h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Watching the Olympics this afternoon, Grandad & I got into a debate, how is it that you have professional footballers, athletes and tennis players competing in the Games, but boxers have to be amateurs?

I reckon it's because of the differences in the professional game to the amateur - points scoring etc - and Grandad reckons it's all to do with money

Anyone else any ideas?

Simple answerer to that. You don't have professional footballers, athletes or tennis players competing in the Olympic Games - they are all amateurs. Can you imagine Beckam or Owen competing in the Olympic games.

The sport I know of where professionals and amateurs compete alongside each other is in tennis at Wimbledon.

Donald

The prize for winning the Wimbledon mens singles this year was over 600,000 GBP... So I guess that makes Tim Henman a professional (even though he didn't win).

http://66.102.11.104/search?q=cache:Z4ihjBZ1JJQJ:www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/prize_moneyhistory.html+Wimbledon+prize+money&hl=fr

For football, the FA has done away with the distinction between professionals and amateurs in the sport and the Olympics now accept professional players of less than 23 years old...

http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/NewsFromTheFA/Postings/2004/03/Wembley_Olympic_bid.htm

Thanks Whisky, with Federer, Navratilova and Henman all 'starting' in the tennis & players names I recognise in the football, I knew there were professionals involved. The top athletes are now allowed to keep prize money gained in the Grand Prix events etc, and that was always the Olympic distinction between professional and amateur.

So, I still don't know why professional boxers can't compete

not enough money in it....
BCNU - Crescent

Also the skills you need in Pro boxing are very different from those used in amatuer boxing.

Amatuer boxing is for four rounds and it is all about scoring points, therefore you are just looking to xconnect with your punches cleanly with no real power.

In pro boxing it lasts for 12 rounds and the object is to stop the other guy if possible, consequently the way you box is very different, you are trying to hit the other guy hard.

One of the reasons it has taken "Fraudley" Harrison so long to fight any one is becuase the skills are not easily interchangable.

The fight game is fundamentally different between amateur and professional.

The rules are different for starters, with regard to scoring, protection, length of bought (how do you spell "bowt" ).

Another complication is that amateur boxing is arranged on a national basis, which allows it to fit in quite neatly with Olympic selection. The professional fight game is arranged by federations. Currently there are 5 main federations (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and WBU) all of which offer their own version of a champion. Now how on earth you would get a selection out of them as to who from each country should take up the Olympic place is simply beyond me

Oh, and as said before. There's the lack of money for taking part in the Games as well. Tis a bit of a disincentive

It's bout

So in a way then Grandad & I were both right (see post #1)