The US has a number of very young but very, very promising prospects coming through at the moment with one of those being 20 year old Frankie Gomez (12-0, 9) a fighter many are tipping as a sure-fire star of the future. Not only due to his links with Golden Boy Promotions and their head honcho Oscar De La Hoya, who has praised Gomez highly since he signed but also his exceptional amateur pedigree.
Gomez first became a "fighter to watch" in 2007 when he won the 54KG division at the World Cadet Championships in Baku. On route to winning the competition he stopped 3 of his 4 opponents, with only finalist Elvin Aliyev managing to survive the schedule with Gomez.
Gomez's success would continue in the amateur as he went on to claim the 2009 US National Championships, beating the highly touted Jose Benevidez Jr in the final. Whilst the victory over Benevidez was a notable win, the year just got better for Gomez who went on to claim the Silver medal at the 2009 World Championships, losing in the final to Cuban superstar Rosniel Iglesias (who went on to claim Gold at the 2012 Olympic Games).
Following his amateur success Gomez decided to turn professional in 2010 rather than remaining in the amateur ranks for the 2012 Olympic Games. He swiftly signed on to Oscar De La Hoya's "Golden Boy Promotions" and made his professional debut in April of that year stopping Clayvonne Howard in the 3rd round of a bout on the under-card of Bernard Hopkins v Roy Jones Jr II.
By the end of 2010 Gomez had swiftly and effectively moved his professional record on to 7-0 (6) with only the experienced Ramon Montano managing to survive the distance. The following year saw Gomez continue his development, and his winning run as he scored 5 more wins (3 by T/KO) however for the first time as a professional he struggled as the under-rated Adrian Granados pushed him close.
Since defeating James Hope in December 2011, Gomez hasn't fought, however he returns to the ring this coming Saturday to face experienced Mexican Manuel Leyva (21-9, 12). Whilst on paper Leyva is a good opponent, it needs to be noted that Leyva ia 1-7 in his last 8 contests dating back over 3 years and has been stopped 5 times over those 8 bouts.
Showing posts with label Boxing Prospect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boxing Prospect. Show all posts
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Tyron Zeuge
In the past boxing's super power has been America with a high number of big fights and top fighters all hailing from the states. In recent years however boxing has grown in popularity across Europe with Germany now becoming a major player in both the top fights and top fighters.
Germany has become a bit of safe haven for not only boxers from around Eastern Europe, such as the Klitschko's from the Ukraine or Arthur Abraham from Armenia, but also boxers from around the world, such as Cuban Yoan Pablo Hernandez and Brit Ola Afolabi. Despite this Germany also has a crop of their own, home grown fighters and one such fighter is the very promising youngster Tyron Zeuge (3-0, 3).
The 20 year old Zeuge, a talented Super Middleweight turned professional earlier this year following an excellent amateur career that saw him winning various national and international championships. Included in those competition victories were the 2009 European Youth Championships (75KG) and the 2010 German National Championships (81KG) (amongst many others) as Zeuge became one of the most highly sought after amateurs in Germany.
After missing out on a place at the World Amateur Champions in 2011 Zeuge seemed set to turn professional however he remained an amateur until the end of 2011 allowing him to compete at the 2011 German National Championships (where he was controversially beaten in the semi final). In early 2012 he finally made the long awaited move over to the professional ranks and in March Zeuge made his professional debut by stopping the over-matched Yauheni Bohdanouski in just 74 seconds.
Just weeks after his professional debut Zeuge secured his second victory as a professional by stopping Venezuelan born Italian Santo Drago in 3 rounds, becoming the first man to stop Drago in 7 bouts. More recently Zeuge stopped Spanish based Ecuadorian Carlos Caicedo, also in 3 rounds. Whilst Caicedo might not be anything special, the fact that Zeuge, in just his 3 bout as a professional, did a quicker job on him than the much more experienced "world level" Dimitri Sartison is rather impressive (it took Sartison 5 rounds).
Zeuge is looking for his fourth professional win this coming weekend when he faces unbeaten Belgian Matingu Kindele (3-0). Hopefully a win over Kindele will help Zeuge progress on to more meaningful bouts as he continues his development, however at just 20 years old he has a lot of time to develop and the natural ability to really become something special.
Germany has become a bit of safe haven for not only boxers from around Eastern Europe, such as the Klitschko's from the Ukraine or Arthur Abraham from Armenia, but also boxers from around the world, such as Cuban Yoan Pablo Hernandez and Brit Ola Afolabi. Despite this Germany also has a crop of their own, home grown fighters and one such fighter is the very promising youngster Tyron Zeuge (3-0, 3).
The 20 year old Zeuge, a talented Super Middleweight turned professional earlier this year following an excellent amateur career that saw him winning various national and international championships. Included in those competition victories were the 2009 European Youth Championships (75KG) and the 2010 German National Championships (81KG) (amongst many others) as Zeuge became one of the most highly sought after amateurs in Germany.
After missing out on a place at the World Amateur Champions in 2011 Zeuge seemed set to turn professional however he remained an amateur until the end of 2011 allowing him to compete at the 2011 German National Championships (where he was controversially beaten in the semi final). In early 2012 he finally made the long awaited move over to the professional ranks and in March Zeuge made his professional debut by stopping the over-matched Yauheni Bohdanouski in just 74 seconds.
Just weeks after his professional debut Zeuge secured his second victory as a professional by stopping Venezuelan born Italian Santo Drago in 3 rounds, becoming the first man to stop Drago in 7 bouts. More recently Zeuge stopped Spanish based Ecuadorian Carlos Caicedo, also in 3 rounds. Whilst Caicedo might not be anything special, the fact that Zeuge, in just his 3 bout as a professional, did a quicker job on him than the much more experienced "world level" Dimitri Sartison is rather impressive (it took Sartison 5 rounds).
Zeuge is looking for his fourth professional win this coming weekend when he faces unbeaten Belgian Matingu Kindele (3-0). Hopefully a win over Kindele will help Zeuge progress on to more meaningful bouts as he continues his development, however at just 20 years old he has a lot of time to develop and the natural ability to really become something special.
Friday, 26 October 2012
Tremaine Williams
Over the past few years people have been declaring boxing in the US a dying sport. This is despite the high profile success of fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jr and the rise (and rise) of Adrien Broner and Andre Ward. Another fighter expected by many to follow in their foot steps is teenager Tremaine Williams (3-0, 2) who many insiders are tipping as one of the sports genuinely elite talents.
The 19 year old Williams first came to prominence in the amateur side of the sport where he was a genuine super talent despite being so young. In fact it's fair to say that the first glimpse of Williams' superstar potential came back when he was just a 16 year old at the 2009 USA Junior National Championships. Despite failing to win the tournament Williams shone in the 52KG division making his way to the final before losing by a single point to Ray Ximenez.
After his success in the 2009 Junior championships a lot was expected from Williams going in to the 2010 US National PAL Championships, though sadly his tournament came to an early end after just a bout as he suffered a walk-over "loss" in the Quarter-Finals to John Herrera before Rau'shee Warren eventually won the tournament.
With the disappointment of the 2010 PAL Championships behind him, Williams had an outstanding 2011. He was sensational in the US National Golden Gloves winning the tournament in the 56KG division beating Gary Russell III (the younger brother of professional prospect Gary Russell) along the way. Sadly, despite his Golden Gloves triumph, Williams did fail at the Olympic Qualifiers, losing twice to O'Shanique Foster (the eventual runner up).
Having missed out on his Olympic dream, Williams wouldn't wait long to start his professional career and in April 2012 he made his debut in the paid ranks. On debut Williams was sensational stopping Jesse Anguiano in just 141 one sided seconds as he looked every bit the star in the making. Whilst it was one sided, no one could have asked to have seen more from Williams than what he showed with poise, patience and lightning quick speed.
Since his debut Williams has fought twice, defeating Theo Johnson (KO3) and Jazzma Hogue (UD4) to progress his record against limited opposition. This coming weekend Williams is set for yet another test of his professional abilities as he fights for the fourth time in the paid ranks. A win here is almost certain and will hopefully progress Williams to facing tougher fighters that won't be shell shocked by his speed and natural ability.
Whilst we've yet to see Williams tagged by anything notable it's unlikely that any opponent he is likely to face in the next 24 months will really be too testing. Expect him to be developed well by manager James Prince who knows how to guide a young fighter very well, and hopefully by the age of 22 Williams will have managed to get the attention of a major promoter and maybe even some TV exposure on ESPN.
The 19 year old Williams first came to prominence in the amateur side of the sport where he was a genuine super talent despite being so young. In fact it's fair to say that the first glimpse of Williams' superstar potential came back when he was just a 16 year old at the 2009 USA Junior National Championships. Despite failing to win the tournament Williams shone in the 52KG division making his way to the final before losing by a single point to Ray Ximenez.
After his success in the 2009 Junior championships a lot was expected from Williams going in to the 2010 US National PAL Championships, though sadly his tournament came to an early end after just a bout as he suffered a walk-over "loss" in the Quarter-Finals to John Herrera before Rau'shee Warren eventually won the tournament.
With the disappointment of the 2010 PAL Championships behind him, Williams had an outstanding 2011. He was sensational in the US National Golden Gloves winning the tournament in the 56KG division beating Gary Russell III (the younger brother of professional prospect Gary Russell) along the way. Sadly, despite his Golden Gloves triumph, Williams did fail at the Olympic Qualifiers, losing twice to O'Shanique Foster (the eventual runner up).
Having missed out on his Olympic dream, Williams wouldn't wait long to start his professional career and in April 2012 he made his debut in the paid ranks. On debut Williams was sensational stopping Jesse Anguiano in just 141 one sided seconds as he looked every bit the star in the making. Whilst it was one sided, no one could have asked to have seen more from Williams than what he showed with poise, patience and lightning quick speed.
Since his debut Williams has fought twice, defeating Theo Johnson (KO3) and Jazzma Hogue (UD4) to progress his record against limited opposition. This coming weekend Williams is set for yet another test of his professional abilities as he fights for the fourth time in the paid ranks. A win here is almost certain and will hopefully progress Williams to facing tougher fighters that won't be shell shocked by his speed and natural ability.
Whilst we've yet to see Williams tagged by anything notable it's unlikely that any opponent he is likely to face in the next 24 months will really be too testing. Expect him to be developed well by manager James Prince who knows how to guide a young fighter very well, and hopefully by the age of 22 Williams will have managed to get the attention of a major promoter and maybe even some TV exposure on ESPN.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Jorge Sanchez
Panama's boxing scene isn't thriving, though they do have some excellent fighters, one of which is the unbeaten prospect Jorge Sanchez (7-0, 5). Known as "El Bufalo" the 22 year old Sanchez is seen as one of Panama's most exciting youngsters in a generation, and with good cause as he appears to be something very special.
Sanchez made his professional debut back in February 2011 when he took a 4 round decision win over compatriot Osvaldo Diaz. By the end of the year Sanchez had swiftly added 4 more victories, stopping 3 of those 4 opponents including the previously unbeaten Jesus Munoz (TKO3) and the much more experienced Nando Vailarin (KO1). interestingly the combined record of his first 5 opponents was an impressive 20-8-3 (prior to facing Sanchez).
Whilst Sanchez' debut year was really successful, he's continued to develop well through 2012 as well scoring a further 2 victories so far, both by TKO, taking out Ezequiel Hamilton (TKO3) and Nelson Guillen (TKO2) as he's continued to improve.
