Amateur greats who turned pro too late?

Thanku for the update!

 

Remember Armstrong being on TV many times when amateur boxing had a place on TV. Superb boxer

 

The 60s and 70s were the greatest era of amateur boxing in the USA I believe. The talent was just incredible.

 

If you are an amateur long enough to be a great it’s too late, you should be a pro when you’re ready not when you’re “done” in the amateurs.

 

How about Mike McCallum? McCallum competed in the 1976 Olympics at age 19 but waited until 1981 to turn pro. If McCallum turned pro following the 1976 Olympics, it is not inconceibable that when Sugar Ray Leonard challenged for the Junior Middleweight title in 1981, it would be McCallum he would be facing as opposed to Ayub Kalue. Outside of that, however, when Duran, Hearns and Benitiz also move up to 154 later in the decade, there is a good chance McCallum will be there waiting for them.

 

Lomachenko had a brilliant professional career, but if he had turned pro four years earlier, wouldn't it have been even more brilliant? He wasn't as brilliant in London 2012 as he was in Beijing 2008... we'll never know.

Vitali Klitschko certainly wasted some talent on kickboxing, but perhaps his awkward style stemmed from that. He seemed much more predisposed than his younger brother, who had a better career but started boxing much earlier.

What if Ngannou, a born fighter, had started boxing 10 or 20 years earlier? I know he's not an amateur boxer, but I'll mention him because it's an event.

Sven Ottke had a decent career as a long-time amateur, without any real predisposition for professional boxing.

Lawrence Clay-Bey is a similar example to Ron Lyle, but I don't think either Bey or Lyle would have become great champions. They simply could have, and probably would have, achieved a bit more, but neither was as talented as Ali or Roy Jones.

 

That's ridiculous. Some fighters flourish in the amateur system, enjoy the amateurs more than they would the pros, and get paid well for fighting on the national team as well as getting the chance to represent their country. Amateur and professional boxing are two different sports and the idea that the ams are just try-outs for the pros is absurd and diminishes the exemplary accomplishments of amateur boxers.