Cuban Amateurs are overrated

OK, my thought:

Why don't you go play with a stick and some ****?

You know... something like this:

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The Cuban amateur boxing program is over ratted. It may have been more impresive when the cold war was going on and The Soviet Union and the rest of Eastern Europe under it's control didn't let their boxers go pro (with the excption of Lazlo Papp). The Cubans are well trained and highly skilled. However around the rest of the world 25-30 year old boxers with the same talent are well into their profesional careers.
As far as pro secuess goes they have some disadvantages for one they often turn pro latter in life than most boxers of their talent. Guillermo Rigondeaux for example is 28. Also Amateur boxing is different than profesional boxing and they can devlope bad habits. Also facing inferior compotion even at the higest levels of amateur boxing makes for bad habits as well. Too their advantage is the vast amount of amateur fights that they have. Even though pro and amateur boxing are different sports they are basicly the same concept. Hit and don't get hit. I think over all they will have secuess as pros.

 

The competition in the AMs is much better than the pro game, as a pro you can win a title without ever facing an A grade fighter, in the amateurs to win anything you have to beat the best, most olympic bronze medallists have more skill and talent than 99% of pro boxers. Pro boxing is just a money making game, Amateur boxing is a sport.

 

So are you saying ?
Roberto Cammarelle > Wladimir Klitschko
Rakhim Chakhkiev > Tomasz Adamek
Zhang Xiaoping > Bernard Hopkins
James DeGale > Mikkel Kessler
Bakhyt Sarsekbayev > Paul Williams
Manuel Félix Díaz >Manny Pacquiao
Aleksei Tishchenko > Juan Manuel Marquez
Vasyl Lomachenko > Chris John
Enkhbatyn Badar-Uugan > Hozumi Hasegawa
Somjit Jongjohor > Nonito Donaire
Zou Shiming > Ivan Calderon

 

At the olympics not all the best boxers won as you'd know if you watched and there are some great pros (usually had strong am careers though) but the general skill level at an olympics or a world championship is much higher than the the top pros fighting in each division. Why don't you post up the paper champs of the pro divisions? I think Lomachenko is the most skilled boxer in all of boxing, AM or pro. Of the fights you mention i'd give Cammarelle, Chakiev, Sarsekbayev, Tishchenko and Lomachenko all a great chance of winning if they could fight 12 rounds how they fight 4. They'd need to be tough and have strong chins in the pro game and if they did they'd be too good for these guys.

 

Juan Carlos Gomez is quite good. In regard of the new wave, I am not sure how far will they go. It depends on lots of things. One of the bad things about them is that they all signed Arena Box Promotion. Not the best choice for a promoter.

It is good that Cubans enter professional ranks more massively. It is good for boxing.

 

Acosta, Perez and Garcia signed with Gary Hyde who's looking to win the promotional/manager rights of Rigondeaux. Angelo Santana is with Don King.

Öner has a bad reputation, and after the situation is Spain, he can only blame himself. But he made a trip for the Cubans and their family, got their visas, German, US citizenship, flat, training equipment, training costs, everything. Arena managed to do something no foreign promotion or Spanish speaking fighter could pull in the US: land Gamboa 2 HBO main events in 12 fights, also 3 Showtime main events and numerous ESPN dates. Lara fought on the biggest card of the year. Gamboa already picked up an interim world title, looking to fight The Ring P4P-er Caballero in August. Arena built up a big fanbase in Miami, building up one in Vegas, worked together with Shaw. Barthelemy and Lara is now co-promoted by Golden Boy. Rigondeaux, Lara, Gamboa and even Solis are the young fighters everybody is taking about.

So what excatly the bad thing with Arena's job so far with the Cubans?

 

There is always something fishy when Oner is involved. So far nothing bad happened with the Cubans but you never know with him. His success with HBO and Showtime deals is due to massive Cuban population in Miami not some of his promotional skills.

I had in mind Solis, Barthelemy, Gamboa, Lara and Rigondeaux. They are the ones that got the attention at this point. Others are not that popular worldwide.

We will see how the things will develop. He might do a good job with those Cubans after all.

 

You mean Kenny Egan > Bernard Hopkins

We all know he was robbed

:good

 

I think Lebedev looks like a better prospect than all the Cubans out there.

 

Fritz…You seem to be toooooo racist! It seems that you are undermining anything that is not American.

Cuban boxers were/are successful in amateur ranks since all their training were geared towards winning in the competitions for the amateur. They have no professional boxing body hence everything is focused in that nature…and, mind you, they are SUCCESSFUL to that vision/mission..

An American amateur fighter starts training as an amateur with the INTENT of becoming a pro. The concept of training is always geared for professional boxing. This is something that is always lacking in Cuban boxing.

A Cuban amateur stand-out boxer defecting to the US is like a child or always a neophyte in pro-boxing. He needs to relearn every facets of the art of boxing in a different light. For one to be able to succeed in his first few fights is an accomplishment in itself. The mere fact that they will ranged in the age past 25 is always a handicap that they have to surmount.

Try to imagine if Cuba has a professional boxing training program… I’m sure they will excel too…

Read history!!!

 

How can the Cuban boxing training program be overrated when they haul more medals than USA does in the amatuer ranks?!?...

The only reason they have limited success in the professional ranks is that they don't have professional boxing in Cuba. An amatuer boxer in Cuba more or less devouts all his time in excelling in the amatuers. He has no inclination as to a better future in the professional ranks as this is not allowed in Cuba or non-existent. All their training is geared to scoring in an olympic style which they have mastered so far...Unlike amatuer boxers from the USA, American boxers train for professional boxing life after the amatuer stint which give them the edge in professional boxing.

I am sure that Cuban boxers will be at par with the American professional boxers given the same exposure and training...

 

arena has done a great job as far as promoting yuri and lara and im sure they'll do the same with rigo

 

I never said that they would not have secuess as pros. Howeve they are overatted in terms of the level they fight at It is like The Pittsburgh Steelers vs. The Florida Gators .

 

Nah! As much as I like Lebedev he cant really hold a candle to fighters like Gamboa or Rigondeaux in terms of pure skills and God given talent.

Besides Lebedev was out of the game for about 3 years due to personal problems. His upcomming fight with Macca will tell us a lot about him.