Sanchez's next bout will be his toughest so far as he faces hard hitting Venezuelan Franklin Manzanilla (9-1, 8). Whilst Sanchez is rightfully considered the favourite, this is far from a bygone conclusion, due in part to the fact that Manzanilla is a genuinely hard hitter who has only gone the distance twice (including his losing effort to Nelson Guillen and a victory over the experienced Michael Isaac Carrero).
If Sanchez gets beyond Manzanilla expect him to be developed for another year or two before hopefully fighting in either Mexico or the US in 2014 before being brought on further and developed in to a title contender.
Sanchez made his professional debut back in February 2011 when he took a 4 round decision win over compatriot Osvaldo Diaz. By the end of the year Sanchez had swiftly added 4 more victories, stopping 3 of those 4 opponents including the previously unbeaten Jesus Munoz (TKO3) and the much more experienced Nando Vailarin (KO1). interestingly the combined record of his first 5 opponents was an impressive 20-8-3 (prior to facing Sanchez).
Whilst Sanchez' debut year was really successful, he's continued to develop well through 2012 as well scoring a further 2 victories so far, both by TKO, taking out Ezequiel Hamilton (TKO3) and Nelson Guillen (TKO2) as he's continued to improve.
Sanchez's next bout will be his toughest so far as he faces hard hitting Venezuelan Franklin Manzanilla (9-1, 8). Whilst Sanchez is rightfully considered the favourite, this is far from a bygone conclusion, due in part to the fact that Manzanilla is a genuinely hard hitter who has only gone the distance twice (including his losing effort to Nelson Guillen and a victory over the experienced Michael Isaac Carrero).
If Sanchez gets beyond Manzanilla expect him to be developed for another year or two before hopefully fighting in either Mexico or the US in 2014 before being brought on further and developed in to a title contender.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Genesis Servania
The Filipino boxing scene is one of the hottest right now and that's due to the huge number of prospects the country has. In the past I've looked at Milan Melindo, Sylvester Lopez and Froilan Saludar and it's time to add the name of unbeaten rising star Genesis Servania (16-0, 5) to our little ensemble.
Born in 1991 Genesis is one of the "babies" of professional boxing though is a fighter who is almost certainly a star in the making and is already climbing up through the boxrec and IBO top 100 at Super Bantamweight which is a division that Genesis has grown into since his debut back in 2009. In his debut Genesis weighed just 108lbs as he defeated Mike Espanosa (TKO2) and swiftly followed it up with 6 more wins in the next 12 months as he kept busy and kept growing and by the time he stopped Melchor Abcede (KO6) Genesis had become a fully blown Bantamweight.
Genesis had quickly and quietly gone about his business racking up wins against lower tier opposition with out too many problems, though he did struggle against Jun Piacidad winning just a split decision against the more experienced opponent in Genesis' first foray into the 8 round distance. Despite the fact he had been taking out pointing lower level opposition it seemed only a matter of time before until Genesis would have to step up and in 2011 he faced his first name fighter in Gerson Guerrero. Guerrero, a former title contender took an impressive record of 34-8 (26) into the bout against the then 14-0 (5) Servania, despite the difference in experience Servania was too big and too Fresh for his well respected Mexican opponent.
Servania has picked up a solitary win since defeating Guerrero though now finds himself in another test as he faces tough Kenyan Nick Otieno (21-7, 9). Although Otieno isn't a world level boxer he has recently fought for the Commonwealth Bantamweight title against Jamie McDonnell and has also lost to the talented Alexander Bakhtin so he has certainly mixed with a better class of opposition than Servania. Saying that however we would expect the young Filipino to defeat Otieno over the distance.
Born in 1991 Genesis is one of the "babies" of professional boxing though is a fighter who is almost certainly a star in the making and is already climbing up through the boxrec and IBO top 100 at Super Bantamweight which is a division that Genesis has grown into since his debut back in 2009. In his debut Genesis weighed just 108lbs as he defeated Mike Espanosa (TKO2) and swiftly followed it up with 6 more wins in the next 12 months as he kept busy and kept growing and by the time he stopped Melchor Abcede (KO6) Genesis had become a fully blown Bantamweight.
Genesis had quickly and quietly gone about his business racking up wins against lower tier opposition with out too many problems, though he did struggle against Jun Piacidad winning just a split decision against the more experienced opponent in Genesis' first foray into the 8 round distance. Despite the fact he had been taking out pointing lower level opposition it seemed only a matter of time before until Genesis would have to step up and in 2011 he faced his first name fighter in Gerson Guerrero. Guerrero, a former title contender took an impressive record of 34-8 (26) into the bout against the then 14-0 (5) Servania, despite the difference in experience Servania was too big and too Fresh for his well respected Mexican opponent.
Servania has picked up a solitary win since defeating Guerrero though now finds himself in another test as he faces tough Kenyan Nick Otieno (21-7, 9). Although Otieno isn't a world level boxer he has recently fought for the Commonwealth Bantamweight title against Jamie McDonnell and has also lost to the talented Alexander Bakhtin so he has certainly mixed with a better class of opposition than Servania. Saying that however we would expect the young Filipino to defeat Otieno over the distance.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Ronald Cruz
The Welterweight divisions seems to be a division full of promise with a huge number of emerging fighters coming through the ranks and making a name for themselves. We currently have fighters like Diego Gabriel Chaves, Mike Jones, Yoshihiro Kamegai, Kell Brook, Thomas Dulorme and Wale Omotoso all on the edge of a world title fight though one name that often gets over looked is 25 year old American Ronald Cruz (15-0, 12).
Born in Manati, Puerto Rico though now based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Cruz is one of the Welterweight division's best kept secrets and yet he's also one of the division's most promising young fighters and one who is going about his work incredibly well with out the hype of some of the other top prospects.
Cruz turned professional to little fan fare back in early 2009 and after having a relatively easy first year he was thrown into real bouts during 2010. In just his 9th fight he faced Juan Ramon Cruz (who entered 16-8-2) who had faced the likes of Urbano Antillon and Anthony Peterson when they had each had over 20 fights. Just months later Ronald would face Jeremy Bryan (14-1 entering the bout) dropping him 3 times enroute to a 6th round KO.
In Cruz's most recent bout he stopped the usually durable Anges Adjaho (now 25-7) in 5 rounds, only the second time Adjaho had been stopped in a career going back over a decade. What made that victory impressive is that Cruz managed to do what the likes of contenders Brad Solomon, Joel Julio and prospect Shawn Porter couldn't manage in 10 rounds a piece.
Cruz will be facing the hard hitting and fun to watch Allen Conyers (12-5, 9) this coming Saturday in yet another tough bout. Whilst Conyers doesn't have an impressive record he has often only been beaten by top opponents such as Delvin Rodriguez, James Kirkland and Carlos Molina and recently upset the then 20-0 James De la Rosa. Cruz is in with a fighter who could really give him a great work out and even a shock if he isn't prepared for a hard fight.
Video below thanks to superboxmma5
Born in Manati, Puerto Rico though now based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Cruz is one of the Welterweight division's best kept secrets and yet he's also one of the division's most promising young fighters and one who is going about his work incredibly well with out the hype of some of the other top prospects.
Cruz turned professional to little fan fare back in early 2009 and after having a relatively easy first year he was thrown into real bouts during 2010. In just his 9th fight he faced Juan Ramon Cruz (who entered 16-8-2) who had faced the likes of Urbano Antillon and Anthony Peterson when they had each had over 20 fights. Just months later Ronald would face Jeremy Bryan (14-1 entering the bout) dropping him 3 times enroute to a 6th round KO.
In Cruz's most recent bout he stopped the usually durable Anges Adjaho (now 25-7) in 5 rounds, only the second time Adjaho had been stopped in a career going back over a decade. What made that victory impressive is that Cruz managed to do what the likes of contenders Brad Solomon, Joel Julio and prospect Shawn Porter couldn't manage in 10 rounds a piece.
Cruz will be facing the hard hitting and fun to watch Allen Conyers (12-5, 9) this coming Saturday in yet another tough bout. Whilst Conyers doesn't have an impressive record he has often only been beaten by top opponents such as Delvin Rodriguez, James Kirkland and Carlos Molina and recently upset the then 20-0 James De la Rosa. Cruz is in with a fighter who could really give him a great work out and even a shock if he isn't prepared for a hard fight.
Video below thanks to superboxmma5
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Bradley Saunders
Sometimes it's hard to be excited about a debut, especially when you can't be too sure about whether or not the fight will actually take place or not (such as Egviney Tishchenko's recently cancelled debut) this week however we are incredibly excited about Englishman Bradley Saunders who recently decided to turn professional with Frank Warren. Saunders will be making his debut against journeyman Jason Nesbitt (9-139-3-1, 6) on Friday night on Box Nation on the under-card of Kevin Mitchell's fight with Felix Lora.
What makes it easy to get excited about Saunders is know what's behind the former British amateur standout who really has made an impact on the international stage already. Fighting out of the South Durham ABC Saunders won a national title in 2006. The following year Saunders would win bronze medals at both the World Amateur Championships and the European Union Championships. In 2008 Saunders would be part of the brilliant Olympic team Britain took to Beijing (which included James DeGale, Frankie Gavin, Billy Joe Saunders and David Price), although he failed to medal at the games he did make a quick inpression stopping Ghana's Samuel Kotey Neequaye inside a round.
Whilst many of his Olympic team mates decided to turn professional soon afterwards Saunder stuck to the amateur scene though sadly missed out on the 2009 World Amateur Championships due to a hand injury (broken thumb). After that set back Saunders set his eyes towards the 2012 Olympic games in London though since then his plans have changed and instead Saunders has decided to put Olympic aspiration behind him and prepare for a new career as a professional fighter.
Whilst hopes are high for Saunders on Friday night he is facing a born survivour in Nesbitt who has only been stopped 11 times in a 152 and the last of those stoppages came in 2009 against Gary Sykes (who later went on to win the British super featherweight title). A victory for Saunders is expected though a stoppage would be incredibly impressive.
What makes it easy to get excited about Saunders is know what's behind the former British amateur standout who really has made an impact on the international stage already. Fighting out of the South Durham ABC Saunders won a national title in 2006. The following year Saunders would win bronze medals at both the World Amateur Championships and the European Union Championships. In 2008 Saunders would be part of the brilliant Olympic team Britain took to Beijing (which included James DeGale, Frankie Gavin, Billy Joe Saunders and David Price), although he failed to medal at the games he did make a quick inpression stopping Ghana's Samuel Kotey Neequaye inside a round.
Whilst many of his Olympic team mates decided to turn professional soon afterwards Saunder stuck to the amateur scene though sadly missed out on the 2009 World Amateur Championships due to a hand injury (broken thumb). After that set back Saunders set his eyes towards the 2012 Olympic games in London though since then his plans have changed and instead Saunders has decided to put Olympic aspiration behind him and prepare for a new career as a professional fighter.
Whilst hopes are high for Saunders on Friday night he is facing a born survivour in Nesbitt who has only been stopped 11 times in a 152 and the last of those stoppages came in 2009 against Gary Sykes (who later went on to win the British super featherweight title). A victory for Saunders is expected though a stoppage would be incredibly impressive.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
The return of Carlos Ivan Velasquez
I started this blog almost a year ago and one of the very first fighters I mentioned was Puerto Rico's Carlos Ivan Velasquez, a fighter that I felt at the time was heading on to super stardom. Sadly since that blog Velasquez has been out of action, in fact Velasquez hasn't fought since beating Eduardo Arcos way back in July 2010. Thankfully however he is set to return to the ring on 3rd February fighting a yet to be named opponent in the Texas Station Casino, Las Vegas.
