By Tom Benett
Anthony Joshua is looking fight Wladimir Klitschko again sometime this year if and supposedly when the Ukrainian accepts the rematch.
The Briton first made his mark as an amateur, winning Olympic super-heavyweight gold at the 2012 London Games.
Here are the top five fighters who gained Olympic glory before switching successfully to the professional ranks.
Featured Image: Mirror
5. Vasyl Lomachenko
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Lomachenko has the potential to finish his career as one of the greatest fighters ever to enter the ring. However, whilst he is still in the process of cementing his legacy, he places at No.5 on our list.
Hailing from the Ukraine, Lomachenko amassed a stellar amateur record of 396-1. He won gold at European and World level as well as two consecutive Olympic championships at the 2008 and 2012 Games.
Lomachenko is currently 7-1 as a professional, and despite his relatively short career, already holds world titles in two weight classes.
4. Floyd Patterson
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A protégé of Cus D’Amato, and a prodigy in his own right, Floyd Patterson was at a time, the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
He snatched the vacant title with a knockout victory over Archie Moore, at the tender age of 21 years old.
Patterson was one of the first fighters to demonstrate the ‘peak-a-boo’ style (made famous by Mike Tyson) to the masses.
Patterson was an Olympic champion at the 1952 Helsinki Games at light-heavyweight, he would go on to become the first-ever Olympic gold medallist to win the heavyweight championship, as well as the first man ever to regain the heavyweight title.
3. Evander Holyfield
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‘The Real Deal’ is the only fighter to earn a spot on my list despite never obtaining Olympic gold.
The 1984 Los Angeles Games saw Holyfield controversially disqualified in the semi-finals, concluding his amateur career with a bronze medal.
However, he would blaze a phenomenal trail of success in the professional ranks, erasing any memory of his Olympic blunder.
Holyfield would dominate at cruiserweight before moving up to heavyweight, replicating his success in becoming lineal champion.
He finally tasted defeat for the very first time as a pro in the initial contest of his trilogy with Riddick Bowe.
After a rough patch, Holyfield would rebuild his career and become a champion once more, stopping the feared Mike Tyson in the process.
2. Muhammad Ali
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The man who many consider was the greatest boxer – if not sportsman – of all time, claimed light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
From there he embarked on the most celebrated career in boxing history, snatching the heavyweight belt from the revered and feared Sonny Liston.
He was banned from boxing for three years in 1967 for refusing to be drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. Who knows what he might have achieved in that time?
But Ali returned and played a starring role in some of the most memorable and exciting bouts in boxing history.
He was the first man to ever hold the world heavyweight title on three separate occasions and was truly deserving of his nickname ‘The Greatest’.
1. ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard
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Multi-weight world champion and media darling, Ray Leonard was American boxing’s poster boy throughout the 1980s.
Boasting an extraordinary amateur record of 145-5, Leonard tore through the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where he annihilated revered Cuban Andres Aldama to capture gold.
Leonard’s intention was to end his fistic career with the greatest prize in amateur boxing. However, his father’s illness forced him to re-evaluate his plans so that he could pay for his treatment.
These unfortunate circumstances paved the way for one of the most dynamic, exciting and glamorous eras in the history of the sweet science.
In what many believe was the most competitive decade in the division’s history, Leonard would emerge as the welterweight to conquer all.
He bested greats such as Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran, and Thomas Hearns, in a series of technically superb battles, the likes of which we may never see again.
After a short-lived retirement (and an even shorter comeback) Leonard would don his gloves once more and challenge the seemingly unbeatable middleweight champion ‘Marvellous’ Marvin Hagler.
The two would lock horns in a contest for the ages with Leonard emerging victorious.
Leonard finished his historic career in 1997, having captured titles in four separate weight classes. He established a universal interest in boxing’s smaller men that has lasted until today.