The length of an amateur career?

150 max. A boxer’s body can only take so much damage and I don’t think taking so many hits at a young age is a good idea

 

I remember boxing as an amateur and really little kids fighting and leaving the ring and sitting on their mom's lap. Even then, as a teenager, I thought they were WAY too young to be doing this.

Ideally, I think you learn the basics as an amateur, preferably when you are the age you would be in high school. So, like a high school sports run, four years as an amateur, tops. By the time you are a legal adult, and you want to be a professional, 18 or 19 is a good age to start, and you'll have a decent foundation under you.

If you're going to get punched in the head, you may as well get paid for it. And, if you aren't as good as you thought, you're still young and can go to college or learn a trade while your peers are still trying to figure out what they're doing, too.

I think Canelo Alvarez turned pro too young (15). He could've held off a few years until he was a legal adult. But he's just 30 years old. He has all the experience in the world with 50+ pro fights. He's in his prime now.

Ali started as an amateur at 12, which is a little young. But he turned pro at 18. Grew into his frame. Won the title at 22. Tyson picked up boxing when he was roughly high school age. Turned pro at 18.

You don't want to be in your prime when you start your pro career because it'll take years to get to the top. You want to be reaching your prime as you begin fighting the boxers at the top and have a lot of experiences behind you.

 

Yeah, little kids shouldn't be pounding on each other. You see little kids working the mitts and stuff like that on YouTube, and they are having fun, that's fine. Training is great. But kids should be a little older before they start sparring, IMO. High school age is fine. Teenagers tend to have a lot of aggression anyway. But even then they should be evenly matched when at all possible in the gym.

 

They aren't 300-400 legitimate amateur fights that's why. You get better work sparring than you would in at least half of those if they even took place at all

 

One of the weirdest amateur careers was Rau'shee Warren's.

He started boxing when he was six (one of those kids who sat on his mom's lap after a fight). Didn't turn pro until he was nearly 26 (19 years as an amateur). Had the requisite 300+ amateur fights. He was like the only U.S. amateur boxer who never turned pro. The whole group would turn over every few years, but he'd still be there.

He fought in three Olympic Games and lost his first fight at the Olympics ALL THREE TIMES.

Turned pro, like I said, at nearly 26 in a lighter division. And he's 17-3 and barely won a belt and immediately lost it.

And, the rare occasion I see he's on an undercard somewhere, he's always billed as "the three-time Olympian." I know that should be a big deal. But he never won a fight at three Olympics. And he's nothing special at all as a pro.

I don't know. Did he need to fight for 19 years as an amateur just to go 17-3 as a pro? Did that help or hurt him?

Couldn't he have turned pro at 18 and, if his career panned out the same way, moved on already when he was like 26 instead of being where he is now in his mid 30s?

Just never made sense, really.

 

There's no hype about numbers but because he get 2 Oly Gold medals, 2 World championship Gold medals.

This yes.

Not good, I think. High level Olympic amatuers not rarerly are amateurs only on paper. Fulltime training for Oly cycle.
Get first Olympic Gold or World Championship Gold = move to a pro.
Why to waste 3-4 years after this to get next Olympic medal?

Rigo. Turned a pro 29 y.o, 2 Olympic Gold medals.
DLH, Turned a pro 19 y.o. 1 Olympic Gold medal.

Casual amateurs usually choose not a pro career, sticks with different career choice. Not well known pros, especailly not with high places in rankings are low paid unless they are capable to sell a lot of tickets.

 

there are people in all walks of life that just seem to always make the wrong decisions. they just never figure it out, or they have self destructive tendencies. i see them constantly blaming it on bad luck, when it was all completely predictable. lucky for many, that even with their bad decision making, some are still talented enough at something to be able to get by.

 

Blaming on bad luck does have some real reasons.
To have chance earn with pro boxing at least something serious ( I do not mean these millionares ) you need to be properly matchuped.
Especially in beginning of pro career. Otherwise you might regret till end of life. Ohh, why I had agreed to fight with this or this lad? Why I agreed to be on B side, away corner with this lad.
Unlike with poor college choice, where you of course will loss time and money until will get diploma from another proramm, with pro boxe it does not work like this.
Pro boxe isn't pro mma or MT.

 

agree, its like keeping training wheels on your kids bike until they are 10 or 11.
but to each his own.

my real problem is these guys with a million amateur fights come into the pro ranks with rose pedals thrown at their feet and then get away wit fighting C level competition but still enjoying P4P status like GGG did for so long.

I will give Loma his just due, he did fight some top guys at least, but he was still never as good as advertised

 

I’d say 100 fights max, it’s hard to have more than 30 a year in the uk. Obviously if things improved and you are winning events then momentum picks up. Plus being with a good amateur club helps. I was with a club for a short period and they had like 6 events in a year.

 

Amateurs? If it is possible, I think you should have fights with adults to get some experience.
Not too much fights and tournaments because body is heavily used in pre fight camps, for high level amateurs they are so called pre tournament training camps.
Pros in ammies: you fight every one you are given to fight with. There little opportunities to avoid you if compare with pro boxing where we know how this happens. In pros there are only some tournament format competitions where they can't avoid you.
Pros in ammies : fight record doesn't matters.
Cons in ammies : matters only high level achievments.
Cons in ammies : you are exausted in high level tournaments and might fail with small piece of bad luck.
Pros in pros : with proper matchmaking and long notice before fight you can prepare for this guy. 1 guy. Not like the same Oly games or similar stuff where you will get 1 boxer, then next boxer, then next boxer during short timeframe.

No one is as good as advertised.
Now one young prospect is advertised as future superking because he defeated guy with 0-2 record in tittle fights. Like this young prospect had beaten someone with 2-0 not 0-2 record in tittle fights.

 

being with a good amateur club helps a lot also when you will decide turn a pro.

I think level of competiton matters more than number of fights in adult division. Like if you had some medal ( U.K, euro championship ) this might help a lot too.Young 18-19-20 in U.K there I think no reason to rush in a hurry to be a pro. To sit till you are 28+ in amateurs if you wish to be a pro too looks not lucrative.
One guy with real 288 or 298 ammy fights under belt was over the hill when he turned to a pro. Wasn't nice to see this. To compare 27 y.o his version with 32 -34 y.o his version.
Short tale version: becomed slow and then turned to a pro.