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Boxing

01st Jun 2016

Fight community reacts to seismic rule change allowing professional boxers in Rio Olympics

Reaction has not been positive

Ben Kiely

The boxing community is almost universally in agreement that allowing pro pugilists to compete in Rio will ruin Olympic boxing.

AIBI made the huge announcement on Wednesday morning that pros will be allowed to compete at the 2016 Olympic games, just two months before the events kick off in Rio.

The new rule change means that Irish amateurs such as Katie Taylor and Paddy Barnes, who have already qualified for the games, could potentially face professional opponents in the finals.

The boxing community has not exactly welcomed the change with open arms, with the consensus being that this landmark decision is ridiculous and could potentially destroy amateur boxing.

Former unified IBF and WBA super-bantamweight champion Carl Frampton led the charge against the ruling on Twitter.

Olympic silver medallist chimed in with his thoughts

A slew of other pro boxers ran with the theme

https://twitter.com/ChampCummings/status/737942855151390720

‘The Hitman’ is predicting doom for the amateur game

https://twitter.com/SB_Boxing/status/737935741951561728

https://twitter.com/SwiftySmith/status/737950121015541760

However, one man who definitely does not seem opposed to the change is WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders. The man who dethroned Andy Lee revealed his desire to enter and win Olympic gold.

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