Whilst we don't know why he was out of action and we also don't know who he is facing I am very glad to see that he is returning to the ring as he looked sensational in early footage that I found and anyone who beat both Arcos and Ira Terry in their first 15 fights is worth making a note of.
Velazuez currently holds a record of 13-0 (11) though at 27 years old he may well have wasted 18 months of his prime development years so hopefully his handlers will force him to make up for lost time this year.
Whilst we don't know why he was out of action and we also don't know who he is facing I am very glad to see that he is returning to the ring as he looked sensational in early footage that I found and anyone who beat both Arcos and Ira Terry in their first 15 fights is worth making a note of.
Velazuez currently holds a record of 13-0 (11) though at 27 years old he may well have wasted 18 months of his prime development years so hopefully his handlers will force him to make up for lost time this year.
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Julio Ceja
When you get a 19 year old with more than a handful of fights you tend to get a little bit excited and with Mexicans it maybe a little expected but sometimes there is just something about the fighter that makes you more than a little bit interested and that's what we have in Julio Ceja who at 19 has a record of 17-0 (16).
Ceja made his debut in 2009 aged just 16 and stopped Floro Carranza in the opening round before being taken 4 rounds by Fernando Curiel in September 2009, the fight with Curiel has been the one and only time that Ceja has had to hear the final bell as he has ran through opponents with alarming ease. By the end of 2009 Ceja had moved to 5-0 (4) with 3 opening round wins. The following year Ceja would add 7 more wins, each of those coming by KO/TKO with another 2 coming in the opening round as he swiftly moved to 12-0 (11).
Now I won't pretend that Ceja's first 12 opponents were anything to right home about, most were unknown fighters with only a handful of rounds of experience though in 2011 Ceja proved that he could face a better quality of opponent and still impress. In his 15th fight Ceja fought Cesar Javier Gandara (who entered 14-1) in a bout for the vacant WBC FECARBOX Super Flyweight title, Gandara, like 13 men before him was stopped as Ceja continued his tear through the ranks. In his next fight Ceja stopped the then 12-0 Alejandro Morales in just 1 round.
Whilst it is fair to say that Grandara and Morales weren't that experienced themselves despite having solid looking paper records it's now time that Ceja did face his first real test and this coming weekend he faces Ronald Barrera (30-8-2, 19). Barrera of Barranquilla, Colombia is a talented southpaw who has repeatedly challenged for world titles over the past few years (and arguably beat the great Ivan Calderon back in 2007). Although he has yet to win a world title has has faced Yutaka Niida (WBA Minimumweight champion), Ivan Calderon (WBO Minimumweight champion), Raul Garcia (IBF Minimumweight champion), Omar Nino Romero (WBC Light Flyweigth champion) and Juan Carlos Reveco (WBA Interim Light Flyweight champion) with 6 of his 8 losses coming to these men.
Whilst Ceja may prove to be too big, strong and too good for Barrera the bout is a decent test for the Mexican Super Flyweight against a talented and proven fighter. Whilst I'd expect Ceja to add another stoppage victim to his record this is easily going to be the most impressive opponent he will have faced in his short and impressive career.
Note an updated piece on Ceja can be found at http://www.boxingprospects.info/1/post/2012/04/julio-ceja.html
Footage below thanks to marvinkbox
Ceja made his debut in 2009 aged just 16 and stopped Floro Carranza in the opening round before being taken 4 rounds by Fernando Curiel in September 2009, the fight with Curiel has been the one and only time that Ceja has had to hear the final bell as he has ran through opponents with alarming ease. By the end of 2009 Ceja had moved to 5-0 (4) with 3 opening round wins. The following year Ceja would add 7 more wins, each of those coming by KO/TKO with another 2 coming in the opening round as he swiftly moved to 12-0 (11).
Now I won't pretend that Ceja's first 12 opponents were anything to right home about, most were unknown fighters with only a handful of rounds of experience though in 2011 Ceja proved that he could face a better quality of opponent and still impress. In his 15th fight Ceja fought Cesar Javier Gandara (who entered 14-1) in a bout for the vacant WBC FECARBOX Super Flyweight title, Gandara, like 13 men before him was stopped as Ceja continued his tear through the ranks. In his next fight Ceja stopped the then 12-0 Alejandro Morales in just 1 round.
Whilst it is fair to say that Grandara and Morales weren't that experienced themselves despite having solid looking paper records it's now time that Ceja did face his first real test and this coming weekend he faces Ronald Barrera (30-8-2, 19). Barrera of Barranquilla, Colombia is a talented southpaw who has repeatedly challenged for world titles over the past few years (and arguably beat the great Ivan Calderon back in 2007). Although he has yet to win a world title has has faced Yutaka Niida (WBA Minimumweight champion), Ivan Calderon (WBO Minimumweight champion), Raul Garcia (IBF Minimumweight champion), Omar Nino Romero (WBC Light Flyweigth champion) and Juan Carlos Reveco (WBA Interim Light Flyweight champion) with 6 of his 8 losses coming to these men.
Whilst Ceja may prove to be too big, strong and too good for Barrera the bout is a decent test for the Mexican Super Flyweight against a talented and proven fighter. Whilst I'd expect Ceja to add another stoppage victim to his record this is easily going to be the most impressive opponent he will have faced in his short and impressive career.
Note an updated piece on Ceja can be found at http://www.boxingprospects.info/1/post/2012/04/julio-ceja.html
Footage below thanks to marvinkbox
Monday, 9 January 2012
Yordenis Ugás
On the whole Cuban defectors haven't been hugely in the professional ranks, with only really Yuriorkis Gamboa and Guillermo Rigondeaux making any major waves so far (other than the waves Odlanier Solis makes every time he goes for a swim). Despite this Cuban's have got the potential to turn professional boxing on it's head, the talent from Cuba is amazing with the likes of Erislandy Lara and Yunier Dorticos climbing the ranks quickly. Another man who is worth take a note of is former amateur star Yordenis Ugás (10-0, 5) who may emerge as one of the real top Cuban's.
The 25 year old Ugás is like many of his compatriots, a very well schooled amateur, in fact his accomplishments in the unpaid ranks say it all as he's won World Cup Silver (2005), World Amateur Gold (2005), Central American and Caribbean Games Gold (2006), Pan Am Games Gold (2007) and Olympic Bronze (2008). Like many Cuban amateurs he was incredibly technical and used his skill and natural ability well to cover up what was repeatedly referred to as a shaky chin.
Despite winning the 2009 Cuban National title at Light Welterweight Ugás was overlooked for the World Amateur Championships later that year and elected to defect to the USA to turn professional. Ugás would make his professional debut on July 9th 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia where he defeated fellow debutant Dino Dumonjic over a 4 round shut out. Just 3 later Ugás was out again, this time stopping DeJuan Jackson in just 88 seconds.
In just his third bout Ugás made his television debut and made a swift impact in stopping Marqus Jackson in just 2 rounds on ESPN Friday Night Fights in August 2010 as his handlers kept him busy. Ugás used his chance to show off his ability on television and looked impressive with incredibly fast hands, solid defence and very good shot selection after he settled into the fight. The bout ended in the 2nd round as Ugás piled on the pressure and Jackson repeatedly went to the canvas as Ugás moved to 3-0 (2) and by the end of the year that had become 5-0 (3).
Whilst 2010 had been a busy year for Ugás with 5 fights in around 5 months 2011 wouldn't see him as active though it did see him stepping up to face better competition with the stand out win being over New Yorker Kenny Abril. Like the previous year Ugás would fit in 5 fights as he moved to 10-0 (5) and began to slowly show that he genuine skills to go with his amateur reputation. To start 2012 and really keep the bandwagon moving Ugás will face Esteban Almaraz (10-4, 4) in a bought that will be shown on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights alongside the meeting of Teon Kennedy and Christopher Martin in what appears to be a real cross rounds fight.
Although not strictly speaking a prospect I would like try and give all you fans a heads up that former world title challenger Javier Maciel fights on TYC Sports in Argentina soon after the ESPN2 card finishes. I'm a firm believer that Maciel is a real danger man at Light Middleweight and one to watch out for in the next year or two, so he may be worth staying up and watching.
Video of Ugás' television debut can be seen below thanks to damit305
The 25 year old Ugás is like many of his compatriots, a very well schooled amateur, in fact his accomplishments in the unpaid ranks say it all as he's won World Cup Silver (2005), World Amateur Gold (2005), Central American and Caribbean Games Gold (2006), Pan Am Games Gold (2007) and Olympic Bronze (2008). Like many Cuban amateurs he was incredibly technical and used his skill and natural ability well to cover up what was repeatedly referred to as a shaky chin.
Despite winning the 2009 Cuban National title at Light Welterweight Ugás was overlooked for the World Amateur Championships later that year and elected to defect to the USA to turn professional. Ugás would make his professional debut on July 9th 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia where he defeated fellow debutant Dino Dumonjic over a 4 round shut out. Just 3 later Ugás was out again, this time stopping DeJuan Jackson in just 88 seconds.
In just his third bout Ugás made his television debut and made a swift impact in stopping Marqus Jackson in just 2 rounds on ESPN Friday Night Fights in August 2010 as his handlers kept him busy. Ugás used his chance to show off his ability on television and looked impressive with incredibly fast hands, solid defence and very good shot selection after he settled into the fight. The bout ended in the 2nd round as Ugás piled on the pressure and Jackson repeatedly went to the canvas as Ugás moved to 3-0 (2) and by the end of the year that had become 5-0 (3).
Whilst 2010 had been a busy year for Ugás with 5 fights in around 5 months 2011 wouldn't see him as active though it did see him stepping up to face better competition with the stand out win being over New Yorker Kenny Abril. Like the previous year Ugás would fit in 5 fights as he moved to 10-0 (5) and began to slowly show that he genuine skills to go with his amateur reputation. To start 2012 and really keep the bandwagon moving Ugás will face Esteban Almaraz (10-4, 4) in a bought that will be shown on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights alongside the meeting of Teon Kennedy and Christopher Martin in what appears to be a real cross rounds fight.
Although not strictly speaking a prospect I would like try and give all you fans a heads up that former world title challenger Javier Maciel fights on TYC Sports in Argentina soon after the ESPN2 card finishes. I'm a firm believer that Maciel is a real danger man at Light Middleweight and one to watch out for in the next year or two, so he may be worth staying up and watching.
Video of Ugás' television debut can be seen below thanks to damit305
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Steve Martinez
So now we're in 2012 time to look at fighters who will be making an impact this year and to start with we are looking at very talented American Steve Martinez (11-0, 9). Martinez is a 21 year old Light Middleweight prospect from the tough streets of the Bronx in New York and is expected to make a real mark in the next few years, though could well be on the fringes by the end of this year.
Martinez first came to the attention of boxing fans back in 2008 when he would win the National Golden Gloves (at 152lbs) by beating Sammy Vasquez in the final. The teenager however was already well established as an amateur before the national success with prior victories in the New York Golden Gloves and a growing reputation as one of the USA's elite amateurs.
In 2009 Martinez would turn professional and defeat Keith Collins in just 135 seconds before soon adding 2 more quick wins to move to 3-0 (3) by the end of the year. Despite being just a teenager he was quickly getting attention and through 2010 he continued to rip through opponents as he advanced to 7-0 (6) by the end of the year. Whilst he wasn't facing anyone of note he was showing a lot of promise and it seemed only a matter of time before he would step up a level or two and face real tests for the first time.
