With Team GB's 2020 heavyweight representative Frazer Clarke making his pro debut last weekend, we're here to take a look at how previous British heavyweights fared after making the transition to the professional ranks.
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2000 - Audley Harrison
Though his reputation now is not nearly as favourable, at one time Audley Harrison was viewed as the golden boy of British boxing. After twice being crowned ABA Super Heavyweight Champion, and with a gold medal in the 1998 Commonwealth Games, Harrison was recognised as one of the finest heavyweight prospects ever to emerge from the British Isles.
As one of Team GB's main medal hopes for the 2000 games, Harrison would exceed expectations by becoming the first British boxer to win an Olympic Gold Medal for other three decades, and the first to emerge victorious in the Games' heaviest weight class since Ronald Rawson in 1920.
After the historic triumph, Harrison announced his intention to join the pro ranks and signed a bumper deal with the BBC to broadcast his first ten professional bouts. However, the southpaw was unable to replicate the same kind of success he had enjoyed as an amateur, falling at the first significant hurdle when he was bested over the course of 12 rounds by Danny Williams with the Commonwealth heavyweight title on the line.
Harrison would continue for nearly a decade after his first loss, and even emphatically avenged his defeat to Williams, but would never win a world title before ultimately hanging up his gloves in 2013.
Olympic Rating: 10/10
Professional Rating: 5/10
Audley Harrison Highlights
2004 - Did Not Qualify
After Harrison's success in the previous games, Team GB's attention turned to the future. However, despite future British Olympian David Price's best efforts, no British heavyweight would qualify for the 2004 games, leaving eventual Silver Medal-winning youngster Amir Khan as the only boxer to represent the UK in Athens.
2008 - David Price
The youngest ever ABA super-heavyweight champion, David Price rebounded from the disappointment of failing to qualify for the Athens Olympics by winning just about everything available to him as an amateur, including a Gold Medal in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Named captain of the Team GB boxing squad for the 2008 Olympics, Price fought valiantly in Beijing but was ultimately defeated in the semi-finals by eventual gold medal winner Italian Roberto Cammarelle and had to settle for bronze.
Unable to fully replicate Harrison's success four years earlier, Price elected to turn professional and enjoyed a dominating start to his career in the pros, winning his first 15 fights, 13 inside the distance, and capturing the English, British, and Commonwealth heavyweight titles in the process.
Back-to-back losses to American contender Tony Thompson significantly halted Price's potential and he would ultimately fail to reach the highest levels of the professional game before retiring last year.
Olympic Rating: 7/10
Professional Rating: 6/10
David Price Highlights
2012 - Anthony Joshua
Despite never having laced up a pair of gloves until after his 18th birthday, Anthony Joshua would go on to enjoy some of the greatest successes that British boxing has ever seen.
A relative novice to the elite levels of amateur boxing, Joshua would earn a silver medal at the 2011 World Championships to earn his place as team GB's representative for the super heavyweight division for the 2012 Olympics on home turf.
Despite a difficult draw, Joshua would defeat opponents from Cuba, China, and Kazakhstan, to earn his place in the final against Roberto Cammarelle, the same man who had crushed David Price's Olympic ambitions just four years prior.
Joshua would go one step further than his predecessor Price, defeating the Italian through a contentious judges' decision to earn an Olympic Gold Medal.
Perhaps the biggest star in British boxing to this day, AJ has gone from strength to strength since his Olympic victory, capturing multiple world titles and establishing himself as one of the best heavyweights in the world.
Olympic Rating: 10/10
Professional Rating: 10/10
THE BEST BOXER IN THE WORLD || Anthony Joshua Highlights
2016 - Joe Joyce
Britain's heavyweight hope for the 2016 Olympics in Rio would be Joe Joyce. Like Price and Harrison before him, Joyce went into the Olympics off the back of a successful showing at the Commonwealth Games, earning a gold medal in the superheavyweight category in 2014.
Prior to making his Olympic bow, Joyce spent time in the short-lived World Series of Boxing, an organisation that allowed boxers to compete for money without compromising their amateur status. During his time in WSOB Joyce even faced future World Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk, losing a decision to the Ukrainian.
Despite his vast amateur experience, Joyce would narrowly miss out on collecting Team GB's second consecutive Olympic gold in the superheavyweight division when he was on the losing end of a split decision against France's Tony Yoka, and was forced to settle for Silver.
Joyce made his professional debut one year after the games at the relatively old age of 31, and has since developed his awkward style to great effect with a perfect 13-0 professional record featuring 11 stoppages.
Though time may be running out for Joyce at the elite level of the heavyweight division, he looks destined to at least compete for a world title before he hangs up his gloves for the final time.
Olympic Rating: 8/10
Professional Rating: 7/10
Joe 'Juggernaut' Joyce | All 10 Knockouts
2020 - Frazer Clarke
The most recent Team GB Olympic representative in the heavyweight division, Frazer Clarke has had one of the most decorated amateur careers of any of the men featured on this list.
A veteran of amateur events across Europe, Clarke had initially been in contention for Team GB's spot in 2016, but was ultimately not selected in favour of multi-time opponent Joe Joyce.
Despite being overlooked at the 2016 games, Clarke continued his momentum as an amateur by collecting gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
At the Tokyo games, Clarke defied expectations by defeating opponents from Ukraine and France before being defeated in the semi-final by eventual gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov to secure a bronze medal.
Since then, Clarke signed with promotional company BOXXER and has made his professional debut, but how much he will go on to achieve as a professional is still yet to be decided.
Olympic Rating: 7/10
Professional Rating: 4/10
Frazer Clarke's professional debut on the Khan vs Brook undercard
