Boxing: 5 Overlooked Olympic Gold Medalists

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The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro have come and gone, but the spirit of competition remains. While boxing’s popularity has dwindled in recent years, especially at the Olympic level, its decline cannot take away from the achievements of some of the Sweet Science’s all-time greats. Therein lies the motivation to examine five of the most overlooked Olympic gold medalists in pro boxing history.

These fighters all captured at least one gold medal at the Olympics and then went on to have brilliant, hall of fame-worthy careers at the pro level. All-time great Olympians Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon -- they each captured three golds -- lack the professional resumes, and while Vasyl Lomachenko has generational skills, the two-time gold medalist has not accomplished enough as a pro.

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Pascual Perez | 1948 | London

Regarded by virtually every boxing historian as one of the five greatest flyweights in boxing history -- some rank him at the top of the heap -- Perez was undeniably amazing in the ring. At a time when all of the focus was placed on lightweights, welterweights, middleweights and heavyweights, he carved out a path all his own.

After capturing Olympic gold at the 1948 Summer Games in London, the Argentine immediately shot up the professional ranks. It took Perez six years to snag a world championship at flyweight, doing so by toppling Yoshio Shirai over 15 rounds. From there, he fought regularly, though roughly half of his appearances over the next five years came in non-title bouts. Perez successfully defended his title 16 times before surrendering it to Thailand’s Pone Kingpech on April 16, 1960.

Perez never again got his hands on another world championship, and like many other all-time greats, the majority of his losses came at the end of his career. Posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, he retired with an 84-7-1 record and 57 knockouts.

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Joe Frazier | 1964 | Tokyo

One half of the greatest rivalry in boxing history, Frazier was a wrecking machine at heavyweight. Though his professional exploits draw the lion’s share of attention surrounding him, “Smokin’ Joe” was a terrific amateur boxer who struck gold at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. Once he turned pro, his vaunted left hook -- a thing of perfection if there ever was one -- took him to unimaginable heights.

Frazier cut down one opponent after another, conquering the likes of Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena and Buster Mathis before capturing the heavyweight championship with a fifth-round knockout of Jimmy Ellis on Feb. 16, 1970. He retained his title by blasting through Bob Foster in less than two rounds before besting Muhammad Ali in one of boxing’s legendary fights in March 1971. Frazier kept the heavyweight crown until he ran into a hulking knockout machine named George Foreman some two years later. From there, he took on Ali twice more, losing both, including their iconic “Thrilla in Manila” rematch on Oct. 1, 1975.

A Beaufort, South Carolina, native who rose to prominence in Philadelphia, Frazier retired in 1981 with a 32-4-1 record and 27 knockouts. Ali and Foreman were responsible for all four of his losses.

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Michael Spinks | 1976 | Montreal

Most casual observers remember Spinks as the guy who got obliterated by Mike Tyson in 91 seconds on June 27, 1988. In his heyday, however, the St. Louis native could match or exceed his contemporaries, skill for skill. The knockout loss to Tyson was the only blemish on his resume, as Spinks never again entered the ring. The 1976 Olympic gold medalist was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and retired with a 32-1 record and 21 KOs.

Spinks ranks among the greatest light heavyweights of all-time, a notch below fighters like Archie Moore, Ezzard Charles and Roy Jones Jr. He was 27-0 before moving to heavyweight. Spinks climbed through the light heavyweight ranks with surprising ease and captured the WBA championship by outpointing Eddie Mustafa Muhammad across 15 rounds in July 1981. He successfully defended the title 10 times, adding the WBC light heavyweight crown to his collection with a decision over Dwight Muhammad Qawi less than two years later.

When Spinks ran out of opponents as a light heavyweight, he moved up in weight. In his first appearance as a heavyweight, he handed the great Larry Holmes his first loss and captured the IBF, The Ring and lineal titles. In doing so, Spinks became the first light heavyweight champion since Tommy Burns in 1908 to accomplish the feat. He went on to defeat Holmes in their rematch and then successfully defended the heavyweight crown twice before his ill-fated encounter with Tyson.

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Pernell Whitaker | 1984 | Los Angeles

The United States Olympic boxing team that competed at the Los Angeles Games in 1984 is widely viewed as the greatest squad ever assembled. Of the 12 men on the team, nine captured gold medals. Robert Shannon was the only member not to medal, while Evander Holyfield took home bronze and Virgil Hill walked away with silver. All the others -- Whitaker, Steve McCrory, Meldrick Taylor, Mark Breland, Henry Tillman, Paul Gonzales, Jerry Page, Frank Tate and Tyrell Biggs -- were Olympic champions, and many of them enjoyed tremendous success as professionals. However, Whitaker stands head and shoulders above everyone else on the 1984 roster.

At the height of his power, “Sweet Pea” was virtually unbeatable. In fact, it could be argued that the first fighter to legitimately defeat him was Felix Trinidad on Feb. 20, 1999. They met not long after Whitaker was released from a drug rehabilitation center, and by that time, he was a few years past his prime. The only other blemishes on his resume to that point were contentious decision losses to Oscar De La Hoya and Jose Luis Ramirez, along with a controversial draw with the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez. In the spaces in between, Whitaker avenged his loss to Ramirez and perplexed fighters like James “Buddy” McGirt, Greg Haugen, Wilfredo Rivera, Rafael Pineda and Jorge Paez.

Whitaker was for a time boxing’s pound-for-pound king, as he claimed titles as a lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight. Known for his defensive prowess and gamesmanship, “Sweet Pea” remains vastly underappreciated from a historical perspective. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006, Whitaker retired with a 40-4-1 record.

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Joel Casamayor | 1992 | Barcelona, Spain

When talk turns to amateur boxing, especially at the Olympics, Cuba rises to the forefront of the conversation. The small island nation has spawned countless world titlists, and while Casamayor was not the greatest amateur champion Cuba has ever produced, “El Cepillo” went on to become arguably its greatest professional boxer after striking gold at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Casamayor was favored to win gold again in 1996, but defected on the eve of the Atlanta Games to pursue a better life for himself. His ascent on the professional ladder was quick, as he went 17-0 before claiming the interim WBA super featherweight championship in 1999. A little more than a year later, Casamayor captured the undisputed title in a unification bout, scoring a fifth-round knockout against Jong-Kwon Baek. He successfully defended it four times before surrendering the super featherweight crown in a thrilling, controversial decision to Acelino Freites on Jan. 12, 2002. Losses to Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo followed before Casamayor won the WBC, The Ring and lineal lightweight championship by edging Corrales in their memorable 2006 rubber match. He made two successful title defenses before ceding the throne to the great Juan Manuel Marquez in September 2008.

One of the best boxers of his generation, “El Cepillo” was a slick defensive fighter and an offensive killer. He used dirty tactics when necessary, roughed up some opponents on the inside and picked apart others from a distance. With a 38-6-1 record and 22 knockouts, Casamayor seems like a hall-of-fame lock.