Is there a more disappointing Olympic gold medalist class than Rio? (in graduating to professional)

Oh yes I remember being outraged on the judging of Soufiane's fights as well... if i remember correctly the semi-finals were the worst.

Also you raise a good point about covid derailing the youth. I didn't think about that anymore

 

Ramirez is the most disappointing / shocking to me. I remember watching him as an amateur and thinking he was gonna be top P4P level talent in the pros. That debut loss was absolutely shocking. I mean he still has a decent career, but has done way less than I thought he would (could?). Really showed to me that amateur and pro are almost different sports in a sense.

 

Hrgovic falls under the disappointment category, rather than the exception and I cannot be dissuaded from this. A single win over Zhang is the only real result of note on his resume thus far-and even that was hotly disputed. For someone who's been hyped up pretty dramatically from the start of his career, he really hasn't done that much.

In contrast, two of Conceicao's losses were disputed on this site and others. He also earned a draw with the heavily favored Navarette that at least some observers thought he won. I'd say he's actually overachieved a bit given how lightly regarded he was, as well his attributes and skillset.

 

That being said, it's certainly one of the weaker classes in recent memory. Think you'd have to go back to 1980 (which was boycotted) and then 1972 to find something similar in terms of professional disappointment. Even then, I think '72 might be a bit better in general if you expand it to all medalists.

 

And mind you, Ramirez was a two time Olympic gold medalist. Yet he lost his pro debut. I guess thats what happens when you wait 3 years to turn pro.

Conceicao arguably beat both Valdez and Navarrete, but the decisions went as they did, and now Conceicao is 36 years of age. He is done.

 

I take this as further evidence the sport of boxing has slipped badly in quality

 

done? he looks alright lately. he is a shockingly tall fighter for the weight should have moved up when had the chance

 

actually i think the 'pro's can return to olympic' has derailed the amatuer circuit. the WSB became completely irrelevent. imagine had loma had 2 years in the pros instead?

again. it means you get long time amatuer stalwarts who compete but are not actual prospects for the pro game. no desire from any of these olympians to turn over. why even do it earlier if you have a chance to win an olympic or worlds honours? to hold an ibf title? it means nothing to somone in comparison. is it the money? a national champion isnt just financially well off in thier nation but usually get things done for them.

it's pretty interesting. maybe the olympic and pros are now much further from each other than before.

 

Hes 36 and usually looses every meaningful fight on the cards. I think it´s all downhill from here.
Mind you, I am quite the Conceicao fan, but his performances are often hit or miss.

 

Olympic boxing is overrated, amateur bouts are about just getting on the center line and throwing oads of shots, having a good amateur career gives you a solid foundation, but that`s all.

 

Inactivity seems like a common trend among these guys. Is it because of covid? The supposed global economical downfall? The Russia-Ukraine war?

In any case, It’s a very underwhelming class indeed. Especially the HW-SHWs. The fact that Hrgovic who was hyped to be the next Klitschko but turned out to be a more durable Dimitrenko is the highlight of the bunch speaks volumes.