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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 9426693">I am not sure what the rules are around qualifying as an amateur these days but it seems like a lot of amateur athletes make money off what they do. Even back in the 30s, my grandfather said when he was an amateur boxer he was getting money all over the place (during the depression): he had a car, he was doing ads in the papers, etc. He was also dirt poor growing up and the money he made from boxing never really lasted (he worked as a brick layer after the war with all his brothers) In terms of class, I would imagine this varies a lot by country and by sport (I would be interested to see the breakdown). When I did Taekwondo, I got the impression there were more middle class and upper middle class people getting into the nationals and stuff (but that is an expensive sport because the fees to join a dojang can be high and the sparring gear itself is pretty expensive). But in boxing it felt like there were more working class and people at the poverty level doing it amateur. Most of the boxing gyms I have been to, even ones that specialized in amateur boxing, were in poor neighborhoods (and when someone from the local community gets on the Olympic team or the national team it is a big deal)</blockquote>