In Martinez's first test of 2011 he defeated the experienced Ishwar Amador in just a round before being taken a 4 schedule by Eric Marriott. It was the year ending victory over Jay Krupp that really helped put Martinez on the map as a professional as he moved to 11-0 (9) and started to get attention to go with his talented. To start 2012 off Martinez will be in his toughest test to date as he faces Denis Douglin (13-1, 8) as part of an ESPN2 Friday Night Fight card. A win should see Martinez given more another tough test later this year before moving on to bigger and better things in one of boxing's most under-rated divisions.
Martinez first came to the attention of boxing fans back in 2008 when he would win the National Golden Gloves (at 152lbs) by beating Sammy Vasquez in the final. The teenager however was already well established as an amateur before the national success with prior victories in the New York Golden Gloves and a growing reputation as one of the USA's elite amateurs.
In 2009 Martinez would turn professional and defeat Keith Collins in just 135 seconds before soon adding 2 more quick wins to move to 3-0 (3) by the end of the year. Despite being just a teenager he was quickly getting attention and through 2010 he continued to rip through opponents as he advanced to 7-0 (6) by the end of the year. Whilst he wasn't facing anyone of note he was showing a lot of promise and it seemed only a matter of time before he would step up a level or two and face real tests for the first time.
In Martinez's first test of 2011 he defeated the experienced Ishwar Amador in just a round before being taken a 4 schedule by Eric Marriott. It was the year ending victory over Jay Krupp that really helped put Martinez on the map as a professional as he moved to 11-0 (9) and started to get attention to go with his talented. To start 2012 off Martinez will be in his toughest test to date as he faces Denis Douglin (13-1, 8) as part of an ESPN2 Friday Night Fight card. A win should see Martinez given more another tough test later this year before moving on to bigger and better things in one of boxing's most under-rated divisions.
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Nicholas Walters
When it comes to well hidden boxing prospects few have been as well hidden as Jamaican power puncher Nicholas “The Axeman” Walters, a Featherweight who seems like he's heading to the top. Originally of Jamaica Walters has been based in Panama for much of his career and as a result he's been relatively difficult to watch unless you're a really hardcore fan, however if you made the effort to watch him you were richly rewarded. With an aggressive mindset, thunderous power and a fighters attitude Walters has rarely been a boring fighter to watch since turning professional and running up a record of 19-0 (16).
As an amateur Walters made his name competing for Jamaica in a number of international competitions and ran up a record of 49-11. Included in Walters' amateur achievements was a Bronze medal at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games (where future world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa also won a Bronze medal).
Walters made his professional debut in August 2008 when he out pointed Esteban Ramos and by the end of the year Walters was 7-0 (5). Although Walters had run up a good record he had shown signs of being vulnerable and was dropped in his bout with Alejandro Corrales before fighting back to take a wide decision over a 6 round bout.
Whilst 2008 was a good year for Walters who had been busy and showing signs of improvement he had not really faced anyone notable and after 5 wins in 2009 to move his record to 12-0 (10) his handlers felt it was time to give him his first test. Walters' would face Carlos Manuel Reyes (who was then 13-0) in December 2009 in a bout for the vacant WBA Fedelatin featherweight title. The bout with Reyes proved to be by far the toughest of Walters' career but also the most impressive as he fought much of the bout with a damaged hand relying heavily on his under-rated boxing skills. Despite being dropped in round 7 Walters would take a wide decision over the 11 rounds to move to 13-0 (10).
After giving the hand ample time to recover Walters would return to the ring in April 2010 and defeat Alexander Alonso via a 6th round TKO. Walters would then add 3 more stoppage wins later in the year (defending his WBA Fedelatin featherweight title on two occasions) to move to 17-0 (14) and have a secure WBA ranking. Despite the huge support he had back in the land of his birth it wasn't until June 2011 that Walters would go back and fight in front of a “home crowd”. Walters would travel to Kingston to defend his WBA Fedelatin featherweight title against Argel Salinas, sadly for the Jamaican fans the fight lasted less than two rounds as “Axe man” forced a quick stoppage.
In his most recent fight Walters put on an explosive showing against the experienced Irving Berry which included Berry being knocked out of the ring in the second round before being stopped in round 6. This fight can be seen in it's entirety in the two videos below (thanks to SuperBoxingVideos).
Although no date has been set for Nicholas Walters' next fight I'd be expecting the highly rated Featherweight to be stepping in with another credible opponent as he looks to secure a world title fight in the foreseeable future.
As an amateur Walters made his name competing for Jamaica in a number of international competitions and ran up a record of 49-11. Included in Walters' amateur achievements was a Bronze medal at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games (where future world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa also won a Bronze medal).
Walters made his professional debut in August 2008 when he out pointed Esteban Ramos and by the end of the year Walters was 7-0 (5). Although Walters had run up a good record he had shown signs of being vulnerable and was dropped in his bout with Alejandro Corrales before fighting back to take a wide decision over a 6 round bout.
Whilst 2008 was a good year for Walters who had been busy and showing signs of improvement he had not really faced anyone notable and after 5 wins in 2009 to move his record to 12-0 (10) his handlers felt it was time to give him his first test. Walters' would face Carlos Manuel Reyes (who was then 13-0) in December 2009 in a bout for the vacant WBA Fedelatin featherweight title. The bout with Reyes proved to be by far the toughest of Walters' career but also the most impressive as he fought much of the bout with a damaged hand relying heavily on his under-rated boxing skills. Despite being dropped in round 7 Walters would take a wide decision over the 11 rounds to move to 13-0 (10).
After giving the hand ample time to recover Walters would return to the ring in April 2010 and defeat Alexander Alonso via a 6th round TKO. Walters would then add 3 more stoppage wins later in the year (defending his WBA Fedelatin featherweight title on two occasions) to move to 17-0 (14) and have a secure WBA ranking. Despite the huge support he had back in the land of his birth it wasn't until June 2011 that Walters would go back and fight in front of a “home crowd”. Walters would travel to Kingston to defend his WBA Fedelatin featherweight title against Argel Salinas, sadly for the Jamaican fans the fight lasted less than two rounds as “Axe man” forced a quick stoppage.
In his most recent fight Walters put on an explosive showing against the experienced Irving Berry which included Berry being knocked out of the ring in the second round before being stopped in round 6. This fight can be seen in it's entirety in the two videos below (thanks to SuperBoxingVideos).
Although no date has been set for Nicholas Walters' next fight I'd be expecting the highly rated Featherweight to be stepping in with another credible opponent as he looks to secure a world title fight in the foreseeable future.
Javier Fortuna
Once up a time Joan Guzman was seen as a possible pound-for-pound great with amazing speed, respectable power and boxing skills that matched the very elite...then we found out that he couldn't control his weight as he grew heavier, failed to make weight and eventually faded into obscurity. Guzman was the last fighter from the Dominican Republic that really got boxing fans excited until now thanks to 21 year old prospect Javier Fortuna (17-0-0-1, 13).
Featherweight prospect Fortuna started boxing when he was 11 and become one of the top amateurs stars in the Dominican Republic winning a number of medals at the junior level of the sport. Javier however had no intention of staying an amateur for too long and turned to the paid ranks aged just 17. In Fortuna's debut he stopped Ricardo Johnson in the opening round and then ran up 4 more KO's (including one over the experienced Luis Sosa) before going 4 rounds with Carlos Diaz on a card in the US Virgin Islands that also featured John Jackson.
After running his record to 10-0 (8) Fortuna would step up to face former world title challenger Francisco Lorenzo in a 9 round bout. This bout ended prematurely as a clash of heads resulted in a 1 round No Contest after just 106 seconds. Although this left a minor mark on Fortuna's record it showed that his handlers had enough belief in him to at least put up a tough bout with Lorenzo. A month after the No Contest Fortuna stopped the over matched Cristian Martinez inside a round. Soon after the Martinez fight Fortuna traveled to Mexico and faced Gregorio Torres in a tough and close fight that Fortuna narrowly won.
In December 2010 Fortuna made his US debut when he faced the unbeaten Victor Valenzuela in New York and stopped him in 70 vicious and wild seconds (in a fight that can be seen in the video at the bottom of this blog post). The impact of Fortuna was instant and 3 months later Fortuna would return to the US to face Derrick Wilson in a fight for the WBC Youth Intercontinental title. Despite Wilson being very game he was dropped several times en route to being iced late in the 8th round.
Since beating Wilson Fortuna has added 3 more wins to his record including a 10 round decision win over Hugo Orlando Gomez (the first time Fortuna had been taken 10 rounds) and now prepares for his next big step up as he faces the tough and experienced Miguel Roman (37-8, 28) on the undercard of Marco Antonio Rubio v Matt Vanda. A win over the former world title contender showed see Fortuna well on his way to a world title fight of his own in the next 12 months.
Interestingly Fortuna's nickname of "El Abejon" translates as "The Drone".
Video below is thanks to reverseapachemaster1 and as mentioned above shows Fortuna's win over Victor Valenzuela.
Featherweight prospect Fortuna started boxing when he was 11 and become one of the top amateurs stars in the Dominican Republic winning a number of medals at the junior level of the sport. Javier however had no intention of staying an amateur for too long and turned to the paid ranks aged just 17. In Fortuna's debut he stopped Ricardo Johnson in the opening round and then ran up 4 more KO's (including one over the experienced Luis Sosa) before going 4 rounds with Carlos Diaz on a card in the US Virgin Islands that also featured John Jackson.
After running his record to 10-0 (8) Fortuna would step up to face former world title challenger Francisco Lorenzo in a 9 round bout. This bout ended prematurely as a clash of heads resulted in a 1 round No Contest after just 106 seconds. Although this left a minor mark on Fortuna's record it showed that his handlers had enough belief in him to at least put up a tough bout with Lorenzo. A month after the No Contest Fortuna stopped the over matched Cristian Martinez inside a round. Soon after the Martinez fight Fortuna traveled to Mexico and faced Gregorio Torres in a tough and close fight that Fortuna narrowly won.
In December 2010 Fortuna made his US debut when he faced the unbeaten Victor Valenzuela in New York and stopped him in 70 vicious and wild seconds (in a fight that can be seen in the video at the bottom of this blog post). The impact of Fortuna was instant and 3 months later Fortuna would return to the US to face Derrick Wilson in a fight for the WBC Youth Intercontinental title. Despite Wilson being very game he was dropped several times en route to being iced late in the 8th round.
Since beating Wilson Fortuna has added 3 more wins to his record including a 10 round decision win over Hugo Orlando Gomez (the first time Fortuna had been taken 10 rounds) and now prepares for his next big step up as he faces the tough and experienced Miguel Roman (37-8, 28) on the undercard of Marco Antonio Rubio v Matt Vanda. A win over the former world title contender showed see Fortuna well on his way to a world title fight of his own in the next 12 months.
Interestingly Fortuna's nickname of "El Abejon" translates as "The Drone".
Video below is thanks to reverseapachemaster1 and as mentioned above shows Fortuna's win over Victor Valenzuela.
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Boxing Prospects: Where are they now?
Since I started this blog back in March 2011 I have mentioned over 30 fighters so it seems only fitting, before the year ends, to see where the fighters have come since they were mentioned originally in this blog.
Carlos Ivan Velasquez-The biggest disappointment was our first prospect. Carlos hasn't fought in 17 months now after beating the tough Eduardo Arcos back in July 2010. Velasquez was a fighter I was genuinely very excited about though he appears to have just vanished off the face of the planet. The 27 year and his twin brother (Juan Carlos Velazquez, 10-1, 5) have both been MIA despite turning professional together in 2007.
