Opinion: A Boxing Dream Team at the Olympics Unlikely

There’s a distinct possibility that professional boxers will be allowed to compete for their country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The thought of an American “Dream Team” immediately runs through the mind of fight fans who would love to see USA Boxing redeem itself after a disastrous 2012 showing in which the men did not earn a single medal.

Like the 1992 Dream Team that crushed the competition en route to capturing Olympic gold in men’s basketball, the thought of putting together a team that features the likes of Terence Crawford, Andre Ward, Keith Thurman and Deontay Wilder would surely have fans tuning in to see what happens. That does not even mention the fact that men’s boxing has gotten rid of headgear, so heavy hitters like Wilder and Thurman could utilize their power to flatten the competition.

Obviously, other countries would get to do the same and we could see the likes of Manny Pacquiao, who has already expressed interest, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Carl Frampton, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and others attempt to bring home gold for their country.

Sounds like fun, right? Well, even if the initiative goes through, the likelihood of some of the top professionals entering an Olympic competition where they have to fight four times in a week for free is pretty slim.

This is far different than NBA players competing in the Olympics. Unlike basketball, boxing is a year-round sport. When NBA players are given the opportunity to represent their country, it’s during the offseason. In boxing, the sport’s biggest names are likely to compete four times in a year. The mere thought of them putting their bodies on the line four times in a week with no compensation is hard to believe. Then consider the physical toll that training puts on fighters to fight for a gold medal that won’t carry much weight for them personally because they’re already professionals. Sure, having that gold medal sounds nice, but it won’t add that much value to their marketability. You may see a slight uptick in Wheaties commercials and other endorsements, but do the returns outweigh the possible costs? Probably not.

It’s also not a forgone conclusion that a United States boxing team comprised of current professionals would come home with trunks full of gold medals. Unlike basketball, Americans don’t rule boxing. The current pound-for-pound list is topped by a Nicaraguan (Gonzalez). The rest of the top five is rounded out by a Russian (Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev), a Cuban (Guillermo Rigondeaux) and a Kazakh fighter (Golovkin), with the lone American representative being Ward. Not all weight classes will be dominated by Americans and it’s quite possible that a U.S. boxing team comprised of professionals still doesn’t earn medals in certain weight classes.

Even worse in the risk-versus-reward department is the credibility hit that an American professional would take if he ended up not medaling in his division. Hypothetically speaking, if Thurman were to enter as a welterweight and ended up coming up short, with no financial compensation, his momentum would be dealt a mighty blow. This does not even address the ever-looming possibility of being injured and missing out on a payday in the summer while preparing for the Olympics.

What will probably end up happening is that we’ll see some budding professional talents enter the Games in an effort to bolster their marketability. The likelihood of boxing’s top names entering and risking a payday makes the thought of a true American Dream Team highly unlikely.

Perhaps we will be surprised by a couple of bigger names who decide to represent their country. Only time will tell.

Andreas Hale is the Editorial Content Director of 2DopeBoyz.com, co-host of the boxing, MMA and pro wrestling podcast “The Corner” and a regular columnist for Sherdog.com. You can follow on Twitter for his random yet educated thoughts on combat sports, music, film and popular culture.