The history of the Olympics is nearly 3,000 years old. The popularity of the Olympic Games has been growing exponentially since 776 B.C when it started in ancient Greece. The sporting competition was revived in the 19th century, and today it is one of the most popular events across a wide range of sports, including boxing.
Many of the greatest boxers have found a platform at the Olympics to build their careers. Boxing, ‘the sport of kings,’ relates proudly to the history of the Olympics. The greatest fighters in the history of boxing started their amateur career inside the Olympic ring.
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Boxing has always been an important event in the Olympic Games. The game has been attracting a considerable number of spectators worldwide to witness the magic in the ring. In the Olympics, boxing is played at the amateur level. Many of the Olympic boxing legends have contributed to making the sport entertaining. Let’s take a look at some of the best fighters who impacted the history of the Olympics. Here we go:
Name: Muhammad Ali
Olympics: 1960
Nickname: The Greatest
Nationality: American
Muhammad Ali won the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics. ‘The Greatest’ was the first to have won the heavyweight title three times. Along with being one of the best heavyweight champions of all time, Ali was also among the most decorated boxers in history. Ali finished his career with 37 KOs and a 56-5 record.
Muhammad Ali transcended sports and reached out to people becoming a role model. As Cassius Clay, Ali competed in the Rome Games in 1960 in the light heavyweight division. At that age, he successfully won all four fights. Later, Clay went on to become Muhammad Ali, who is considered one of the top sports personalities in the history of the Olympics. In 1964, he defeated Sonny Liston to become the winner of the heavyweight World Championship.
It was a great honor for Ali when he was invited in 1996 to light the flame during the Atlanta Olympic Games opening ceremony. In addition to boxing, Ali also devoted a considerable part of his life to humanitarian affairs, for which he also got the United Nations Messenger of Peace award. He passed away on June 3, 2016.
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Name: Felix Savon
Nickname: Niñote ("Big Kid")
Nationality: Cuba
Olympics: 1992, 1996, 2000 (three-time Olympic gold medalist)
Félix Savón Fabre was born on September 22, 1967. He competed as a Cuban amateur boxer from 1980 to 2000. He is considered one of the greatest amateur boxers of all time and a well-known name in the history of the Olympics. After losing to Michael Bennett in the 1999 world championships, Savón avenged the defeat at the Olympic quarter-final match in 2000.
Félix Savón, along with Teofilo Stevenson & Laszló Papp, is one of the three boxers who have won three gold medals in the history of the Olympics. He won the titles in the heavyweight class in 1992, 1996, and 2000. And, if the 1988 Seoul Olympics were not faced with a boycott by Cuba, Felix Savon could have had a shot at more medals. In addition to the history of the Olympics, Savon also won six amateur world titles in the years — 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1997. Savón is also known for having rejected a massive selection of multimillion-dollar offers to defect and left Cuba permanently to fight against Mike Tyson.
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Name: Ray Mercer
Nickname: "Merciless"
Nationality: American
Olympics: 1988
Raymond Anthony Mercer is a retired American boxer born on April 4, 1961. He competed in professional boxing from 1989 to 2009. At the 1988 Summer Olympics, he won a heavyweight gold medal as an amateur boxer. Later from 1991 to 1992, he also held the WBO heavyweight title. Mercer got athletics’ notice at Augusta's Academy of Richmond County. In order to avoid the month-long training exercise, Mercer became a sparring partner for the base boxing champion.
And soon, he displayed the magic of his talent even though he had never put on a pair of gloves. Mercer’s boxing prowess improved exponentially, and he represented his country in the Summer Olympic Games of 1988 in Seoul, South Korea as its heavyweight competitor. Mercer recorded his name in the history of the Olympics after winning a medal at the 1988 Olympics. He became an Olympic heavyweight champion after knocking out all four opponents.
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Name: Ray Charles Leonard
Nickname: Sugar
Nationality: American
Olympics: 1976 Montreal, Light welterweight
Ray Charles Leonard won the gold medal in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal in the lightweight division. Nicknamed as ‘Sugar,’ Ray Charles Leonard is widely known as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Leonard made his professional boxing debut in 1977 and fought his final match in 1997. He was also part of ‘The Fabulous Four’ alongside Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, and Thomas Hearns. Many fans and people belonging to the boxing fraternity give the foursome credit for keeping boxing as popular as in the 1980s.
This was the phase when boxing transitioned from the era of Muhammad Ali to the phase where the popularity of heavyweight boxing dropped until Mike Tyson came into the picture during the 1980s. During this time, Sugar Ray Leonard was one of the most famous boxers. His charismatic personality and brilliant, striking skills made him one of the top fighters in the history of the Olympics.
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Name: Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Nickname: Pretty Boy
Nationality: American
Olympics: 1996 Atlanta, Featherweight
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is an American professional boxer born on February 12, 1977. As an amateur boxer, Mayweather won a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics in the featherweight division, the U.S. national championship at featherweight, and three U.S. Golden Gloves championships. The champion competed between 1996 and 2015— but he also made a comeback in 2017. Mayweather won 15 major world championships from super featherweight to light-middleweight throughout his career, and he retired with an undefeated record.
Floyd Mayweather entered the 1996 Atlanta Olympics after winning the National Golden Gloves title in 1993 and 1994. That was the beginning of a great professional boxing career— he won a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics and lost a controversial semi-final decision to Serafim Todorov. Throughout his career, Mayweather held the title of the world’s greatest pound-for-pound boxer. He held a world title in five weight classes and retired from professional boxing with no defeat and record 50 wins.