Billy Joe Saunders-The British Olympian has moved on well since we looked at him back in April and has added 4 wins, 3 by KO to move his record to an excellent 11-0 (7). The stand out victory for Billy Joe came against the tough Gary Boulden in a fight for the Southern Area middleweight title, it was the first time Saunders was forced to fight for 10 rounds and he managed to pass the test with out too many struggles as he picked up his first professional title.
Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez-Sanchez was 16-0 (14) when we mentioned him back in April and since then the young Mexican has moved from strength to strength adding 4 more wins (all by KO) to move to 20-0 (18) and has started to get serious attention of boxing fans around the world. Sanchez now holds wins over former title challenger Oney Valdez and the teak tough Samuel Miller, in fact the win over Miller was the first time Miller had been stopped in 29 fights.
Rakhim Chakhkiev-The Cruiserweight division has got the real shot in the arm that it has needed for a while thanks to the real emergence of the Russian bruiser. Chakhkiev was another fighter we mentioned in April who went on to add some solid names to his record. Firstly he beat Harvey Jolly and then he become the first man to stop the veteran Michael Simms. Chakhkiev turns 29 early next year and hopefully his handlers realise it's time to let him off the leash and at the divisions champions.
Gary Russell Jr-What a year the young American has had, he was a promising youngster when we mentioned him in April though he has really built on his record since then. Russell has added 5 wins to his record since we mentioned him and moved to 19-0 (11) in impressive fashion. Most recently Russell viciously KO'd Heriberto Ruiz in a single destructive round. Although Boxnation's Steve Lillis seemed to feel that Russell's hype had been created by "youtube clips" even he seemed impressed after the victory over Ruiz.
Karl Place-Manchester's young Light Welterweight prospect is one of the very few fighters that we've mentioned that have lost this year. Place had a very busy year since we mentioned him in April and sadly suffered a huge upset loss at the hands of Steve Williams just over a week ago. Place's record currently stands at 15-1 (8) though the loss should really be a sign that the 23 year old needs to move up a division as making 140 must weaken the 5'11" fighter.
Tomas Dulorme-We mentioned just 8 days before he impressive blew out Harrison Cuello in 2 rounds on the undercard of Martinez v Dzinziruk. Since then Dulorme has had the development fights that we called for and looked very impressive in out pointing the tough and experienced DeMarcus Corley dropping "Chop chop" and dominating the fight to claim the NABA USA welterweight title. Dulorme has defended his title once when he widely outpointed former title challenger Charlie Jose Navarro. Dulorme is now 13-0 (10) and is one of the hottest Welterweight Prospects in the world today.
Carlos Negron-Negron was the only other fighter we mentioned that lost (along with Place). Negron's loss to former Light Middleweight Epifanio Mendoza was a huge shock and upset and saw Negron fall to 13-1 (9). Sadly it's left massive doubt over Negron's future and it could lead to a very long journey to rebuild the gigantic (6'6") 23 year old. Not only will Negron's confidence be shattered but long term questions about his durability will linger for years, if he returns to the ring.
Jamie Kavanagh-The Irish born prospect who is now trained by Freddie Roach started the year well and when we covered him in April he was 5-0 (2) and about to make his UK debut. Whilst Kavanagh won his UK debut (out pointing Sid Razak) he has recently suffered the first blemish on his record as he struggled to a draw with difficult Ramesis Gil on the undercard of Khan v Peterson. The draw with Gil was another case of Freddie Roach's fighter failing to live up to the expectations and may signal that Kavanagh needs to change something.
John Jackson-We looked at the exciting Jackson the eve before his bout with Welson Alves de Oliveira a bout that Jackson dominated en route to a 3rd round TKO. Jackson, the son of the fearsome Julian Jackson currently stands at 11-0 (10) and looks to add to his record when he fights for the WBC Youth Light Middleweight title against the unbeaten Keandre Leatherwood. The fight with Leatherwood takes place next Friday on a very interest card that is headlined by Marco Antonio Rubio v Matt Vanda.
Froilan Saludar-The Filipino puncher was recently featured in a piece looking at the top Pinoy Prospects and is quickly becoming one of the most talked about youngsters in the sport due to his combination of skills, speed and power. Since we mentioned Saludar he has fought twice to move his record to 13-0-1 (10) and was taken into the 10th round for the first time when he beat Gabriel Pumar in a fight for the WBO Asian Pacific Flyweight title. Saludar is expected to fight once more before the end of the year though his opponent is not yet known.
Joe Hanks-At the start of the year I picked Hanks out as the American Heavyweight to watch...it now seems that may not have been the best after all as Seth Mitchell has really made progress whilst Hanks hasn't really moved up. Despite scoring 3 victories since we wrote about him none of them were particularly note worthy, in fact the most noteworthy thing about them was that Hanks couldn't stop Alfredo Escalera Jr in 10 rounds of action. Hanks does look like he could go places but needs to desperately step up before Mitchell leaves him in his shadow.
Marco Antonio Periban-The Mexican Super Middleweight prospect is now 15-0 (10) and is amongst a number of quickly emerging fighters in one of boxing's most exciting divisions. Periban has added 3 wins since we covered him back in April and whilst they weren't amazing opponents he did deal with solid journeymen very well. Whilst Periban is inexperienced as a professional it is time he stepped up and perhaps looked for a fight with someone like Edison Miranda sometime next year, we know Miranda can bang but he can be hurt, it would test Periban's toughness, skill and his own power.
Kubrat Pulev-The former elite amateur seemed to be on the fast track to a world title fight after a number of notable wins but now the Bulgarian heavyweight is perhaps going to be put on a somewhat slower path. At 14-0 (6) he has a solid record and does hold some decent wins, though his recent fight with Travis Walker told us things. The first thing we learned about Pulev was that he didn't hit particularly hard as he landed a huge number of clean shots on Walker, the second was that he could be hurt as he was shaken by Walker a number of times, but maybe the most worrying is he doesn't have that extra gear that he needs if he wishes to make a dent on a Klitschko.
Sylvester Lopez-Lopez is one of the most under-rated Filipino's in the sport today and arguably the most forgotten due to the fact he currently has 3 losses on his record, but the 5 year pro is really coming good. When we mentioned him he was 15-3-1 and since then he has added 3 more wins, all by KO to move to a much more impressive 18-3-1 (14) including a notable victory over Oscar Ibarra for the WBC Silver Super Flyweight title. Although Lopez fought at Super Bantamweight last time out he could go back to Super Flyweight and have a very interesting fight with WBC champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai.
Sadam Ali-American Olympian Sadam Ali is still one of the most promising young Americans in the sport though since we wrote about him he has still be kept on a leash. We looked at him prior to his bout with John Revish which he would go on to win by decision though he was rocked big time late in the fight. Ali has only scored 1 other win since we covered him and it was a win over a low level opponent in a bout that really shouldn't be taken too seriously for Ali. We all want Ali to step up a level though it seems like his management want to hold him down for a bit longer which is starting to get really annoying as a fan of the 14-0 (8) Light Welterweight.
Daniel Rosas-Mexican "Bad boy" Rosas was very nearly "our" first world champion when he fought just a few months back against Jose Cabrera for the interim WBO Super Flyweight title, that bout ended in a split decision draw. With a record of 12-0-1 (9) the 22 year old Mexican is still a fighter we strongly tip for the top and he's not having easy fights. Hopefully the the WBO will order a rematch between Cabrera and Rosas as it was an interesting bout and it'd be good to see one of the two Mexican youngsters getting some wider recognition.
Robert Manzanarez-16 year old Manzanarez is slowly maturing into a bigger, stronger and better fighter than he was when he turned professional back March 2010 as a 15 year old. Although still incredibly young (he turns 17 on December 17th) he is running up a long record of wins against gradually improving opposition. We first looked at Manzanarez back when his record read 10-0 (7), he has since added 5 more wins and moved to 15-0 (8) with his best win to date coming in 38 seconds against the experienced can Alfredo Montano. Although he has 15 fights and 37 rounds under his belt I still think it'll be a very long time before we see him in with anyone of any note at all, hopefully he'll have matured somewhat by then as he's definitely growing and has gone from being a Flyweight 15 months ago to a Featherweight in his most recent bout just a few months ago.
Carlos Buitrago-The Nicaraguan prospect who turns 20 in just a few days has run up 3 wins since we first looked at him and has moved to 21-0-0-1 (14) with a notable decision win over former world title challenger Carlos Melo just a few days ago. Melo is a good step up from the fighters that Buitrago had been fighting and will hopefully signal the start of the youngster rise through credible fighters. I'd be shocked it Buitrago doesn't break into the WBC's top 40 next year and perhaps angles for a title fight during 2013.
Leroy Estrada-The young Panamanian has moved to 6-0 (2) since we first looked at him, though has certainly not had everything his own way. In his last fight Estrada was dropped by Mercedes Concepcion before struggling to get a majority decision. Whilst that should be a character building fight for the 17 year old, it should be noted that Concepcion was picked in part due to losing his previous 2 bouts. Estrada, a minimumweight, may end up being wrapped in cotton wool for the next year or two following this close shave.
Oscar Cortes-The 18 year old Mexican Lightweight/Super Featherweight prospect was looked at back in May when he was 14-0 (8) and since then he has moved to 18-0 (11) and won the WBC Youth Intercontinental Lightweight title. Cortes' most impressive victory to date is a 9th round TKO over Manuel Aguilar back in September. Hopefully Cortes will build on a good year and try to force himself into the WBC's rankings over the next 12 months at either Super Featherweight or at Lightweight.
Leo Santa Cruz-We looked at Santa Cruz just prior to his fight with Jose Lopez which Santa Cruz won impressively via a 5th round KO (becoming the first man to stop Lopez) and then Santa Cruz stopped the tough former title contender Everth Briceno in 11 rounds. Whilst not a concussive puncher Santa Cruz is slowly developing a really nasty streak and throws punches to hurt opponents. With a record of 18-0-1 (10) Santa Cruz is really emerging as a serious threat at Bantamweight. He is currently ranked #15 in the world by the WBC at Bantamweight and is already making a real mark on the division.
Oliver Flores-Flores has had an interesting time since we originally wrote about him. Firstly he scored a controversial majority draw (the dissenting judge had Flores as a clear winner) against Abraham Rodriguez and then he stopped a novice as he advanced his record to 22-0-2 (16). Flores seems to be settling into the Super Featherweight division but the draw with Rodriguez appears to have taken some momentum from his career. Despite having just turned 20 Flores has amassed 110 rounds already and has gone 10 rounds on 3 occasions now which, if nothing else, is interesting.
Andrzej Wawrzyk-Polish Heavyweight prospect Wawrzyk has been one of the more under-the-radar heavyweight prospects and hasn't had the hype of countryman Artur Szpilka despite growing his record pretty carefully. Wawrzyk has scored 3 straight T/KO wins since we looked at him with the most recent of those coming against Nelson Dario Dominguez in just 2 rounds. Wawrzyk currently holds 2 regional belts though he really should be stepping up and perhaps starting to mix with solid European level fighters during 2012.
Wale Omotoso-The exciting Welterweight prospect has really started to make his mark on boxing fans thanks to two very entertaining fights in the US in recent months. The heavily built and aggressively minded Omotoso marked his US debut with a round of the year contender against Calvin Odom and then he followed it up with a very entertaining bout with Lanardo Tyner in November. Although the 20-0 (17) prospect is wild and can be caught he does promise excitement every time he steps between the ropes and could be one of the most fun to watch fighters out there today.
