Much is made of Boxers fight at the Olympics and using them as a spring board to monetary gain once they opt to make there way in to the proffessional sport. Here’s a look at the guys who have won gold at a said Olympics and then gone on to enjoy further success in the way of World titles. Boxing first took place in the Olympics in the 1904 games and has remained ever since with only breaks for World War 1 & 2. In total 35 fighters have gone on to win a World title in the pro’s after winning Gold at the Olympics
Super Heavyweight – Over 201 – Lennox Lewis 1988 Olympic Champion (BRI) 3 time Heavyweight Champion. Wladimir Klitschko 1996 Olympic Champion (UKR) 2 time Heavyweight Champion.
Heavyweight – 201 – Joe Frazier 1964 Olympic Champion (USA) World Heavyweight Champion 1970-1973. George Foreman 1968 Olympic Champion (USA) World Heavyweight Champion 1973-1974 & 1994-1995. Ray Mercer 1988 Olympic Champion (USA) Heavyweight Champion 1991.
Light Heavyweight – 178 – Muhammad Ali 1960 Olympic Champion (USA) World Heavyweight, Mate Parlov 1972 Olympic Champion (YUG) World Light Heavyweight 1978. Leon Spinks 1976 Olympic Champion (USA) World Heavyweight Champion 1978. Slobodan Kacar 1980 Olympic Champion (YUG) World Light Heavyweight Champion 1985-1986. Vassiliy Jirov 1996 Olympic Champion (KAZ) Cruiserweight Champion 1999-2003. Andre Ward 2004 Olympic Champion (USA) Super Middleweight 2009-.
Middleweight – 165 – Floyd Paterson 1952 Olympic Champion (USA) Heavyweight Champion 1956-1959 & 1960-1962. Michael Spinks 1976 Olympic Champion (USA) 2 weight World Champion. Henry Maske 1988 Olympic Champion (USA) Light Heavyweight 1993-1996.
Light Middleweight – 156 – Frank Tate 1984 Olympic Champion (USA) Middleweight 1987-1988. David Reid 1996 Olympic Champion (USA) Light Middleweight 1999-2000.
Welterweight – 152 – Nino Benvenuti 1960 Olympic Champion (ITA) World Light Middleweight Champion 1965-1966 & Middleweight Champion 1967 & 1968-1970. Mark Breland 1984 Olympic Champion (USA) 2 time Welterweight champion 1987 & 1989-1990.
Light Welterweight – 141 – Sugar Ray Leonard 1976 Olympic Champion (USA) 5 weight World champion. Patrizio Oliva 1980 Olympic Champion (ITA) Light Welterweight Champion 1986-1987.
Lightweight – 132 – Pernell Whitaker 1984 Olympic Champion (USA) 4 weight World Champion. Oscar De La Hoya 1992 Olympic Champion (USA) 6 weight World Champion
Featherweight – 126 – Jackie Fields 1924 Olympic champion (USA), Meldrick Taylor 1984 Olympic Champion (USA) Light Welterweight 1988-1990 & Welterweight 1991-1992. Giovanni Parisi 1988 Olympic Champion (ITA) 2 weight World Champion.
Bantamweight – 119 – Maurizio Stecca 1984 Olympic Champion (USA) 2 time WBO Featherweight Champion. Kennedy McKinney 1988 Olympic Champion (USA) 2 time Super Bantamweight. Joel Casamayor 1992 Olympic Champion (USA) 2 weight World Champion. Istvan Kovacs 1996 Olympic Champion (HUN) Featherweight 2001.
Flyweight – 112 – Frankie Genaro 1920 Olympic champion (USA), Fidel La Barba Olympic champion 1924 (USA), Pascual Perez 1948 Olympic Champion (ITA) World Flyweight Champion1954-1960. Leo Randolph 1976 Olympic Champion (USA) World Bantamweight 1980. Yuriorkis Gamboa 2004 Olympic Champion (CUB) Featherweight 2009-
Light Flyweight – 106 – Brahim Asloum 2000 Olympic Champion (FRA) Light Flyweight Champion 2007-2008.
Here we look at the number of different weight classes and the number of fighters who won gold that turned pro.
Olympic Gold medallist to pro
Year & number of weight classes
1904 – 1/7
1908 – 1/5
1920 – 5/8 Frankie Genaro
1924 – 5/8 Jackie Fields, Fidel La Barba
1928 – 6/8
1932 – 6/8
1936 – 4/8
1948 – 6/8 Pascual Perez
1952 – 7/10 Floyd Paterson
1956 – 4/10
1960 – 5/10 Muhammad Ali, Nino Benvenuti
1964 – 3/10 Joe Frazier
1968 – 5/11 George Foreman
1972 – 2/11 Mate Parlov, Ray Leonard
1976 – 5/11 Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, Leo Randolph
1980 – 3/11 Slobodan Kacar, Patrizio Oliva
1984 – 10/12 Frank Tate, Pernell Whitaker, Meldrick Taylor, Maurizio Stecca
1988 – 9/12 Lennox Lewis, Ray Mercer, Henry Maske, Mark Breland, Giovanni Parisi, Kennedy McKinney
1992 – 4/12 Oscar De La Hoya, Joel Casamayor
1996 – 5/12 Wladimir Klitschko, Vasiliy Jirov, David Reid, Isvan Kovacs
2000 – 4/12 Brahim Asloum
2004 – 6/11 Andre Ward, Yuriorkis Gamboa
2008 – 3/11
– 109/228
106 fighters who won Gold turned pro out of 228 fighters who have won Gold. Lazslo Papp won Gold in three consecutive Olympics & Guillermo Rigondeaux won Gold in two consecutive Olympics meaning 48% of fighters who won gold turned pro of that 33% of those fighters went onto to successfully win world titles.
