By Juan Manuel Vazquez

'It will ruin the essence of amateur boxing' and it is 'complete madness' to take allow professional boxers to compete in the Olympic games - according to Hall of Fame trainer Nacho Beristain.  

The pending proposal is to allowing professional boxers to take part at the Olympic Games in Rio, a scenario that seems to be a recipe for disaster in the opinion of Beristain, who says it's it's a project without future. He should know, as he himself has trained Olympic fighters in Mexico. 

The AIBA, which is the governing body of the amateur programs, is making this proposal to match professional and amateur fighters - because they believe it will “increase” the quality of the matches. They are looking for something similar to what happened in Barcelona in 1992, with the participation of the Basketball Dream Team from the United States.

Beristain knows both sides of the coin as he trains several former and current world champions.  He says this project is impossible to be a success, because of numerous factors which separate an amateur from a pro.

“They will ruin the essence of amateur boxing, I don’t understand how a professional that practices this discipline to make a living, would risk that for a tournament like this one,” the trainer stated.

The AIBA has also proposed to eliminate the use of headgear that protects boxers in the Olympic Games - something thoroughly criticized by the entire boxing community, as that would create a dangerous situation where an amateur is in risk of suffering serious injuries by facing a professional.

Beristain adds: “I think this is a complete mixture of nonsense. The way judges evaluate amateur and pro boxing is different, the way they punch is way different."