BoxRec

Professional boxers could compete at Rio Olympics as governing body pushes through rule change

Top professional boxers will become eligible to compete in this summer's Rio Olympics under radical new proposals being pushed through by the sport's world governing body, AIBA.

Its president, Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, has indicated that the last remaining barriers preventing full-time professionals competing in the Games are set to be abolished within a matter of months.

In an interview with Press Association Sport, Wu said: "We want the best boxers to come to the Olympic Games. It is AIBA's 70th birthday, and we want something to change - not after four years, but now.

"It is an IOC policy to have the best athletes in the Games, and of the international federations, AIBA is probably the only one without professional athletes in the Olympics.

"We already have our own professionals, APB and WSB boxers, in the Games - [and] we will go further."

Pressed on whether the change could realistically be made in time to affect eligibility for the Rio Olympics this summer, Wu replied: "According to our statutes it is absolutely possible."

AIBA say they have been working on broadening their eligibility criteria for Rio for some time, but were given implicit encouragement to fast-track the process by the publication of the IOC's Agenda 2020 document in 2014, whose Recommendation 9 declares the intention of "ensuring participation by the best athletes".

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing/pr ... io-7433348

Let's hope the same thing happens with football and all the other sports.

The Olympics should be there for the best athletes, not just for the best amateurs.

I don't agree with it to be honest, I know the distinction between amateur and professional athletes has been blurred or non existent for a long time, I think this is too much though.

i'm not really sure what to say on this yet.

but i'm leaning more towards this a good idea that will bring more excitement to the games

I always enjoyed watching the top amateurs and then seeing them progress and develop as a pro.

palooka wrote:I always enjoyed watching the top amateurs and then seeing them progress and develop as a pro.

Agreed palooka,im not a fan of this at all,looks to me as if people at the top who have no understanding of the game trying to reinvent the wheel,im all for changes and moving with the times but allowing pros to fight at the Olympics is a very bad move IMO,i think it will take away the prestige of winning an Olympic Gold Medal,as you mentioned i too enjoy watching young amateurs develop from Olympic success to the pro ranks


Joshua was a world class amateur but the thought of him being an amateur going into 2012 Olympics in London against say Wlad in the final is plain wrong,maybe even Mayweather who was unlucky in Atlanta by all accounts,deciding to come out of retirememnt for Rio against some other top amateur would be poor

Makes a farce of the sport if this happens for Rio

If this is the change they want to happen then they should do it at the start of the Olympic cycle.
Personally I enjoy the amateur scene and I enjoy the WSB and the changes with no headguards etc, but that's as close to professional as I like the amateur game being.
Can you imagine Joe Joyce worked his butt off for nearly 6-8 years to get to a olypmics. Finally gets there and gets drawn against Luis Ortiz first round who I presume would be a animal in a Olympic style format. That doesn't seem fair to me.

This is absolute fucken bullshit

Counter-puncher wrote:This is absolute fucken bullshit

Agreed. But it's no bigger bullshit than professional basketballers and professional tennis players being allowed to compete at the Olympics.

I was all for leaving the Olympics a strictly amateur playing field. But that all went out the window decades ago and clearly the pattern is going to continue.

Appearantly I'm pretty much the only one, but why wouldn't the best boxers out there be allowed to join the Olympics? This way you can call me an Olympic champion, not that I'm that good, but all the good boxers are pro, so simply can't join.

If you like to follow the prospects, there will still be amateur tournaments and there will still be age restricted tournaments, just like there are weight limits.

i think this would be a great idea, but not for rio with half the spots already taken, would be like gatecrashing. but from the olympics after rio it would be great. every other sport has the best athletes in it(even football are allowed 3 or 4 over 24 year olds into their squads). and you cant duck some1 in a knockout format. would be great

asdfjkl wrote:Appearantly I'm pretty much the only one, but why wouldn't the best boxers out there be allowed to join the Olympics? This way you can call me an Olympic champion, not that I'm that good, but all the good boxers are pro, so simply can't join.

If you like to follow the prospects, there will still be amateur tournaments and there will still be age restricted tournaments, just like there are weight limits.

It will be a nail in the coffin for amateur boxing. The Olympics are its pinnacle, and removing that pinnacle cannot possibly have a positive effect.

Counter-puncher wrote:This is absolute fucken bullshit

Could not have said it better its a joke the final nail in the coffin the death of amateur boxing

asdfjkl wrote:Let's hope the same thing happens with football and all the other sports.

The Olympics should be there for the best athletes, not just for the best amateurs.

Exactly, since so many other countries want to play the US in a little football.

Redback Rasta wrote: "We already have our own professionals, APB and WSB boxers, in the Games"
-AIBA president Dr Ching-Kuo Wu

...not according to boxrec

Wlad Klitschko : "The Olympic Games is the pinnacle of an amateur's career so you have got to keep it separate. I was shocked when they said it could actually go ahead, and I hope they have another good think about it and make the right decision."

Redback Rasta wrote:Wlad Klitschko : "The Olympic Games is the pinnacle of an amateur's career so you have got to keep it separate. I was shocked when they said it could actually go ahead, and I hope they have another good think about it and make the right decision."

...wasn't he the one pushing for it a couple of years ago because he wanted to take part in it himself?

