WALCOT Amateur Boxing chief coach Harry Scott believes that professional boxers should not be allowed to compete alongside amateurs at the Olympics.

Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, president of world boxing’s governing body AIBA, said last week that he wanted to abolish rules stopping any fighter with 15 or more paid bouts from competing at the Olympics.

Although such a decision would have to be approved by the AIBA’s executive committee, Dr Wu would like to see professional boxers like Floyd Mayweather competing at Rio later this year, a decision that could deliver a huge blow to amateur boxing says Scott.

“I think it is wrong, really,” he told the Adver.

“I think that amateurs should be amateurs and professionals should be professionals, it is two different things.

“I don’t think it is a good idea for amateur boxing or any amateur sport.

“The Olympics is the pinnacle of amateur boxing and they are breaking down the barriers of it.

“The standard will be too high for the amateurs to aim for and they don’t get enough time to develop.

“The big fighters are going to want some more recompense from the gold medal and there might be a few crowd pullers.

“It might bring in a few more people to watch the sport but at the end of the day, for these guys it is all about me and what I can do and who I am.

“As long as I am able to, I will still carry on working with amateur boxers but I won’t entertain them if it goes that way.

“I am not killing the game but it is of no interest.

“We have rules and regulations in amateur boxing and we would like to see the discipline carried out.”

Another rule change brought in this week will see male boxers no longer needing to wear protective headgear in Rio.

This is something that was brought into amateur boxing three years ago and while Scott knows head guards will not prevent boxers getting hurt he is still keen to see amateur boxers wear them to teach them good habits and that any damage is limited.

“I think the head guards have caused a lot of problems,” added Scott.

“Head guards should be there for amateurs to protect them and they learn to keep the guard up.

“They sit down and they make a lot of rules that are damaging the sport. It cannot be a safe sport no matter what you do.

“I would like to keep head guards for the amateurs but the pros can carry on because they are supposed to know what they are doing.”