Fight community reacts to seismic rule change allowing professional boxers in Rio Olympics

The boxing community is almost universally in agreement that allowing pro pugilists to compete in Rio will ruin Olympic boxing.

AIBI made the huge announcement on Wednesday morning that pros will be allowed to compete at the 2016 Olympic games, just two months before the events kick off in Rio. The new rule change means that Irish amateurs such as Katie Taylor and Paddy Barnes, who have already qualified for the games, could potentially face professional opponents in the finals. The boxing community has not exactly welcomed the change with open arms, with the consensus being that this landmark decision is ridiculous and could potentially destroy amateur boxing. Former unified IBF and WBA super-bantamweight champion Carl Frampton led the charge against the ruling on Twitter. https://twitter.com/RealCFrampton/status/737934645103333376 https://twitter.com/RealCFrampton/status/737935307341991936 https://twitter.com/RealCFrampton/status/737944877342822401 Olympic silver medallist chimed in with his thoughts https://twitter.com/kenegan30/status/737937128986976257 https://twitter.com/kenegan30/status/737938655575179264 A slew of other pro boxers ran with the theme https://twitter.com/PaulSmithJnr/status/737943803827474432 https://twitter.com/ChampCummings/status/737942855151390720 https://twitter.com/maravillabox/status/737939665257398272 'The Hitman' is predicting doom for the amateur game https://twitter.com/HitmanHatton/status/737948027705536513 https://twitter.com/SB_Boxing/status/737935741951561728 https://twitter.com/DarrenBarker82/status/737933334714679296 https://twitter.com/SwiftySmith/status/737950121015541760 However, one man who definitely does not seem opposed to the change is WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders. The man who dethroned Andy Lee revealed his desire to enter and win Olympic gold. https://twitter.com/bjsaunders_/status/737943542811795456