was a successful businesman, like Sugar Ray)
David Reid
Fernando Vargas (he did not win the gold medal, but an olympic star, nevertheless)

Your examples weren't really the best. Vargas didn't even medal. There have been many olympic stars who didn't medal (Kelcie Banks, Eric Griffin, Brian Viloria and others)
One failure would be Howard Davis Jr who was voted the best boxer of the 1976 Olympics (above Sugar Ray) but despite some tries but never won a world title. Others are Paul Gonzalez, Steve McCrory, Tyrell Biggs and Andrew Maynard. Also Jerry Page and Henry Tillman but I don't think too much was expected from them in first place.

Winning gold was a blessing for guys like David Reid and Andre Ward otherwise they'd have to start from scratch (sort of) like everybody else.

A gold is a gold wheather you succeed as a pro or not.

[Ambling Alp]

I would say that it's a blessing even though Olympic boxing is as big of a deal as it used to be.

He will be making better money to start his career. He won't be fighting 4 rounders for a couple of hundred dollars. He will be fighting 6 rounders against carefully selected opponents ( no one awkward or too hard of puncher) and will be getting several thousand dollars.

Most importantly, a Gold Medal winner medal winner has a much better chance of getting a good trainer who can show him the ropes.

The result is that he will get TV exposure (ie. frequent appearances on ESPN against tomato cans) early and often in his career on his way up. He will get a title shot and be on HBO (or atleast Showtime) after 3-4 years as a professional instead of 5 years or longer.

However, ultimately, he will have to beat good competition if he is going to be considered a great fighter.

Sometimes it seems some people hold it against fighters who won a gold medal, as if it they were handed a free ticket to the good life, which isn't really fair. Usually a fighter who won a gold medal had been boxing since he was a young kid and put in a lot of time and effort.

There is no guarantee that a gold medal winner is going to have a great pro career. Obviously some non-gold meals winners have had great pro careers. However, a gold medal winner is much more likely to be a great pro than the average boxer starting out.