how come we don’t send Mike Tyson or Hollyfield to the olympics to beat everyone up and bring home the gold for the US? Granted they maybe worried about Tyson eating someone, but that could just add a whole new dimension to the sport anyway. So really, we send all of our other pros over there so why not the boxers? It shoudn’t make much of a difference that the boxers are pros, we send the basketball players, or are they now saying that pros in some sports shouldn’t be allowed to play and others are?
Also who made the US baseball team? did we send the pros for that too? I know they where talking about it but did they do it?
It’s up to the governing bodies of each individual sport to determine whether professionals are eligible for the Olympics (and to determine what makes someone a professional).
I know basketball decided that the way to improve the sport was to allow NBA players in it to raise the level of competition. In the short run, that’s good news for the U.S. (which invariably* won anyway); in the long run, it’s supposed to give the non-U.S. teams a reason to improve.
The U.S. baseball team has some pros on it, but since it’s the middle of the pennant race, no major league stars are going to join it.
Sorry, but there haven’t been any true amateurs in the Olympics since WWII (and only a handful before then). The Olympics finally realized that giving someone a job whose only duties were to practice your Olympic sport was not truly an amateur, either. The original “ideal” was that only the rich could compete (and the rabble kept out). For years, governments hypocritically gave people do-nothing “jobs” and claimed that the athletes weren’t being paid for their abilities. Other countries gave college scholarships and under-the-table payments. After all, athletes have to eat, and train, and can’t be expected to put in the time involved if they also hold down a 9 to 5 job. The current system has ended the hypocracy.
The communist block countries basically have professional atheletes whose sole job is to train for the Olympics. China still “recruits” young girls at age 3 to be gymnasts.
The US did the same, not knowing it, by kids playing basketball incessantly in the street until they’re able to offer it as “scholarship” collateral to colleges, which is a springboard to the big buck in the NBA. The words are different, but getting a full-scholarship is like a salary in my eyes.
Supposedly, the modern Olympics were restricted to amatures because that’s the way the classical Olympics were, but that depends on a very narrow definition of “professional”. Sure, a losing athlete didn’t get anything, but if you won your event, you could be expected to pull in some pretty nice perks: Your weight in olive oil (as good as cash, in those days), free meals for life for you and your household, etc., in addition to all of the honors like statues in the Acropolis.
Call me naieve but I yearn for competition where it is truly the best of the best. I know this is impossible in these days of sponsorships and big bucks prizes but I reckon that we are missing out by not having a competiton where the only motivating factor is to pursue excellence.
The olympics would never have been like this in my opinion because to pursue excellence and push the frontiers is going to require dedication and commitment which requires it to be a full time occupation.
Back to the OP, amateur boxing is quite a different beast than pro. What do they do now, 4X2 min rounds? As opposed to 10-12 3 min rounds for big time pro fights. And the scoring is quite different.
A pro would put quite a bit in jeopardy, for no certain financial gain. His earning power might be greatly reduced if he lost an 8 minute game of tag with some no name decided by partisan judges. Evander couldn’t expect the same favorable judging he received in his last fight against Ruiz.
And, no small matter, Don King hasn’t figured out how to make a buck off it yet.
Amateur boxing and professional boxing are quite different sports.
Amateur boxing has many more safeguards put in for the competitors’ welfare as opposed to professional boxing where the main objective is still to beat the crap out of the other guy.
In amateur boxing, you can only score points by hitting your opponent on his torso. You can’t throw punches at the other guy’s head. And he’s wearing a head guard anyway.
This could be boxing’s last turn at the Olympics. It is not too popular with the IOC as it has had a lot of judging problems.