Green turned pro in 1980, signing a contract with the rock promoter Shelly Finkel, whom he met at the 1979 New York Golden Gloves. As a professional, Green was one of NBC's "Tomorrow's Champions" (a group of Finkel's young pros, which also included Alex Ramos, Tony Ayala Jr., Donald Curry and Johnny Bumphus) and was ranked as high as #7 by the World Boxing Council, and also in the top ten by the World Boxing Association. Green left Finkel after a year as a pro after a disagreement over payoffs. He was managed by Carl King, son of Don King, who was Green's promoter.