Andrzej Fonfara-The second Polish fighter that we looked at was Light Heavyweight prospect Fonfara who is 19-2-0-1 (10). The 24 year old from Warsaw (though now based in Chicago) has only fought once since we looked at him where he stopped Jose Spearman in 2 rounds. There really isn't much to report on Fonfara other than his fan-base in Chicago is growing nicely.
Richard Towers-As with many of the recent additions to the blog Towers has fought only once, stopping Yuri Bihoutseu in the 3rd round. The most interesting thing to happen regarding towers since we wrote about him is the strong rumour that he may be facing Tyson Fury early in 2012 in a very interesting all English heavyweight bout for the Commonwealth and British titles. A meeting of the two behemoths would be immensely interesting and it would be a rare fight where neither man would be towering over his opponent.
Grzegorz Proksa-The 27 year old Proksa burst onto the scene back in October and caught us out when he completely destroyed former world champion Sebastian Sylvester in one of the real break out fights of the year. Rather embarrassingly Proksa's arrival actually caught us off guard and so we have little to actually report on the exciting Polish Middleweight, though rumours are circulating that he will be facing former world champion Sebastian Zbik some time in 2012 in a fight that should see Proksa further his standing in one of the hottest divisions in the sport.
Yoshihiro Kamegai-The exciting Japanese Welterweight was mentioned at the start of this month, just prior to his bout with Eusebio Baluarte. The talented and hard hitting 29 year old from Tokoyo has had an excellent year with a fantastic US debut where he stopped Hector Munoz and looked sensation. Although he will almost certainly have to travel to the US again for a major fight at the weight he has impressed and could very easily find himself on the under-card of a Top Rank or Golden Boy show to build his US profile. Sadly for Kamegai he probably only 1 or 2 years to make his move and even then the division does have a lot of emerging talent so he maybe too late.
Eleider Alvarez-The hard punching Colombian Light Heavyweight prospect is the most recent fight that we've mentioned that has fought since we wrote about him. The Canadian based 27 year fought in his biggest fight to date when he faced Emiliano Cayetano in a bout for the WBO NABO Light Heavyweight title on the under-card of David Lemieux v Joachim Alcine. Alvarez's win is likely to force him into the WBO's rankings (which amazingly don't include Ismayl Sillakh). Alvarez is being tracked by Groupe Yvon Michel and his stoppage of Cayetano in the opening round will only see them speed things up.
We have covered 3 other fights but sadly none of them have fought since we mentioned them in recent weeks. Hopefully be the end of 2012 we'll be looking at some of these fighters as world champions.
Carlos Ivan Velasquez-The biggest disappointment was our first prospect. Carlos hasn't fought in 17 months now after beating the tough Eduardo Arcos back in July 2010. Velasquez was a fighter I was genuinely very excited about though he appears to have just vanished off the face of the planet. The 27 year and his twin brother (Juan Carlos Velazquez, 10-1, 5) have both been MIA despite turning professional together in 2007.
Billy Joe Saunders-The British Olympian has moved on well since we looked at him back in April and has added 4 wins, 3 by KO to move his record to an excellent 11-0 (7). The stand out victory for Billy Joe came against the tough Gary Boulden in a fight for the Southern Area middleweight title, it was the first time Saunders was forced to fight for 10 rounds and he managed to pass the test with out too many struggles as he picked up his first professional title.
Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez-Sanchez was 16-0 (14) when we mentioned him back in April and since then the young Mexican has moved from strength to strength adding 4 more wins (all by KO) to move to 20-0 (18) and has started to get serious attention of boxing fans around the world. Sanchez now holds wins over former title challenger Oney Valdez and the teak tough Samuel Miller, in fact the win over Miller was the first time Miller had been stopped in 29 fights.
Rakhim Chakhkiev-The Cruiserweight division has got the real shot in the arm that it has needed for a while thanks to the real emergence of the Russian bruiser. Chakhkiev was another fighter we mentioned in April who went on to add some solid names to his record. Firstly he beat Harvey Jolly and then he become the first man to stop the veteran Michael Simms. Chakhkiev turns 29 early next year and hopefully his handlers realise it's time to let him off the leash and at the divisions champions.
Gary Russell Jr-What a year the young American has had, he was a promising youngster when we mentioned him in April though he has really built on his record since then. Russell has added 5 wins to his record since we mentioned him and moved to 19-0 (11) in impressive fashion. Most recently Russell viciously KO'd Heriberto Ruiz in a single destructive round. Although Boxnation's Steve Lillis seemed to feel that Russell's hype had been created by "youtube clips" even he seemed impressed after the victory over Ruiz.
Karl Place-Manchester's young Light Welterweight prospect is one of the very few fighters that we've mentioned that have lost this year. Place had a very busy year since we mentioned him in April and sadly suffered a huge upset loss at the hands of Steve Williams just over a week ago. Place's record currently stands at 15-1 (8) though the loss should really be a sign that the 23 year old needs to move up a division as making 140 must weaken the 5'11" fighter.
Tomas Dulorme-We mentioned just 8 days before he impressive blew out Harrison Cuello in 2 rounds on the undercard of Martinez v Dzinziruk. Since then Dulorme has had the development fights that we called for and looked very impressive in out pointing the tough and experienced DeMarcus Corley dropping "Chop chop" and dominating the fight to claim the NABA USA welterweight title. Dulorme has defended his title once when he widely outpointed former title challenger Charlie Jose Navarro. Dulorme is now 13-0 (10) and is one of the hottest Welterweight Prospects in the world today.
Carlos Negron-Negron was the only other fighter we mentioned that lost (along with Place). Negron's loss to former Light Middleweight Epifanio Mendoza was a huge shock and upset and saw Negron fall to 13-1 (9). Sadly it's left massive doubt over Negron's future and it could lead to a very long journey to rebuild the gigantic (6'6") 23 year old. Not only will Negron's confidence be shattered but long term questions about his durability will linger for years, if he returns to the ring.
Jamie Kavanagh-The Irish born prospect who is now trained by Freddie Roach started the year well and when we covered him in April he was 5-0 (2) and about to make his UK debut. Whilst Kavanagh won his UK debut (out pointing Sid Razak) he has recently suffered the first blemish on his record as he struggled to a draw with difficult Ramesis Gil on the undercard of Khan v Peterson. The draw with Gil was another case of Freddie Roach's fighter failing to live up to the expectations and may signal that Kavanagh needs to change something.
John Jackson-We looked at the exciting Jackson the eve before his bout with Welson Alves de Oliveira a bout that Jackson dominated en route to a 3rd round TKO. Jackson, the son of the fearsome Julian Jackson currently stands at 11-0 (10) and looks to add to his record when he fights for the WBC Youth Light Middleweight title against the unbeaten Keandre Leatherwood. The fight with Leatherwood takes place next Friday on a very interest card that is headlined by Marco Antonio Rubio v Matt Vanda.
Froilan Saludar-The Filipino puncher was recently featured in a piece looking at the top Pinoy Prospects and is quickly becoming one of the most talked about youngsters in the sport due to his combination of skills, speed and power. Since we mentioned Saludar he has fought twice to move his record to 13-0-1 (10) and was taken into the 10th round for the first time when he beat Gabriel Pumar in a fight for the WBO Asian Pacific Flyweight title. Saludar is expected to fight once more before the end of the year though his opponent is not yet known.
Joe Hanks-At the start of the year I picked Hanks out as the American Heavyweight to watch...it now seems that may not have been the best after all as Seth Mitchell has really made progress whilst Hanks hasn't really moved up. Despite scoring 3 victories since we wrote about him none of them were particularly note worthy, in fact the most noteworthy thing about them was that Hanks couldn't stop Alfredo Escalera Jr in 10 rounds of action. Hanks does look like he could go places but needs to desperately step up before Mitchell leaves him in his shadow.
Marco Antonio Periban-The Mexican Super Middleweight prospect is now 15-0 (10) and is amongst a number of quickly emerging fighters in one of boxing's most exciting divisions. Periban has added 3 wins since we covered him back in April and whilst they weren't amazing opponents he did deal with solid journeymen very well. Whilst Periban is inexperienced as a professional it is time he stepped up and perhaps looked for a fight with someone like Edison Miranda sometime next year, we know Miranda can bang but he can be hurt, it would test Periban's toughness, skill and his own power.
Kubrat Pulev-The former elite amateur seemed to be on the fast track to a world title fight after a number of notable wins but now the Bulgarian heavyweight is perhaps going to be put on a somewhat slower path. At 14-0 (6) he has a solid record and does hold some decent wins, though his recent fight with Travis Walker told us things. The first thing we learned about Pulev was that he didn't hit particularly hard as he landed a huge number of clean shots on Walker, the second was that he could be hurt as he was shaken by Walker a number of times, but maybe the most worrying is he doesn't have that extra gear that he needs if he wishes to make a dent on a Klitschko.
Sylvester Lopez-Lopez is one of the most under-rated Filipino's in the sport today and arguably the most forgotten due to the fact he currently has 3 losses on his record, but the 5 year pro is really coming good. When we mentioned him he was 15-3-1 and since then he has added 3 more wins, all by KO to move to a much more impressive 18-3-1 (14) including a notable victory over Oscar Ibarra for the WBC Silver Super Flyweight title. Although Lopez fought at Super Bantamweight last time out he could go back to Super Flyweight and have a very interesting fight with WBC champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai.
Sadam Ali-American Olympian Sadam Ali is still one of the most promising young Americans in the sport though since we wrote about him he has still be kept on a leash. We looked at him prior to his bout with John Revish which he would go on to win by decision though he was rocked big time late in the fight. Ali has only scored 1 other win since we covered him and it was a win over a low level opponent in a bout that really shouldn't be taken too seriously for Ali. We all want Ali to step up a level though it seems like his management want to hold him down for a bit longer which is starting to get really annoying as a fan of the 14-0 (8) Light Welterweight.
Daniel Rosas-Mexican "Bad boy" Rosas was very nearly "our" first world champion when he fought just a few months back against Jose Cabrera for the interim WBO Super Flyweight title, that bout ended in a split decision draw. With a record of 12-0-1 (9) the 22 year old Mexican is still a fighter we strongly tip for the top and he's not having easy fights. Hopefully the the WBO will order a rematch between Cabrera and Rosas as it was an interesting bout and it'd be good to see one of the two Mexican youngsters getting some wider recognition.
Robert Manzanarez-16 year old Manzanarez is slowly maturing into a bigger, stronger and better fighter than he was when he turned professional back March 2010 as a 15 year old. Although still incredibly young (he turns 17 on December 17th) he is running up a long record of wins against gradually improving opposition. We first looked at Manzanarez back when his record read 10-0 (7), he has since added 5 more wins and moved to 15-0 (8) with his best win to date coming in 38 seconds against the experienced can Alfredo Montano. Although he has 15 fights and 37 rounds under his belt I still think it'll be a very long time before we see him in with anyone of any note at all, hopefully he'll have matured somewhat by then as he's definitely growing and has gone from being a Flyweight 15 months ago to a Featherweight in his most recent bout just a few months ago.
Carlos Buitrago-The Nicaraguan prospect who turns 20 in just a few days has run up 3 wins since we first looked at him and has moved to 21-0-0-1 (14) with a notable decision win over former world title challenger Carlos Melo just a few days ago. Melo is a good step up from the fighters that Buitrago had been fighting and will hopefully signal the start of the youngster rise through credible fighters. I'd be shocked it Buitrago doesn't break into the WBC's top 40 next year and perhaps angles for a title fight during 2013.
