Olympic Gold Medalist Boxer Refuses to Turn Pro for Bizarre Reasons

Olympic gold medalist Kellie Harrington could have been the next Irish pugilist to make a huge statement in the professional boxing world. However, she doesn’t intend to do so, especially at this stage. Right after her sensational win at Tokyo Olympics, several people desired to see her turn professional for all the obvious reasons.

A potential fight between Harrington and Katie Taylor was also being touted, considering that both women come from Ireland and have been exceptional in their respective rides. But Harrington answered all the queries and clearly stated her disgust towards the professional boxing circuit.

In a chat with The Late Late Show, Harrington said, “I’ve made the decision. I’m going to stay amateur… It’s not always about money. People are saying ‘you can make a fortune out of this, you could go for this fight or that fight’ but I just want to be amateur.”

“I’m very happy and supported by Sport Ireland. I have a great team there with the set-up.”

That said, as professional boxing clearly brings in a lot more money than amateur boxing, this particular reason could have urged Kellie Harrington to lace up the gloves professionally. However, she has also found a few flaws that helped her validate the decision.

Talking about the financial scenario in pro-chain, the Olympic gold medalist said, “Yeah, but them they’ll have half of me half a million. Less stress, more success!”

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Boasting an Olympic gold medal and a resume of 74-17-1, Harrington is one of the most decorated amateur boxers of the time. That said, the record will continue growing as she won’t shift to professional boxing.

Olympic gold medal and professional boxing

As we look into the current scenario, an Olympic gold can arguably be the pinpoint of amateur boxing. It’s the feature that passes a boxer to the professional chain- we have seen this for years. On September 25, we will see two former Olympic gold medalists- Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk collide for the world heavyweight championships in the UK.

So, Kellie Harington will clearly miss a major part of boxing if she doesn’t opt to turn professional. But her ongoing plans cite her to have a happy state of mind. Also, she didn’t entirely rule out a professional journey.

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Do you think Kellie Harington should have turned professional after Tokyo Olympics?