The Val Barker Trophy for best boxer at the Olympics

Ok, I've waited long enough but I've gotta ask ..... who the hell is Val Barker!??

 

English amateur boxer from 1890s. Not sure why is the award named after him though.

 

1988 - Roy Jones was a fair pick (although Cuba didn't participate 1984 and 1988 Olympic. Three of the best amateurs at the time were all from Cuba).

1992 - Balado was a solid call. He was actually considered #2 in amateur boxing, only behind Savon (to be honest, both displayed incredibly dominant performances). Oscar, Byrd and even Casamayor weren't even comparable to those guys (#3 and #4 were easily Hector Vincent and Ariel Hernandez, both Cubans).

1996 - Jirov was a bad call Imo. It should have been easily Felix Savon. Even Vicent and Hernandez performed much better than Jirov. Klitschko and especially Mayweather weren't even close to being the best on that Olympics. Mayweather made it to the semifinals through a controversial win over Aaragon in the quarters, plus he was eliminated in the semis and didn't even reach the final. Klitschko on the other hand won gold, but wasn't even nearly as dominant as Savon, Vincent or Hernandez.

2000 - Solid pick I guess. I'd say it was close between Saitov, Rigo and Kindelan.

2004 - Artayev was a bad pick. Rigo was technically clearly the best at the tournament, with maybe Kindelan and Gamboa (because of excitement and offensive style, his defense wasn't on Rigo or even Kindelan level) in the discussion. Artayev's performance was good, but wasn't even top 3 (it was around Solis/Ward/Tishchenko level). Povetkin also had excellent performance, arguably top 3, but he didn't actually fight in the final match due to his opponent's injury and won gold by default, which lowered his chances to win the award. Khan and Golovkin have absolutely no place in the discussion.

2008 - Good call. Lomachenko had one of the most dominant performances in recent memory.
Round 1, 14-7 vs Selimov (world champion and only guy to defeat Loma in the ams)
Round 2, 13-1 vs Sultonov (Olympic and multiple world & Asian medalist)
Round 3, 12-3 vs Li Yang (World & Asian bronze medalist)
Semifinals, 10-1 vs Kilic (Olympic & world bronze medalist)
Final, RSC vs Djelkhir (European silver medalist)

 

I know his mother had just died, but Howard Davis Jr. probably shouldn't have beaten out Ray Leonard for the Trophy.

 

And yes, Popenchenko> Frazier.