Possible Sweet Revenge!
In 2019 Team USA Super-heavyweight boxer Richard Torrez left the ring on a stretcher after suffering a brutal KO by the hands of Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov a Pro boxer with a 6-0 record at the time. This Brutal KO happened at the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Russia. Jalolov sent Torrez crashing to the canvas with a huge left hook inside the first round of their super-heavyweight quarter-final match. Torrez at that time was 20 years old and left ring on a stretcher while the devastating nature of the KO caused anger on social media due to Jalolov pro status. On August 8th Torrez will face Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov once again in the gold medal match at the Tokyo games. I hope for a different ending in this week’s Super-heavyweight bout with Torrez avenging his 2019 loss. However, This rematch bring us a questions, should pro boxers be allowed to box in the Olympics? Before 2016, professional boxers were not allowed to fight in AIBA amateur tournaments such as the World Championships, Olympic trials, or Olympic Games. However, before the Rio 2016 Olympics, the rule was changed to allow professional boxers to fight at Olympics qualification tournaments and the Olympics games.
For many years professional athletes have been allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. The most memorable professional vs amateur showings were the 1992 US Dream Team lead by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird all competing against countries not on Dream Teams skill level. No Matter if it’s Lebron James, Serena Williams or Usain Bolt watching professional athletes compete in the Olympic game is a sight to see regardless of the outcome for the rival opponent. However, what if I told you that Mike Tyson was going to be your opponent in the 2020 Tokyo games, how would you feel then? In February of 2016 AIBA president Wu Ching-kuo announced that professional boxers will become eligible to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Under radical proposals being pushed through by the world governing body, AIBA The president of the International Boxing Association, Wu Ching-kuo, has indicated the last remaining barriers preventing full-time professionals from competing at the Games are set to be abolished within a matter of months. (The Guardian, 2021). “We want the best boxers to come to the Olympic Games. It is AIBA’s 70th birthday, and we want something to change – not after four years, but now,” he said. “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 (The Guardian, 2021).
As much as I would love to see professional athletes, competing in the Olympics games for certain sports it’s very dangerous. In September 2019 American fighter Richard Torrez had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher after a shocking first-round knockout at the hands of Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov in the AIBA world championship in Russia. Allowing professionals in combat sports or any kind or in any Olympic sport that can result in serious injury’s due to the pro athlete’s experience, age, and strength in my opinion is unsafe, unethical, and takes away a fairness element from the Olympics games. Professionals being part of the Olympics games has been around for years. In the 1980s, a sea change began to take place, In October 1986, the IOC decided to expand its amateurism policy for pro athletes, though it didn’t affect every sport. But it was a formality at that point, as plenty of major league sports had already been relaxing eligibility rules. In the case of Richard Torrez, he went up against Jalolov, who is 6-0 in his pro career with six knockouts, and was allowed to participate in Russia. Torrez, 20, was 44-4 in his amateur career and had never been knocked out. However, he was no match for his professional opponent. Jalolov rocked Torrez with two massive combinations before the first round was even over, sending his opponent crashing to the canvas, Torrez was unconscious before he hit the mat – the referee immediately calling for medical attention.
This brutal knockout put Richard Torrez’s career on pause preventing him from competing in the following Olympic qualification tournaments. His amateur stock also took a hit on social media. Various memes, blog sites, tweets, and Instagram posts were made mocking the knockout, and possibly affecting his mental health. Eventually, Jaolov won the World Championships that year and fought in another professional fight 3 weeks later. While Richard Torrez was out serval months due to the knock suffered at the hands of a professional athlete.