Leroy Estrada-The young Panamanian has moved to 6-0 (2) since we first looked at him, though has certainly not had everything his own way. In his last fight Estrada was dropped by Mercedes Concepcion before struggling to get a majority decision. Whilst that should be a character building fight for the 17 year old, it should be noted that Concepcion was picked in part due to losing his previous 2 bouts. Estrada, a minimumweight, may end up being wrapped in cotton wool for the next year or two following this close shave.
Oscar Cortes-The 18 year old Mexican Lightweight/Super Featherweight prospect was looked at back in May when he was 14-0 (8) and since then he has moved to 18-0 (11) and won the WBC Youth Intercontinental Lightweight title. Cortes' most impressive victory to date is a 9th round TKO over Manuel Aguilar back in September. Hopefully Cortes will build on a good year and try to force himself into the WBC's rankings over the next 12 months at either Super Featherweight or at Lightweight.
Leo Santa Cruz-We looked at Santa Cruz just prior to his fight with Jose Lopez which Santa Cruz won impressively via a 5th round KO (becoming the first man to stop Lopez) and then Santa Cruz stopped the tough former title contender Everth Briceno in 11 rounds. Whilst not a concussive puncher Santa Cruz is slowly developing a really nasty streak and throws punches to hurt opponents. With a record of 18-0-1 (10) Santa Cruz is really emerging as a serious threat at Bantamweight. He is currently ranked #15 in the world by the WBC at Bantamweight and is already making a real mark on the division.
Oliver Flores-Flores has had an interesting time since we originally wrote about him. Firstly he scored a controversial majority draw (the dissenting judge had Flores as a clear winner) against Abraham Rodriguez and then he stopped a novice as he advanced his record to 22-0-2 (16). Flores seems to be settling into the Super Featherweight division but the draw with Rodriguez appears to have taken some momentum from his career. Despite having just turned 20 Flores has amassed 110 rounds already and has gone 10 rounds on 3 occasions now which, if nothing else, is interesting.
Andrzej Wawrzyk-Polish Heavyweight prospect Wawrzyk has been one of the more under-the-radar heavyweight prospects and hasn't had the hype of countryman Artur Szpilka despite growing his record pretty carefully. Wawrzyk has scored 3 straight T/KO wins since we looked at him with the most recent of those coming against Nelson Dario Dominguez in just 2 rounds. Wawrzyk currently holds 2 regional belts though he really should be stepping up and perhaps starting to mix with solid European level fighters during 2012.
Wale Omotoso-The exciting Welterweight prospect has really started to make his mark on boxing fans thanks to two very entertaining fights in the US in recent months. The heavily built and aggressively minded Omotoso marked his US debut with a round of the year contender against Calvin Odom and then he followed it up with a very entertaining bout with Lanardo Tyner in November. Although the 20-0 (17) prospect is wild and can be caught he does promise excitement every time he steps between the ropes and could be one of the most fun to watch fighters out there today.
Andrzej Fonfara-The second Polish fighter that we looked at was Light Heavyweight prospect Fonfara who is 19-2-0-1 (10). The 24 year old from Warsaw (though now based in Chicago) has only fought once since we looked at him where he stopped Jose Spearman in 2 rounds. There really isn't much to report on Fonfara other than his fan-base in Chicago is growing nicely.
Richard Towers-As with many of the recent additions to the blog Towers has fought only once, stopping Yuri Bihoutseu in the 3rd round. The most interesting thing to happen regarding towers since we wrote about him is the strong rumour that he may be facing Tyson Fury early in 2012 in a very interesting all English heavyweight bout for the Commonwealth and British titles. A meeting of the two behemoths would be immensely interesting and it would be a rare fight where neither man would be towering over his opponent.
Grzegorz Proksa-The 27 year old Proksa burst onto the scene back in October and caught us out when he completely destroyed former world champion Sebastian Sylvester in one of the real break out fights of the year. Rather embarrassingly Proksa's arrival actually caught us off guard and so we have little to actually report on the exciting Polish Middleweight, though rumours are circulating that he will be facing former world champion Sebastian Zbik some time in 2012 in a fight that should see Proksa further his standing in one of the hottest divisions in the sport.
Yoshihiro Kamegai-The exciting Japanese Welterweight was mentioned at the start of this month, just prior to his bout with Eusebio Baluarte. The talented and hard hitting 29 year old from Tokoyo has had an excellent year with a fantastic US debut where he stopped Hector Munoz and looked sensation. Although he will almost certainly have to travel to the US again for a major fight at the weight he has impressed and could very easily find himself on the under-card of a Top Rank or Golden Boy show to build his US profile. Sadly for Kamegai he probably only 1 or 2 years to make his move and even then the division does have a lot of emerging talent so he maybe too late.
Eleider Alvarez-The hard punching Colombian Light Heavyweight prospect is the most recent fight that we've mentioned that has fought since we wrote about him. The Canadian based 27 year fought in his biggest fight to date when he faced Emiliano Cayetano in a bout for the WBO NABO Light Heavyweight title on the under-card of David Lemieux v Joachim Alcine. Alvarez's win is likely to force him into the WBO's rankings (which amazingly don't include Ismayl Sillakh). Alvarez is being tracked by Groupe Yvon Michel and his stoppage of Cayetano in the opening round will only see them speed things up.
We have covered 3 other fights but sadly none of them have fought since we mentioned them in recent weeks. Hopefully be the end of 2012 we'll be looking at some of these fighters as world champions.
Friday, 9 December 2011
Eleider Alvarez
At the moment the Colombian boxing scene is on a real high. Not only does the country have a number of top 10 ranked fighters such as Yonnhy Perez, Darley Perez and Jesus Geles but it also has a huge amount of very exciting emerging prospects. In fact Colombia has so many top prospects that it's hard to really pin point one as being the best, however it seems as if Eleider Alvarez, the 27 year old Light Heavyweight, may be one of the ones on a real fast track to the top.
Alvarez was formerly a world level amateur and had won medals at the Pan Am games and the South American games and even appeared in the 2008 Olympics (where he was defeated by Tony Jeffries). A year after the Olympics Alvarez turned professional and blew away the experienced Jesse Sanders inside a round and then ran up 2 more quick wins before the end of 2009 all against experienced fighters.
Sadly after moving his record to 3-0 (2) Alvarez vanished for a year and didn't fight at all in 2010. Any early momentum he had seemed to vanish and the hard core boxing fans who had followed him early on had all but forgotten about him prior to his return in April 2011 when he stopped experienced Mexican Ernesto Zamora in 3 rounds. Just weeks later Alvarez would make up for lost time by defeating David Whittom by 4 round decision and then add the scalp of Michael Walchuk to his record to move to 6-0 (4).
On this coming Saturday Alvarez fights in his first title fight when he faces Emiliano Cayetano for the WBO NABO Light Heavyweight title. This will easily be the toughest fight of Alvarez's short career and a big chance for him to claim a place in the rankings. Also on the card, promoted by Groupe Yvon Michel are highly rated Canadian Middleweight David Lemiux and Alvarez's countryman Oscar "Kaboom" Rivas.
Video thanks to 14caratboxing
Alvarez was formerly a world level amateur and had won medals at the Pan Am games and the South American games and even appeared in the 2008 Olympics (where he was defeated by Tony Jeffries). A year after the Olympics Alvarez turned professional and blew away the experienced Jesse Sanders inside a round and then ran up 2 more quick wins before the end of 2009 all against experienced fighters.
Sadly after moving his record to 3-0 (2) Alvarez vanished for a year and didn't fight at all in 2010. Any early momentum he had seemed to vanish and the hard core boxing fans who had followed him early on had all but forgotten about him prior to his return in April 2011 when he stopped experienced Mexican Ernesto Zamora in 3 rounds. Just weeks later Alvarez would make up for lost time by defeating David Whittom by 4 round decision and then add the scalp of Michael Walchuk to his record to move to 6-0 (4).
On this coming Saturday Alvarez fights in his first title fight when he faces Emiliano Cayetano for the WBO NABO Light Heavyweight title. This will easily be the toughest fight of Alvarez's short career and a big chance for him to claim a place in the rankings. Also on the card, promoted by Groupe Yvon Michel are highly rated Canadian Middleweight David Lemiux and Alvarez's countryman Oscar "Kaboom" Rivas.
Video thanks to 14caratboxing
Diego Gabriel Chaves
I recently did a piece for hubpages looking at the best Argentinian boxing prospects and found out about arguably the most exciting young Welterweight on the planet, Diego Gabriel Chaves. Chaves is one of many, many prospects in the Welterweight division though to me personally he's the top prospect in the division with everything a fighter could want. In fact despite only having had 20 fights he has already started to break into the rankings of various organisations thanks to his long reign as the WBO Latino champion.
Chaves hails from Buenos Aires the same area of Argentina as Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna and has been dubbed “La Joya” which translates from Spanish as meaning “The Jewel” and he really is the jewel of Argentinian boxing at the moment, the hidden gem in fact. Chaves turned professional aged 22 after having had a solid amateur background in his homeland sadly however he seems to lack the big international medals due to facing the likes of Demetrius Andrade and Erislandy Lara.
Since turning to the paid ranks in 2008 Chaves has carefully climbed the rankings with the aid of some destructive power and really solid fundamentals. As proof of Chaves' power he stopped his first 9 opponents, all inside the opening 3 rounds of fights. It wasn't until Chaves faced the teak tough Guillermo de Jesus Paz that he was given his first real test. In round 2 of his fight against Paz Chaves was pushed down though the referee counted it as a legitimate knockdown (rather shockingly). Despite the “knockdown” Chaves got up and dominated his experienced and tough opponent for the remaining 8 rounds to take a wide decision.
Just a month after defeating Paz Chaves would capture his first professional title by winning the WBO Latino light middleweight title a title he defended once before returning to Welterweight. Chaves wasn't with out a title for long as he would pick up the vacant WBO Latino Welterweight title on his return to the division a title he has no defended 5 times. It was whilst defending his title against Omar Gabriel Weis that Chaves was given by far his toughest test. The experienced Weis would drop Chaves in the 6th round and really gave the youngster all he could handle in a close and very competitive fight. The fight, despite being incredibly tough, would have been one of the greatest learning experiences of Chaves' career, being dragged into a tough 12 round contest does beat blowing opponents away in a round.
Since struggling with Weis we've seen Chaves have 2 confidence building wins against lesser fighters then a win over the tough and experienced Jorge Daniel Miranda. Chaves would score a 3rd round knock out over Miranda from a beautiful body shot that really showed the heavy and accurate hands that Chaves has. Whilst he had been tagged by Miranda he seemed to always be in control of the fight before the knockout over a genuinely tough opponent.
Whilst Chaves is personally the most likely of the top Argentinian boxing prospects to really make a mark on the sport that's not to say that Argentina doesn't have a huge number of solid contenders and emerging fighters that could all seriously contend for titles.
Chaves hails from Buenos Aires the same area of Argentina as Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna and has been dubbed “La Joya” which translates from Spanish as meaning “The Jewel” and he really is the jewel of Argentinian boxing at the moment, the hidden gem in fact. Chaves turned professional aged 22 after having had a solid amateur background in his homeland sadly however he seems to lack the big international medals due to facing the likes of Demetrius Andrade and Erislandy Lara.
