Radical new plans being pushed through
by AIBA could theoretically have the likes of Anthony Joshua defend the heavyweight title he won at the London
Games in 2012. AIBA president, Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, has suggested the prospect of
having full-time professionals competing in Brazil is absolutely possible and former world heavyweight champion and
Olympic gold medallist Lennox Lewis
has called a proposal to allow professionals to box at this summer's Olympics preposterous
Wu said on Wednesday “We want the best
boxers to come to the Olympic Games. It is AIBA's 70th birthday and we want
something to change. It is an IOC policy to have the best athletes in the Games
and of the international federations, AIBA is probably the only one without
professional athletes in the Olympics. We already have our own professionals,
APB and WSB boxers, in the Games - and we will go further”
Lewis who spoke with BBC
said “I know they are doing it for other
sports but I don't think it works with boxing. I think it is preposterous to a
certain degree. Olympic boxing is built for amateurs and is the highest
achievement you can get, alongside being world amateur champion. All of a
sudden you could have a scenario where someone like Wladimir Klitschko, who won Olympic gold in Atlanta and has so much
experience, could go up against a kid of 18 who has had just 10 fights. I don't
think it is fair. Even the scoring systems are different. In the professional
game, you score on power punches and you keep pressure on your opponent, while
the amateur system is to score points”
The 50years old, who won gold at the
Seoul Olympics in 1988 representing Canada before turning professional, retired
in 2003 having won 41 of his 44 pro fights.
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