Power ranking every single sport at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics
By Nick Villano
26. Boxing
Some of the greatest boxers in the sport's history got their big break at the Olympics. Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Lewis, Oscar de la Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard are just some of the superstars who wore their country’s colors before they truly dominated the ring. Many even left their respected cities with gold around their necks.
The reason we see young fighters before they are famous is that boxing is still one of the few sports that really dictates what an amateur is. While there are NBA players dominating the game, boxing won’t let any professional at the Games. It’s an interesting wrinkle for this sport, as we tend to miss the biggest names in the sport.
It is interesting to see “who’s next.” Despite the weight classes, an American hasn’t won a gold medal in boxing since Oscar De La Hoya did it in Barcelona in 1992. It’s been a worldwide sport for decades now.
This year, there will be even more gold medals given out. This year, we count 13 medal stands between the men and the women. There are six weight classes for the women, including the debut of the Bantamweight class, and there will be seven for the men.