Are there any plans for those Olympians to turn pro in the forseeable future?
Let me explain the situation: the Beijing Olympians are state supported boxers and as such are supplied housing, a regular monthly allowance as well as other perks that would well exceed anything a Chinese promoter could presently offer. In short, there is little financial incentive for them to give up their amateur career to turn pro locally. In fact there is the situation where we have a reverse drain from local pro ranks back to the amateur ranks. It happened last year with three pro female boxing champions. Q: So, in China pro boxing seems to play second fiddle to amateur boxing. Is it a case of people being reluctant to embrace pro boxing? A: In fact the idea of pro sports and pro boxing in particular is quite new to China . There is very little in the way of pro sports in China at the moment. The layman has to be educated into the culture of pro sports competition. There is slow but steady progress in that direction. Q: What is needed for pro boxing to take off in China? Are you
