Best US Amatures Thread

Sugar Ray Leonard
National AAU (U.S.) Champion (1972, 1974, 1975) *Lost in the finals in 1973 to Randy Shields
National Golden Gloves Champion (1974)
North American Boxing Championships Gold Medalist (1974, 1975)
Pan Am Games Champion (1975)
Olympic Gold Medalist (1976)
Amateur Record: 145-5

Howard Davis Jr.
NY Golden Gloves Champion (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976)
National AAU (U.S.) Champion (1973, 1976)
North American Champion (1973)
World Amateur Champion (1974)
Olympic Gold Medlaist (1976)
Amateur Record: 125-5

Tyrell Biggs
National AAU (U.S.) Champion (1981, 1982, 1983)
World Amateur Champion (1982)
Olympic Gold Medalist (1984)
Amateur Record: 108-6-4

Donald Curry
National AAU (U.S.) Champion (1978, 1979)
National Golden Gloves Champion (1980)
World Cup Champion (1980)
*Member of the 1980 US Boxing Team that boycotted the Olympics (Defeated Davey Moore in the Final)
Amateur Record: 400-4

Bernard Taylor
National AAU (U.S.) Champion (1976, 1978, 1979)
National Golden Gloves Champion (1976, 1977, 1978, 1980)
Pan Am Games Champion (1979)
World Cup Champion (1979)
* Member of the 1980 US Boxing Team that boycotted the Olympics
Amateur Record: 481-8 (yes, 481)

Leon Spinks
National AAU (U.S.) Champion (1974, 1975, 1976)
World Amateur Championship Bronze Medalist (1974)
Pan Am Games Silver Medalist (1975)
Olympic Gold Medalist (1976)
Amateur Record: 178-7

Oscar De La Hoya
National Golden Gloves champion (1989)
National AAU (U.S.) Champion (1990, 1991)
Goodwill Games Champion (1990)
Olympic Gold Medalist (1992)
Amateur record: 223-5

Kelcie Banks
National Golden Gloves Champion (1985)
National AAU (U.S.) Champion (1986, 1987)
World Amateur Champion (1986)
Pan Am Games Champion (1987)
Amateur Record: 460-86

Clint Jackson
National AAU (U.S.) Champion (1974, 1975, 1976, 1977) *runner-up in 1978
National Golden Gloves Champion (1974, 1975, 1976)
World Amateur Championships Silver medalist (1974)
Pan Am Games Champion (1975)
Amateur Record: 139-14

 

Interesting thread. It doesn't seem like there's any clear GOAT, as all of the contenders for that distinction turned pro without racking up additional international plaudits like Lomachenko or Lalzo Papp.

Rocky Juarez might have benefited from staying in the amateurs for another Olympic cycle. He was still young enough that, like Lennox Lewis did, he could have polished his game further. He was a gifted fighter but had a Mike Weaver like tendancy to let rounds pass by without attacking in earnest.

Mark Breland's five years as New York Golden Gloves champion are a huge accomplishment, and he had a kayo ratio that was eye-popping even before the Post-Seoul games scoring changes made punching hard obsolete.

Bernard Taylor would probably have the strongest case if not for the 1980 boycott. Unfortunately he seemed to leave his best in the amateur ranks.

 

Bernard Taylor has a very strong case. He didn't lose the Olympics. He made the team. They just didn't go. Otherwise, he was dominant in the U.S. and dominant internationally.

So does Ray Leonard.

Howard Davis won the Pan Am Games, he was the World amateur champion and he won the Olympic Gold medal. Nobody else mentioned did that. Not Whitaker. Not Jones. Not Tarver.

(And Davis beat future pro champ Aaron Pryor twice to make the team.)

Davis might be my pick. Not sure. I haven't thought about it.

 

Ezzard Charles 42-0 in Amatuers

 

Evander Holyfield would have won the Val Barker award in 1984 had he not been disqualified. Watch his amateur stuff if you haven't seen it

 

My mistake. I was looking at Leonard when I wrote Pan Am. Davis didn't participate in the Pan Am Games in 1975.

Winning the World amateur title or Olympic Gold or even the Goodwill Games is more impressive than the Pan Am title. Pan Am is just the Americas (North, Central and South). Not the whole world.

The Olympics and World amateur championships include the Americas and every other country around the world.

 

Val Barker is just a political award. Jirov won in 1996, and he was a clumsy, awkward boxer on a good day. He definitely didn't look like the most outstanding boxer at that Olympics.

Wlad Klitschko, David Reid or Felix Savon should've won the Val Barker that year. Reid probably scored the biggest upset when he knocked out the World champ Alfredo Duvergel in the final for Gold. Wlad dominated the world champ Lezin in the semifinals. Savon was the world champ and just rolled in the Olympics.

I never understood the Jirov selection.

 

Sugar Ray Robinson

Nick Wells

 

He likely did. The thing is, Wlad beat a World champ on his way to the gold medal, too. So did David Reid. And Felix Savon was the world champ and glided to a gold medal in the Olympics. There was nothing about Jirov's run in the Olympics that stood out, and he wasn't someone you'd encourage other boxers to pattern their styles after. He was very clumsy. So he was an odd pick for the most outstanding boxer at the games.

 

That's likely it.

 

Howard lost a 3-2 decision to Davey Armstrong in the Pan Am trials.