...anyway I don't like these changes..don't like them at all

Redback Rasta wrote:

Counter-puncher wrote:This is absolute fucken bullshit

Agreed. But it's no bigger bullshit than professional basketballers and professional tennis players being allowed to compete at the Olympics.

I was all for leaving the Olympics a strictly amateur playing field. But that all went out the window decades ago and clearly the pattern is going to continue.

I remember when the same thing happened with basketball.

Seemed crazy at the time to allow NBA stars in the Olympics.

Now it's the norm.

Cutman Scabbers wrote:

Redback Rasta wrote:

Counter-puncher wrote:This is absolute fucken bullshit

Agreed. But it's no bigger bullshit than professional basketballers and professional tennis players being allowed to compete at the Olympics.

I was all for leaving the Olympics a strictly amateur playing field. But that all went out the window decades ago and clearly the pattern is going to continue.

I remember when the same thing happened with basketball.

Seemed crazy at the time to allow NBA stars in the Olympics.

Now it's the norm.

I could not believe it when the American Dream Team were allowed to compete in the basketball. I even remember players from other countries queuing up for their autographs.

WBC RIPS AIBA OVER OLYMPIC BOXING; SOME PROS ARE INTRIGUED

The president of the WBC sharply criticized the IBA on Thursday for its intention to allow professional fighters to compete in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The WBC's Mauricio Sulaiman said AIBA "does not have a clue of what boxing means and represents." The head of pro boxing's most prominent governing body also predicted "dangerous mismatches between experienced professional fighters and amateur boxers" if the pros take AIBA's invitation.

AIBA President Ching-Kuo Wu confirmed his intention this week to change his organization's qualifying structure to allow pro fighters to compete for gold medals in the multi-day Olympic tournament in August.

AIBA's latest proposal to erase the line between pro and amateur boxing has attracted attention around the sport, and some pros are intrigued.

"I would if I could," Wladimir Klitschko told The Associated Press through a spokesperson when asked about the possibility of fighting for his second gold medal after winning for Ukraine in Atlanta in 1996".

But the former long-reigning heavyweight champion added that his rematch with Tyson Fury in the spring would take precedence over any attempt to make the Ukraine team, likely making it impractical for the 39-year-old to compete in Rio. For Klitschko to get a chance at the 2020 Tokyo Games, AIBA would have to change its age limit of 40 years old on competitors.

Most top pros would face major obstacles to participation in the Rio Games. Even after getting the imprimatur of their national sanctioning body, they likely would have to travel to AIBA's world Olympic qualifying tournament in Azerbaijan in June to earn a spot.

"I just think that it's highly unlikely" for any pros to make the U.S. team in Rio, USA Boxing executive director Mike Martino told the AP.

"By matching amateurs against professionals and eliminating headgear, AIBA is showing that it does not seem to care about the physical well-being of the fighters or the correct practice of the sport around the world," Sulaiman said. "How can multi-day boxing tournaments be conducted safely and fairly without headgear? The youth of the world deserve to have the options and opportunities in amateur boxing."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/ ... 5-19-03-17

Different sport same as 100 metre sprint completely different to the Marathon runner in both you use your leg's that's about it

Redback Rasta wrote:

Cutman Scabbers wrote:

Redback Rasta wrote:
Agreed. But it's no bigger bullshit than professional basketballers and professional tennis players being allowed to compete at the Olympics.

I was all for leaving the Olympics a strictly amateur playing field. But that all went out the window decades ago and clearly the pattern is going to continue.

I remember when the same thing happened with basketball.

Seemed crazy at the time to allow NBA stars in the Olympics.

Now it's the norm.

I could not believe it when the American Dream Team were allowed to compete in the basketball. I even remember players from other countries queuing up for their autographs.

4 years later Lithuania had the last shot to beat America and lost by only 2 and Argentina won the Gold medal in basketball and the USA finished with the bronze years later. The Olympics changed basketball forever. It was and is the greatest thing to happen to basketball and it globalized the game.

I will say I love pro hockey players in the Olympics. Those guys are great and they play to win. Love the hockey in the olympics.

Lancenix wrote:4 years later Lithuania had the last shot to beat America and lost by only 2 and Argentina won the Gold medal in basketball and the USA finished with the bronze years later. The Olympics changed basketball forever. It was and is the greatest thing to happen to basketball and it globalized the game.

Definitely wasn't 4 years later. Dream Team 2 was dominant also.

But I do get your point. I don't understand the Olympics being for amateurs. What makes an amateur?
Do they need to have other careers? Many countries had state sponsored athletes (professionals) so only a few countries were being hurt by the no amateur rule.

Even the idea behind strict amateurism is foolish. It assumes that anyone paid to do something can't compete for the love of the game.
Really stupid considering this rule was being enforced when professional athletes were regular people and had to work "real" jobs to support their hobby (sports).

Whatever. It'll make Olympic boxing watchable and something I highly anticipate.
It will be a tournament in every weight category that oversteps all promotional obligations.

... and some of you guys are against this?

Big difference in boxing from these other sport's people are talking about regarding pro's competing against amateur's is that we will have young competitor's getting their heads punched off by seasoned fighter's[monster's] like GGG/Kovalev just to name two, Some of these kid's will get killed.