Since turning to the paid ranks in 2008 Chaves has carefully climbed the rankings with the aid of some destructive power and really solid fundamentals. As proof of Chaves' power he stopped his first 9 opponents, all inside the opening 3 rounds of fights. It wasn't until Chaves faced the teak tough Guillermo de Jesus Paz that he was given his first real test. In round 2 of his fight against Paz Chaves was pushed down though the referee counted it as a legitimate knockdown (rather shockingly). Despite the “knockdown” Chaves got up and dominated his experienced and tough opponent for the remaining 8 rounds to take a wide decision.
Just a month after defeating Paz Chaves would capture his first professional title by winning the WBO Latino light middleweight title a title he defended once before returning to Welterweight. Chaves wasn't with out a title for long as he would pick up the vacant WBO Latino Welterweight title on his return to the division a title he has no defended 5 times. It was whilst defending his title against Omar Gabriel Weis that Chaves was given by far his toughest test. The experienced Weis would drop Chaves in the 6th round and really gave the youngster all he could handle in a close and very competitive fight. The fight, despite being incredibly tough, would have been one of the greatest learning experiences of Chaves' career, being dragged into a tough 12 round contest does beat blowing opponents away in a round.
Since struggling with Weis we've seen Chaves have 2 confidence building wins against lesser fighters then a win over the tough and experienced Jorge Daniel Miranda. Chaves would score a 3rd round knock out over Miranda from a beautiful body shot that really showed the heavy and accurate hands that Chaves has. Whilst he had been tagged by Miranda he seemed to always be in control of the fight before the knockout over a genuinely tough opponent.
Whilst Chaves is personally the most likely of the top Argentinian boxing prospects to really make a mark on the sport that's not to say that Argentina doesn't have a huge number of solid contenders and emerging fighters that could all seriously contend for titles.
Monday, 5 December 2011
Yohei Tobe
Even thought it is rare for me to talk about Japanese fighters on this blog Yohei Tobe is a fighter I simply cannot shut up about. The 24 year old Bantamweight was a former two-time national amateur champion before turning professional in February 2011. On his debut he made an immediate impact by stopping the Korean Super Flyweight champion Jin-Ki Jung in just 70 seconds. Just 4 months later Tobe would fight in his second bout when he took on the experienced Wandee Singwancha (who entered with a record of 66-13-1, 17KO's). Singwancha had been WBC interim champion at both Minimumweight and Light Flyweight and despite fighting above his best weight it was still hugely impressive that Tobe took him out at 1:58 of the second round.
Whilst Tobe's first 2 victories were impressive it was his 3rd professional contest that has really got the hardcore boxing fans excited as Tobe faced. In October Tobe faced the very tough Kohei Kono, a 2-time world title challenger who had lost a close to Nobuo Nashiro and a wider loss to Tomas Rojas. Although Kono, at 30 was the more experienced fighter he was made to look amateurish at times as he charged in only to be caught by uppercuts and jabs by the intelligent and much taller Tobe who took a close but unanimous decision over 8 rounds.
Whilst Tobe's 2011 has been an amazing rise from amateur star to genuinely exciting prospect whats maybe most amazing is that Tobe is currently ranked at #22 with the WBC after just 3 fights!
Tobe is one of the 11 boxers on the list of prospects to watch in 2012, and is arguably the most exciting addition to the list. If Tobe can continue his rise in 2012 we may well see him challenging the likes of Koki Kameda (the WBA Bantamweight champion) or dropping down to Super Flyweight (the division where we will likely see him competing in the short term) and facing Tomonobu Shimizu (the WBA Super Flyweight champion) in an all Japanese world title fight.
The footage of Tobe's first two professional bouts are below thanks to ibatetsu1
If you would like to follow Yohei on boxrec his record can be found here
Whilst Tobe's first 2 victories were impressive it was his 3rd professional contest that has really got the hardcore boxing fans excited as Tobe faced. In October Tobe faced the very tough Kohei Kono, a 2-time world title challenger who had lost a close to Nobuo Nashiro and a wider loss to Tomas Rojas. Although Kono, at 30 was the more experienced fighter he was made to look amateurish at times as he charged in only to be caught by uppercuts and jabs by the intelligent and much taller Tobe who took a close but unanimous decision over 8 rounds.
Whilst Tobe's 2011 has been an amazing rise from amateur star to genuinely exciting prospect whats maybe most amazing is that Tobe is currently ranked at #22 with the WBC after just 3 fights!
Tobe is one of the 11 boxers on the list of prospects to watch in 2012, and is arguably the most exciting addition to the list. If Tobe can continue his rise in 2012 we may well see him challenging the likes of Koki Kameda (the WBA Bantamweight champion) or dropping down to Super Flyweight (the division where we will likely see him competing in the short term) and facing Tomonobu Shimizu (the WBA Super Flyweight champion) in an all Japanese world title fight.
The footage of Tobe's first two professional bouts are below thanks to ibatetsu1
If you would like to follow Yohei on boxrec his record can be found here
Friday, 2 December 2011
Yoshihiro Kamegai
Japanese prospects are very rarely featured on this blog (and I'm sorry about that) though one fighter we simply cannot ignore is Japanese Welterweight prospect Yoshihiro Kamegai (19-0, 17). The hard hitting 29 year old has started to get some international attention in recent months thanks to his appearance in the states when he defeated Hector Munoz in 6 rounds (on the undercard of Nishioka v Marquez).
Having debuted back in 2005 Kamegai's career has progressed somewhat slowly though he has shown all the traits of a fighter who can go a very long way. So far he has shown truly heavy hands and the ability to punch from almost any angles with his ability to mix it to both head and body being excellent. He has also shown an ability to switch hit and appears to hit genuinely hard with either hand. In fact of his 19 careers bouts only 4 bouts have gone beyond 6 rounds with only Daisuke Hata and Heri Andriyanto managing to see the distance.
Although Kamegai has genuine power on his shots he does look to be somewhat defensively deficient and can be hit clean and hard due to major defensive issues. Due to his defensive issues he could become one of the most fun fighters in the talent heavy Welterweight division. Sadly despite his power it's this defensive flaw that is likely to hold him back, despite his new found fame in the US. The current Welterweight division seems to be a division based upon speed with fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Andre Berto and Amir Khan (who has signaled his intention to move upto Welterweight in the foreseeable future). His defensive issues will almost certainly cost him though it will be fun to see how his career goes.
Having debuted back in 2005 Kamegai's career has progressed somewhat slowly though he has shown all the traits of a fighter who can go a very long way. So far he has shown truly heavy hands and the ability to punch from almost any angles with his ability to mix it to both head and body being excellent. He has also shown an ability to switch hit and appears to hit genuinely hard with either hand. In fact of his 19 careers bouts only 4 bouts have gone beyond 6 rounds with only Daisuke Hata and Heri Andriyanto managing to see the distance.
Although Kamegai has genuine power on his shots he does look to be somewhat defensively deficient and can be hit clean and hard due to major defensive issues. Due to his defensive issues he could become one of the most fun fighters in the talent heavy Welterweight division. Sadly despite his power it's this defensive flaw that is likely to hold him back, despite his new found fame in the US. The current Welterweight division seems to be a division based upon speed with fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Andre Berto and Amir Khan (who has signaled his intention to move upto Welterweight in the foreseeable future). His defensive issues will almost certainly cost him though it will be fun to see how his career goes.
Friday, 25 November 2011
Zurdo to be tested tough on Canelo undercard
In the past I've looked at Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez Sanchez, the young and emerging Mexican Middleweight who currently holds a perfect record of 19-0 (17). Sanchez has so far faced relatively limited opposition with Rogelio Medina and Oney Valdez standing out as the only credible wins, though on Saturday (on the undercard of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez v Kermit Cintron) he faces a very tough test against the experienced Samuel Miller (24-4, 21).
The 32 year old Miller is currently based out of La Habra, California (though was born in Arboletes, Colombia) and is one of the most testing fighters out there. Not only does Miller have a solid punch on him, he's also tough having never been stopped. Whilst Miller has lost to world title contenders such as David Lopez and Marco Antonio Rubio he's probably best known for his wild war with Darrell Woods in what was one of 2007's fight of the year contenders.
For Sanchez this is a genuinely tough test against a power punching tough man who is likely to shake Zurdo at least once. If the Mexican 20 year old can get past the tough test of Miller then he'll have further cemented his growing reputation as one of the brightest prospects in Mexico.
The 32 year old Miller is currently based out of La Habra, California (though was born in Arboletes, Colombia) and is one of the most testing fighters out there. Not only does Miller have a solid punch on him, he's also tough having never been stopped. Whilst Miller has lost to world title contenders such as David Lopez and Marco Antonio Rubio he's probably best known for his wild war with Darrell Woods in what was one of 2007's fight of the year contenders.
For Sanchez this is a genuinely tough test against a power punching tough man who is likely to shake Zurdo at least once. If the Mexican 20 year old can get past the tough test of Miller then he'll have further cemented his growing reputation as one of the brightest prospects in Mexico.
Monday, 10 October 2011
Daniel "Bad Boy" Rosas, part 2-The title fight
Back in May I wrote about a young Mexican prospect called Daniel Rosas,who at the time was 10-0 (7) and was emerging as a contender in either the Bantamweight or Super Bantamweight divisions. It's always exciting when one of us writers spots a special talent and this coming Friday Rosas, (now 12-0, 9) attempts to prove he is a real deal whilst fighting down at Super Flyweight.
Since the first piece was written on Rosas back in May the young Mexican has dropped down to Super Flyweight where he picked up WBO Youth Title and defended it once though it's the way this sport has developed which now sees him fighting for an "interim" world title. We are less than a week away from Rosas "title fight" in which he will be facing Jose Cabrera (20-2-1, 8) in Los Mochis.
Whilst this is easily the biggest fight of Rosas' career it's a fight he really should be able to win and if he does he may well join the top of one of boxing's more changing division. The current WBO champions is Omar Andres Narvaez, who in 2 weeks makes his Bantamweight debut to face Nonito Donaire whilst the other champions include Rodrigo Guerrero (who recently won the IBF title), Tomonobu Shimizu (who won the WBA title just a few weeks ago), Tepparith Singwancha (interim WBA champion who upset the highly rated Drian Francisco) and Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (who scored a huge upset a few weeks back by defeating Tomas Rojas and defends his title in November against Nobuo Nashiro).
Rosas could join the ever growing list of Mexican world champions, but could he also actually be the best of them? We'll have to find out but one thing is for sure, he's an exciting and skilled fighter who will be near the top win or lose.
Since the first piece was written on Rosas back in May the young Mexican has dropped down to Super Flyweight where he picked up WBO Youth Title and defended it once though it's the way this sport has developed which now sees him fighting for an "interim" world title. We are less than a week away from Rosas "title fight" in which he will be facing Jose Cabrera (20-2-1, 8) in Los Mochis.
Whilst this is easily the biggest fight of Rosas' career it's a fight he really should be able to win and if he does he may well join the top of one of boxing's more changing division. The current WBO champions is Omar Andres Narvaez, who in 2 weeks makes his Bantamweight debut to face Nonito Donaire whilst the other champions include Rodrigo Guerrero (who recently won the IBF title), Tomonobu Shimizu (who won the WBA title just a few weeks ago), Tepparith Singwancha (interim WBA champion who upset the highly rated Drian Francisco) and Suriyan Sor Rungvisai (who scored a huge upset a few weeks back by defeating Tomas Rojas and defends his title in November against Nobuo Nashiro).
Rosas could join the ever growing list of Mexican world champions, but could he also actually be the best of them? We'll have to find out but one thing is for sure, he's an exciting and skilled fighter who will be near the top win or lose.
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