{"id":405468,"date":"2026-01-12T23:23:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T23:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/405468\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T23:23:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T23:23:06","slug":"why-bobbi-flood-chose-the-pro-route-olympic-dreams-weight-class-reality-and-a-clearer-path-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/405468\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Bobbi Flood Chose the Pro Route: Olympic Dreams, Weight-Class Reality and A Clearer Path Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

For all of his amateur career, indeed since he first laced up a pair of gloves, Bobbi Flood<\/a> had one destination in mind \u2013 the Olympic Games. <\/p>\n

Like so many young Irish talents before him, the Dublin fighter committed himself fully to the amateur system, believing that the long road through championships, trials and qualification events would eventually lead to boxing\u2019s biggest amateur stage.<\/p>\n

The Dubliner looked destined to grace a Games and realize an ambition most boxers had when medalling on the underage international stage and transitioning into the senior set up with a great deal of hype around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was always the goal,\u201d Flood admits when speaking to Irish-boxing.com. \u201cI always wanted to be an Olympian. That was the dream from the very start.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as Flood\u2019s career progressed, structural changes within amateur boxing gradually reshaped the landscape \u2013 and, ultimately, his future. The removal of the 75kg weight class placed the talented Cabra boxer at a crossroads.<\/p>\n

For Flood, neither 70kg or 80kg, the revised weights, were realistic options.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was never going to hold 70 kilos for three years,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd jumping up to 80 kilos is a massive jump, especially when you\u2019re in with the best in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s ten kilos of muscle you\u2019re talking about,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd you\u2019re trying to put that on in a very short space of time. That kind of change damages your body, and it\u2019s not something you want when you\u2019re still developing as a fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than forcing his body into a division that didn\u2019t suit, the young Dub made a decision. The professional route, once viewed as the alternative option or the route to go only after Olympic success, became the better path.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the opportunity came, it just made sense,\u201d Flood said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to chase something that wasn\u2019t right for me physically. The pro game suited me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having teamed up with Anto Fitzpatrick and former world champion Sunny Edwards on the managerial side of things, the former underage star signed with Queensberry. <\/p>\n

So it\u2019s unsurprising his debut comes on Frank Warren\u2019s Patrick\u2019s Weekend card at the 3Arena. The high-profile nature of the bill and the fact that it will be broadcast on DAZN mean a wider audience will get to see the 20-year-old in action \u2013 and the young talent is adamant that he\u2019ll make the best of the platform. Flood plans the kind of performance that will help open the floodgates when it comes to winning support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I get out there, I\u2019ll be able to show my levels,\u201d he said. \u201cThe work I\u2019ve been putting in \u2013 late nights, early mornings \u2013 that\u2019s what people will see.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about doing things the right way,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m exactly where I\u2019m supposed to be,\u201d he adds before pointing out his large sponsor-base has allowed him to make pre debut work. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou want as little stress as possible,\u201d he explained. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be going into the ring thinking about bills or rent. You want tunnel vision \u2013 just focused on the fight. That support is critical,\u201d he said. \u201cWithout it, none of this is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those sponsors being Plant Tech, JDN Pro Artist, GM Carpentry, AutoClass Motors, Somerville Motors, Raven Homes, Bossy Baker, John Lawless Roofing, TanMe Tanning Salons, Let\u2019s Glow Limited, Sean Hunting, The Cornstore, Macaron, and Studio M Fitness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For all of his amateur career, indeed since he first laced up a pair of gloves, Bobbi Flood…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[170913,703,49,48,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-405468","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-bobbi-flood","9":"tag-boxing","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}