BoxRec

I remember watching some amateur boxing on the bbc a few years back and heard Duke Mckenzie complimenting a couple of boxers by saying they looked like semi pro's. What the hell is the difference between a semi pro and a pro boxer???

Hi Fish - I have wondered the same! I know a lad who keeps banging on about his mate being a semi-pro, but funny enough never found him in Boxrec..... :P

I can only assume that it's when an Amatuer boxer gets paid for fighting....??

Presumably a semi-pro would be a fighter whose main source of income is outside of the ring, but is good enough to fight as a pro anyway.

dookus wrote:Presumably a semi-pro would be a fighter whose main source of income is outside of the ring, but is good enough to fight as a pro anyway.

Sounds good enough

dookus wrote:Presumably a semi-pro would be a fighter whose main source of income is outside of the ring, but is good enough to fight as a pro anyway.

If thats the case, wouldnt 90% of pro boxers in the country be semi pro? Considering all but a few of the very best fighters also hold down another job.

Fish wrote:

dookus wrote:Presumably a semi-pro would be a fighter whose main source of income is outside of the ring, but is good enough to fight as a pro anyway.

If thats the case, wouldnt 90% of pro boxers in the country be semi pro? Considering all but a few of the very best fighters also hold down another job.

Technically yes

Semi-pro means fornicate all. You're either an amateur (unpaid) or professional (paid).

People who say they know a 'semi-pro' or whatever don't really know what they are talking about. I remember hearing some bloke say he boxed semi pro in a pub and I thought, this guy is just a pub bullshitter.

The only thing I think could pass as 'semi-pro' is if one boxed Unlicensed....

Isn't there also a system in countries like France, where amateur boxers can have a few pro fights, then if they decide the pro game is not for them, they can revert back to being amateur?

I think it's called "neo-pro" or something like that. Could this be classed as semi-pro?

One of our Cuban Editors, Enrique, explained some time back: "In Cuba, for years, an amateur was not allowed to enter the pros or semi pros if he could not prove he had twenty fights in the unpaid ranks. The semi pros were the novice fights of a pro career [usually four-rounders]. The only difference between pros and semi-pros was the level of experience and semi-pros could not fight amateurs." "Four round fighters were considered semi-pro and very experienced four or six round fighters were considered pros. it was sort of a novice division within the pro system." "Semi-pro fighters were paid and could not return to the amateur ranks." They were considered pros, but at a novice level.

I don't know whether this definition applies beyond Cuba.

force10 wrote:Isn't there also a system in countries like France, where amateur boxers can have a few pro fights, then if they decide the pro game is not for them, they can revert back to being amateur?

I think it's called "neo-pro" or something like that. Could this be classed as semi-pro?

Good point - that system is now available in the UK too (I think only fo rthe last 5 years.) If you have had 5 or under fights in the pros (EG like Ricardo Sams/ Joey Ainscough) you can return to Amateur.

Don't know what happens if you want to go pro again having gone back; I assume you can....

I don't think you can enter major competitions like the Olympics, Worlds or Commonwealth though if you did return. Thats what the beeb said on Ainscough when he reached the final - he wasn't eligable to fight in the Commonwealths even if he won the ABA's.