“Fighting Words” — The best Olympians as pro fighters since 2008, Part 1

When this year’s Summer Olympics begin later this month, with the first boxing matches set for July 27 in the Paris region, viewers will see the pinnacle of amateur boxing — the culmination of the years these men and women spent fighting and training for this opportunity. 

And it is a preview of who to watch in the years to come.

Granted, making it to the Olympics — never mind earning a medal — isn’t necessarily a predictor of pro success. 

Since 2008, more than 1,100 men and women boxers have competed in the Olympics — the exact number is somewhat lower due to fighters who took part in multiple years. 

Of those 1,000+ boxers, 55 have gone on to win major world titles after turning pro. And of the 178 medalists since 2008, only 20 have gone on to become titleholders.

Twelve of them were gold medalists: Nicola Adams, Robson Conceicao, James DeGale, Anthony Joshua, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Ryota Murata, Lauren Price, Robeisy Ramirez, Claressa Shields, Katie Taylor, Olekdandsr Usyk and Shiming Zou.

Three were silver medalists: Denis Berinchyk, Beatriz Ferreira and Shakur Stevenson.

And five were bronze medalists: Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Marlen Esparza, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Yordenis Ugas and Deontay Wilder.

Why is that? 

There are medalists whose styles fit better for amateur competition or who just don’t develop enough to triumph amid the top tiers as pros. 

For example: Muhammad Abdullaev clearly defeated Miguel Cotto in the opening round of the 2000 games en route to a gold medal, but Cotto demolished Abdullaev in the pros and accomplished far more than any other junior welterweight in that Olympic bracket.

There are those who are among the best amateurs in the world but just don’t see professional prizefighting as a priority, or whose home countries disallow or otherwise discourage them from competing as pros. 

There are boxers who exit early on in their Olympic tournament — like Cotto — but then grow and thrive afterward. Of the 55 current and former world titleholders listed in these two articles, 35 failed to make it to the medal rounds.

Another 19 Olympians haven’t yet won world titles but are currently ranked in the Top 10 of their respective divisions by Ring Magazine or the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board (TBRB). Many, many, many more were ranked during their peak days, prior to the publication of these articles.

All of which means that there are tons of titleholders — including plenty of Hall of Famers — who never competed in the Olympics. 

Some fell short while trying to qualify for the Olympics. 

Others decided that it’s better to get paid sooner rather than give up a few more years of their careers to hope for gold — especially in this era when, in the United States at least, Olympic boxing is no longer the rocket to superstardom that it once was.

The rest never even considered competing in the Olympics.

Nevertheless, browsing through recent Olympic brackets reveals plenty of fighters who were promising then and who have fulfilled that promise since.

Let’s look, then, at the 2008 Olympics hosted in Beijing, the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 

We’ll also include the 2020 Olympics that were, well, held in 2021 in Tokyo due to the pandemic, even though they are mostly still prospects and in the process of developing into contenders. 

In part 1, we’ll examine the lineal champions, current world titleholders, and other top contenders and prospects who are currently ranked by Ring or TBRB.

In part 2, which will be published in the coming days, we’ll look at active and retired former titleholders.

Fighters in each section are listed in alphabetical order. 

The Lineal Champions

Artur Beterbiev (Russia): Beterbiev never medalled in the Olympics, suffering a highly controversial loss in 2008 at light heavyweight against the hometown favorite and then running into Oleksandr Usyk at heavyweight in 2012. Both defeats came against eventual gold medalists. As a pro, however, Beterbiev is unbeaten, the light heavyweight king by virtue of his 2019 TKO over another Olympian, Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Beterbiev has made five defenses since. His sixth is highly anticipated: a fight with fellow titleholder Dmitriy Bivol to crown an undisputed champ at 175.

Teofimo Lopez (Honduras): Lopez was shut out in his first and only Olympics match in 2016, losing to eventual silver medalist Sofiane Oumiha. As a pro, Lopez has been up and down, though his ups have made him the king of the lightweight division (thanks to a win over Vasiliy Lomachenko) and lineal at junior welterweight (following a victory over Josh Taylor). 

Savannah Marshall (Great Britain): Marshall, who lost in the middleweight quarterfinals in 2012 and 2016, picked up the WBO title at 160 pounds that had been vacated by Claressa Shields. Marshall made a few successful defenses before losing a unanimous decision to Shields in a 2022 fight for the undisputed middleweight championship. A year ago, Marshall moved up to super middleweight and dethroned Franchon Crews-Dezurn to become the new undisputed queen of 168.

