Rakhim Chakhkiev

When doing this prospect blog I find it difficult to know just where to draw the cut off point on age or fights. When does a fight stop being a prospect and becomes a true contender or challenger? I'm still not sure but 28 year old Russian Cruiserweight Rakhim Chakhkiev (9-0, 7KO's) manages to make this blog and could well be the best Cruiserweight prospect in the world (and the sport does have quite a few of them).

Chakhkiev was featured last year in the original “Prospect Scotting” blog (and featured on Ringnews24.com) by then the Russian was 5-0 (5) though has moved on considerably since then. The hype behind Chakhkiev was based originally on his amateur success. As an amateur he had won Olympic gold in 2008 and World Amateur Championship silver medal in 2007, both in the Heavyweight division. He had beaten fighters like Osmay Acosta, Clemente Russo and Roman Romanchuk in the amateurs though had a pretty professional looking style that made the transition seem like a logical one and a year after the Olympics he started on the a charge through the professional ranks.

Chakhkiev would start his career with a victory over Tayar Mehmed in October 2009 as he went on a busy schedule of 5 fights in a little over 6 months winning them all by stoppage. The most impressive of those wins was an excellent showing against the experienced Rene Huebner. Although the fight ended early due to Huebner being injured The Russian novice showed enough to alert the hardcore fans to skills and the potential of Chakhkiev as a professional.

Chakhkiev would take a 2 month break before returning on the undercard of Firat Arslan's challenge for the WBA Interim Cruiserweight title against Steve Herelius. Chakhkiev would defeat Lukasz Rusiewicz on that night over 6 rounds, the first time Chakhkiev had been taken the distance as a professional. After another 4 month break from the ring he would return to defeat Chris Thomas and then get taken 8 rounds by Lukasz Rusiewicz (the longest of any Chakhkiev fight to date).

After a 2010 that saw the Russian fighter going 5-0 (3) the momentum seems likely to continue. Having beaten Alex Mogylewski by TKO1 in March he returns to the ring on Saturday by facing experienced American Harvey Jolly. Jolly's record of 11-16-1-1 includes wins over several other unbeaten fighters in recent years including Cuban Umberto Savigne and Nicholas Iannuzzi. Chakhkiev's fight against Jolly will be his first fight outside of Germany and will feature as part of the under card of Marcos Maidana's fight with Erik Morales.

If you are interested in the Cruiserweight prospects some other names you may like to note down are listed below:

Krzysztof Glowacki-12-0 (7), 24 year old from Poland

Tomasz Hutkowski 20-0-2 (14), 24 year old from Poland

Matty Askin 10-0 (6), 22 year old from England

Brad Pitt 7-0 (5), 29 year old from Australia

Thabiso Mchunu 8-0 (6) 22 year old from South Africa

Jeremiah Graziano 14-0 (13) 24 year old from the US

Yunier Dorticos 12-0 (12), 25 year old Cuban

Mateusz Masternak 22-0 (16), 23 year old from Poland

Lateef Kayode 16-0 (14), 28 year old from Nigeria (based in the US)

Alexander Frenkel 23-0 (18), 26 year old from Germany

Billy Joe Saunders

As well looking at 1 international prospect every week (this week was was of course Carlos Ivan Velasquez) we'll also try to look at 1 UK based prospect, or at very least a fighter fighting the same week as the blog. The weeks second fighter is British youngster Billy Joe Saunders. Saunders, one of Britain's 2008 Olympic team is one of the countries forgotten Olympians, he's been over shadowed by most of the others such as James DeGale and Tony Jeffries, yet has just as much long term promise as anyone.

Saunders is 21 and was the baby of the Olympic team going as just a teenager. Despite being knocked out in the 2^nd round by the Cuban Carlos Banteaux (the eventual silver medal winner). As an amateur he had an impressive record, apparently winning his first 49 fights as a senior including all his fights at the 2007 Commonwealth Boxing Championships. Soon after the Olympics he would sign a professional contract with British boxing supremo Frank Warren and start his rise through the professional ranks.

Upon turning professional it didn't take Saunders long to make an impact. He needed less than 2 rounds to stop Hungarian Attila Molnar in show that also saw James DeGale and Frankie Gavin debut. Since then Saunders has racked up an impressive 7-0 (4) record and looked like an ever maturing fighter. Unlike many former amateurs Saunders isn't the type to be overly patient looking for single shots but has a very complete professional “style” based around aggression, coming forward and looking for the stoppage whether he gets it or not. With his youthful energy he looks exciting coming forward and throwing punches though we all know fine well that he has the technical skills to fall back on and box with if he needs to.

As a professional he has fought 24 rounds already in his career with distance fights against the likes of the tough Alex Spitko, the experienced Lee Noble (who had only been stopped once) and Andy Butlin. Billy Joe has looked impressive and a little hot headed, which at times has added a little bit more excitement and spite to the fight. Although he's still a youngster in terms of being a professional fighter he's shown he's not scared of older men and instead wants them to respect him as he beats them down. A side of him that is brilliant for a fighter.

Like Tyson Fury, Saunders is from travelling stock and has the fighting blood running through his veins. His father was an amateur whilst his mothers grandfather was the great Absolom Beeney, a legendary bare knuckle fighter. With this sort of pedigree and his Romany gypsy blood there should be no worries about Saunders knowing how to handle himself when the going gets tough. He'll have been brought up in a tough environment and often looks much older than his actual age. Amazingly as a fighter he's also been a traveller, each of his 7 fights have taken place in different areas, although 2 were in London, he's also fought in Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Belfast and Birmingham.

Saunders fights against 52 fight veteran Turgay Uzun from Turkey on the undercard of John Murray's fight with Karim El Ouazghari. Saunders is facing a tough hard punching fighter who has only been stopped twice and holds 22 KO's in 35 wins. Though Uzun should be a relatively safe test as he is a substantially smaller man and was making Welterweight last year when he took on World title challenger Rafal Jackiewicz (and went the 8 round distance). A win is expected of Saunders though a genuine stoppage win will be very impressive.