Yeh, I read he was planning to go pro within 6 months. Said amateurs had too many fights and too much wear and tear. Cool. Silver medal is pretty good. There's another really tall U.S. SHW who didn't qualify for Tokyo that went pro recently. Can't recall his name.
Oh really? The last I heard was he was on the fence about waiting for the next Olympics to 'redeem' himself (not that Silver is a failure). He was hesitant because they'd said they might be changing the rules and not allowing pros to compete anymore starting in 2024 and he really wants another try.
Ahh, I've just spent a frustrating few minutes trying to re-find on google the article I read. Sorry, I can't seem to find it and maybe it was a local news thing. But from memory he was saying that amateur fighting involved a lot of fights across short time periods and that wasn't good for his body. Pretty sure it mentioned the phrase 'wear and tear' and alluded to 6 months. From what I know of him, he seems pretty cool away from the ring and he's a U.S. fighter I could get behind.
There's no point in competing in 2 Olympics. He's short for a modern day heavy, he will need all the youth and athleticism to compete with these 6'6+ fighters of today. He will always have to take the fight to the bigger man by bobbing and weaving in to range, that takes a lot of energy. He'll be 25 at the next Olympics, it usually takes about 4-5 years to get to championship contender by which point he'll be 30. This doesn't leave him much of a peak.
True but there's no guarantee of making a dent in the pros even if you're good, due to politics (although his Silver medal should ensure he gets the backing of a big-time promoter at least) and for all we know the field in a few years could be less stacked than it was this past summer in Tokyo. If you remove Jalolov from the bracket and put in most other super heavies on the international scene, Torrez already has the gold he wanted right now. Guess it comes down to priorities, what he personally is hungriest for. (the medal, or pro belts)
The money is in the pro game. The gold medal is nice but in terms of lasting legacy you have to be a good pro. Just look at Audley Harrison, he's considered a joke here in the UK despite his gold medal.
True but it wouldn't be unheard of for someone to care less about the money than staying and eking out a legacy. Just among United States boxers, look at Cam F. Awesome for instance.
I always wonder how amateur boxing works. They don't get paid from what I understand, so how do they pay their trainer and gym? Do they have another job? If so, how do they have enough time to train? Is doing 2 hours a day enough?
So he's your new Great Black Hope cause Joshua, Wilder and the total bum Ajagba all got their asses kicked Your desperation gets worse and worse lol.
American dominance ended a decade ago, when all 4 belts were taken by fighters from the former Soviet Union. Deontay was an anomaly who managed to claw his way into the top 3 during the sunset of American heavyweight boxing.
Yeah I thought he looked good for a 9-0 21 year old kid showed good skills and he will only improve no need to rush him at that age.
The whole Heavyweight Division is average really...Having said that does not mean we still can not get a great fight out of it.....The weekend Fight was a Brawling pushing messy affair from 2 Fighters in the Top 5 of the Division....I think both are Packing a bit of Glass for sure and both have real Stamina problems but Boy what a fight.!!!!