Jai Opetaia (Australia): Opetaia was ousted in his opening fight at heavyweight in 2012. A decade later, he won the IBF cruiserweight belt and the lineal championship with a decision over Mairis Briedis. Opetaia’s defenses since included defeating Briedis in a May rematch to regain the IBF title after it stripped Opetaia for a fight he took against Ellis Zorro.

Lauren Price (Great Britain): Price won gold at middleweight in 2021 and is now the lineal welterweight champion and WBA titleholder, dethroning Jessica McCaskill via technical decision this past May.

Claressa Shields (United States): Shields won gold in 2012 and 2016, started off her pro career by becoming a unified titleholder at super middleweight, and has since become the undisputed champion at middleweight and junior middleweight, including a victory over the aforementioned Marshall, the only person to defeat Shields in the amateurs. Shields will face Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse this month for two titles in the women’s 175-pound weight class.

Katie Taylor (Ireland): Taylor won lightweight gold in the 2012 Olympics but couldn’t repeat in the 2016 games. She soon turned pro, had her first world title by 2017, continued to add more belts and was the undisputed lightweight champ by 2019. Taylor’s reign included a main event at Madison Square Garden in 2022, where she won a split decision over the top women’s featherweight, Amanda Serrano. Taylor moved up to junior welterweight and came up short in her first challenge of Chantelle Cameron but nabbed a majority decision in their rematch, becoming a two-time undisputed champ. Taylor’s first defense of that throne will come against Serrano later this year.

Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine): After losing in the 2008 Olympic quarterfinals, Usyk won gold in the 2012 Olympics at heavyweight — the amateur version of cruiserweight. He went on to become the undisputed cruiserweight champion and then moved up, picking up three world titles and then defeating Tyson Fury in May to become the undisputed heavyweight champion as well. Usyk vacated one of his four world titles so that he can make a rematch with Fury rather than a rematch against mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois, but Usyk remains the one true king of boxing’s big men.

Current World Titleholders

In addition to the lineal champs, these Olympians now hold world titles:

Janibek Alimkhanuly (Kazakhstan): Alimkhanuly made it to the middleweight quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics. He currently holds the IBF and WBO middleweight world titles, competing in a division lacking in name opposition. Alimkhanuly has a defense scheduled for July 13 against Andrei Mikhailovich.

Denys Berinchyk (Ukraine): Berinchyk, who earned silver at junior welterweight in 2012, recently won his first world title as a pro, taking a split decision over Emanuel Navarrete in May for the vacant WBO lightweight belt. In his previous fight, Berinchyk outpointed Anthony Yigit, whom Berinchyk edged 11 years before during that Olympic tournament.

Robson Conceicao (Brazil): Conceicao lost in his first featherweight fight in the 2008 Olympics and his first lightweight fight in 2012 (against Josh Taylor), but he was the best lightweight in 2016, winning gold in Rio in front of his home crowd. As a pro, Conceicao came up short in three title fights against Oscar Valdez (UD12), Shakur Stevenson (UD12) and Emanuel Navarrete (DRAW 12). Conceicao triumphed — highly controversially — in his fourth opportunity, taking a split decision over O’Shaquie Foster for the WBC junior lightweight title on July 6. 

Beatriz Ferreira (Brazil): Ferreira won lightweight silver in 2021 and picked up the vacant IBF belt at 135 this past April with a technical decision over Yanina del Carmen Lescano.

Natasha Jonas (Great Britain): Jonas was sent packing by Katie Taylor in the 2012 lightweight quarterfinals. They met again as pros, Jonas dropping a close but unanimous decision in 2021. Given Jonas’ preceding draw with Terri Harper in a war at junior lightweight, that left Jonas 0-1-1 in title fights. Then Jonas moved up to junior middleweight, winning a vacant belt and ultimately unifying three of them. These days she is at welterweight, where Jonas won the vacant IBF title and defended it earlier this year with a split decision over Mikaela Mayer.

