Professionals enter the ring

The Ali in question is a 20-year-old British amateur flyweight hoping to stand out for more than just a famous namesake. The professionals, whose arrival ends 112 years of amateur exclusivity but continues the sport’s long tradition of controversy, will be harder to spot. Despite all the headlines and hooplah, only three outright pros have qualified among the 250 men and none run any risk of being stopped by autograph hunters in the casinos of Las Vegas or streets of New York. Step forward Italy’s Carmine Tommasone, Cameroon’s ex-WBO interim middleweight champion Hassan N’Dam N’jikam and Thailand’s 36-year-old former IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng as Olympic trailblazers. Other changes are more evident: no headguards for the men for the first time since 1980, which could see more fights stopped on cuts, and a new pro-style 10-point scoring system. The women, who made their Olympic debut in 2012, will keep the headguards and should see more of the limelight. All three champions — Claressa Shields of the United States, Britain’s Nicola Adams and Ireland’s Katie Taylor — are back to defend their titles among 36 women competing.