Was there ever an Olmpic gold medalist that could have won a world title in their first pro fight?

...i said sweet p whitikar could have won a world title in his first fight...which could have been bramble because bramble was champ

 

Then you said rosario exposed bramble then i said that wasnt till 86 lol misunderstanding

 

I think Golovkin could have fought Milton Nunez in his first fight and whupped him. A lot of wasted prime there.

 

I’d take Roy Jr. over Rene Jacquot or Darrin Van Horne when he turned pro.

Of course Roy was just a silver medalist. (g)

Julian Jackson might have murdered him.

 

There’s no such thing as a wrong answer here, but there is a right answer and it’s Audley Harrison

 

Not an Olympian, but I think Jimmy Britt could have won the Lightweight championship on his debut.

He beat Erne within a year of his pro debut, who was the champion when he turned pro.

 

At heavyweight, since that's my area of expertise, I'll put forth a few POSSIBILITIES. I'm not saying these guys would pull it off, but they're the ones with the best shot. -

1960 - Cassius Clay against Patterson.
1968 - George Foreman against WBA champ Jimmy Ellis.
1976 - Leon Spinks against Ali (but I doubt it, since Ali still had enough left to hang with Norton that September).
1996 - Wladimir Klitschko against various alphabet champs in 1996 - Akinwande, Moorer, Seldon.

I don't see anyone else having a remote shot in other years, at heavy.
(Edit - After seeing some follow-up posts, I realize that I was looking at this question from a mostly U.S.-centric point of view. I hadn't even considered Savon or Stevenson, and that was wrong on my part. Keep up the great posts, everyone!)

 

Felix Savon against one of the alphabet titleists of the 80's or Teofilo Stevenson against late 70's Ali?

 

Felix Savon vs bonecrusher Smith could have been interesting. bonecrusher had a19-5 record at the time (1996) and Savon had just won the world Amateur Championship.
still, i would have picked bonecrusher to win. the crusher wasnt a talented boxer……..but he was huge, had a great chin and could Punch. i think Savon would have murdered him early……...only to run out of steam and ko´d by crusher in round 10.

 

Although he never turned pro Hector Vincent could have beaten Morris East, Carlos Gonzales, Rafael Pineda and Hiranka who held titles between 92 - 96 when he won two golds. I also like Roberto Balado chances against Micheal Bent and Herbie Hide a shame he passed away so young I thought he would have been an even better pro then Savon.

 

Francesco Damiani was the first WBO Heavyweight titleist. I like Savon's chances in that matchup, provided it doesn't go long.