Vasiliy Lomachenko (Ukraine): Considered one of the best amateur boxers ever, Lomachenko won gold in 2008 at featherweight and 2012 at lightweight. As a pro, Lomachenko is a three-division world titleholder, picking up belts at 126, 130 and 135. He lost his belts to Teofimo Lopez in 2020, came up short in a highly competitive fight with undisputed champion Devin Haney in 2023, and put away George Kambosos Jr. to win the vacant IBF title this past May. Lomachenko is now in negotiations to face the biggest star in his division, Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

Fernando Martinez (Argentina): Martinez, who lost at flyweight in the opening round of the 2016 Olympics, earned and retained the IBF junior bantamweight world title following a pair of wins over Jerwin Ancajas in 2022. He just added the WBA belt after defeating Kazuto Ioka in a unification bout on July 7.

Skye Nicolson (Australia): Nicolson, who made it to the featherweight quarterfinals in 2021, defeated Sarah Mahfoud this past April for the vacant WBC title at 126. She’s due to defend it on July 13 against Dyana Vargas.

Lawrence Okolie (Great Britain): Okolie made it to the Round of 16 at heavyweight in the 2016 Olympics. He competed in the same weight class — cruiserweight — as a pro, where he knocked out Krzysztof Glowacki in 2021 for the WBO belt. Okolie held that title until 2023, dropping a majority decision to Chris Billam-Smith. This past May, Okolie plowed through Lukasz Rozanski in one round to win the WBC’s bridgerweight title.

Shakur Stevenson (United States): Stevenson earned a silver medal at bantamweight in 2016 and turned pro with fanfare. He’s now a three-division world titleholder, picking up belts at featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight, and defeating the likes of Jamel Herring (a 2012 Olympian), Oscar Valdez (a 2008 and 2012 Olympian), and Robson Conceicao (who won gold in 2016 and also competed in the 2008 and 2012 games). Stevenson won a title defense over Artem Harutyunyan via unanimous decision on July 6.

Current Contenders and Top Prospects

Boxers mentioned here are ranked in the Top 10 by either Ring Magazine or the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board (TBRB) — except for Artem Harutyunyan, who fought for a world title just before this article went to press; and Muslim Gadzhimagomedov, due to fight for the WBA’s bridgerweight belt on July 12.

Some of these fighters are clearly on their way up while others are obviously on their way down. That may leave some otherwise promising fighters, who are not on those observers’ lists, off this list for now.

All rankings and information is as of July 6, 2024.

Efe Ajagba (Nigeria): Ajagba made it to the super heavyweight quarterfinals in 2016. His one loss as a pro came against Frank Sanchez. Ajagba has won five straight since and is ranked 10th by Ring.

Adriana Dos Santos Araujo (Brazil): Araujo won lightweight bronze in 2012 and lost in her first fight in 2016. She was shut out by Chantelle Cameron in 2020 in a fight for a vacant junior welterweight belt, then spent three and a half years out of the ring before returning this past April with a loss to middleweight Melinda Watpool. Araujo is ranked fourth in the middleweight division by Ring.

Joshua Buatsi (Great Britain): Buatsi won bronze light heavyweight in 2016 and is 18-0 (13 KOs) as a pro. He outpointed previously unbeaten Dan Azees in February and is scheduled to face Willy Hutchinson on September 21. He is ranked #4 at 175 by Ring and #2 by TBRB.

Souleymane Cissokho (France): Cissokho picked up bronze at welterweight in 2016, spent much of his early pro career at junior middleweight but recently moved down to 147, where he’s ranked #6 by TBRB.

Charles Conwell (United States): Conwell, who lost in the opening round at middleweight in 2016, is 19-0 (14 KOs) as a pro and ranked #8 at junior middleweight by Ring and #10 by TBRB. He returned in April after nearly 17 months off, scoring a sixth-round TKO over Nathaniel Gallimore.

Keyshawn Davis (United States): Davis picked up the silver medal at lightweight in 2021 and is currently ranked #8 at lightweight by Ring and #7 by TBRB. He outpointed Miguel Madueno on July 6.

Caroline Dubois (Great Britain): Dubois made it to the lightweight quarterfinals in 2021 and is ranked #1 by Ring at lightweight.

Hasanboy Dusmatov (Uzbekistan): Dusmatov won gold at junior flyweight in 2016 and will be competing again in the 2024 Paris games, but he’s also fought as a pro in-between, going 6-0 (5 KOs) and earning #9 spots  in the strawweight division with both Ring and TBRB.

Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (Russia): Gadzhimagomedov, who won heavyweight silver in 2021, is scheduled to fight Zhaoxin Zhang this Friday, July 12 for the WBA’s vacant bridgerweight title. Neither Ring nor TBRB ranks the bridgerweight division.

Shakhram Giyasov (Uzbekistan): Giyasov, the 2016 welterweight silver medalist, is 15-0 (9 KOs) as a pro and still unproven, though Ring has ranked him in their Top 10 at 147 for about a year now. Giyasov is presently slotted at #9.

Artem Harutyunyan (Germany): Harutyunyan earned a bronze medal in 2016 at junior welterweight and, as a pro, fights at lightweight. He came up short on the scorecards against Frank Martin last year. Harutyunyan is unranked these days by Ring or TBRB but landed a title shot with Shakur Stevenson, losing a unanimous decision on July 6.

Richardson Hitchins (Haiti): Hitchins lost in the 2016 Olympics in the opening round to Gary Antuanne Russell. He’s undefeated in the paid ranks, outpointing Jose Zepeda last year and then getting the nod from the judges in a very close fight with Gustavo Lemos this past April. He is ranked #9 by Ring and #10 by TBRB.

Filip Hrgovic (Croatia): Hrgovic picked up a bronze at super heavyweight in 2016, edged by eventual gold medalist Tony Yoka. Hrgovic had been in position to challenge for a heavyweight title in the pros, and had won a close decision over Zhilei Zhang in 2022, but he was stopped by Daniel Dubois this past June. Now it is Dubois, not Hrgovic, who will go on to face Anthony Joshua for the vacant IBF belt. Hrgovic is ranked #9 by Ring and #8 by TBRB.

Oshae Jones (United States): Jones won a bronze medal at welterweight in 2021 and is ranked #4 by Ring at junior middleweight.

Joe Joyce (Great Britain): Joyce, who won silver at super heavyweight in 2016, suffered a ton of damage in two knockout losses to Zhilei Zhang in 2023. Joyce knocked out Kash Ali in March and is due to face Dereck Chisora on July 27. He is ranked #8 by Ring and #10 by TBRB.

Christian Mbilli (France): Mbilli lost in the quarterfinals in 2016 to eventual middleweight gold medalist Arlen Lopez. These days he’s among the top super middleweight prospects — #2 in the eyes of both Ring and TBRB — and is due to face Sergiy Derevyanchenko on August 17.

Albert Ramirez (Venezuela): Ramirez lost in the second round of competition at light heavyweight in the 2016 games. He is 18-0 (15 KOs) as a pro and ranked #7 by Ring and #8 by TBRB.

Gary Antuanne Russell (United States): Russell lost in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics to the eventual 2016 junior welterweight gold medalist, Fazliddin Gaibnazarov. As a pro, Russell worked his way up the ranks at 140 and just lost a split decision last month to Alberto Puello in a fight for the interim WBC belt. Puello has since been upgraded to the WBC’s actual titleholder. Russell is presently ranked #10 by Ring.

Eimantas Stanionis (Lithuania): Stanionis’ Olympic dreams were cut short in the second round of competition in 2016 against Shakhram Giyasov, who went on to win silver at welterweight. Stanionis has been awaiting his opportunity in recent years. A fight with Vergil Ortiz was postponed a few times and then canceled altogether. Stanionis defeated Radzhab Butaev in 2022 for the WBA’s secondary belt, and he could be upgraded to a full titleholder depending on whether “super” titleholder Terence Crawford continues competing in heavier weight classes. Stanionis is ranked #3 by Ring and #7 by TBRB.

Galal Yafai (Great Britain): Yafai was defeated in the junior flyweight Round of 16 in the 2016 games but won gold at flyweight in the 2020 Olympics. He’s still young as a pro, just 7-0 (5 KOs), but he’s rated #9 by Ring and #10 by TBRB.

Zhilei Zhang (China): After winning silver at super heavyweight in the 2008 Olympics, Zhang lost to Anthony Joshua at the 2012 games. Following some struggles in the pros, Zhang has done his best work late in his career. He knocked out Joe Joyce twice in 2023, only to be out-boxed by Joseph Parker this past March. Zhang rebounded with a huge knockout of Deontay Wilder (who himself won heavyweight bronze in 2008) in June. At 41 years of age, Zhang is hoping to land that one big shot, both figuratively and literally. Both Ring and TBRB have Zhang at #4.

Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.