Prospect Review Pt 1

Since this blog was started at the end of March we've seen 12 fighters profiled, with 8 of those having fought since they were featured in this blog. All 8 of those fighters have kept their unbeaten records and moved another step up in the boxing world.

Billy Joe Saunders was the first fighter mentioned in this blog who has fought since. He scored an impressive 2^nd round stoppage over Turkish fighter Turgay Uzun. Uzun had gone in as a tough opponent, his record was an unimpressive 35-15-2 going in but he had only ever been stopped twice in his 52 fights. Those stoppages had dated back to 2002 when he suffered an injury against Michele Orlando and a 2010 TKO against Damian Jonak (currently the WBC's #9 ranked Light Middleweight). A win for Saunders was expected but the stoppage was a bonus even if Uzun did effectively quit. The fight may have been an easy one but Saunders made it look easier than it was to defeat a veteran who has made a career out of surviving.

Frank Warren http://www.youtube.com/user/frankwarren




Rakhim Chakhkiev was the next fighter mentioned just days before his American debut against the experienced Harvey Jolly. Chakhkiev didn't struggle at all with Jolly and showed solid power with both hands as well a good active work rate. Although at times he did look a little wild it seemed more down to over confidence against Jolly who appeared unable to hurt him. The body attack of Chakhkiev was hugely impressive and although he's not a huge Cruiserweight he's powerful and those body shots will always have an effect. The fight was on the under card of Erik Morales v Marcos Maidana and was hugely impressive in scoring a 3^rd round KO.

ShareMMMAnos http://www.youtube.com/user/ShareMMMAnos



Gary Russell Jr was originally meant to be on the Morales v Maidana under-card though that fight fell through and instead of facing Ira Terry as first reported he fought Adolfo Landeros the following Friday. Landeros was sadly not the same quality of test that Terry would have been and Russell dominated the 6 round contest after scoring a knock-down in the opening round. Russell moves to an impressive looking 15-0 (9) and at 22 years old that's fine and they are bringing him through well though hopefully they'll put him in with someone a few steps up from Landeros next time out.


BoxingProspect http://www.youtube.com/user/BoxingProspect


Karl Place moved to 13-0 (8) with a 5^th round TKO over George Watson who had only been stopped once previously (by Stephen Jennings) and had survived 8 torrid rounds against Carl Johanneson back in January. 22 year old Place is being brought along well and given time to move up the rankings with out being in too many risky fights at this point. Unlike Gary Russel (above) the expectations on Place are much smaller and he'll likely remain at British level for a while longer than the ultra talented Russell.

Thomas Dulorme of Puerto Rico has really become a bit of an over night sensation after scoring a knock-out of the year contender against Harrison Cuello on the under-card of Victor Ortiz v Andre Berto. Dulorme, who started his career with a majority decision in 2008 has moved to 11-0 (10) and become a real sensation at Welterweight despite turning professional at Lightweight and now at 21 years old seems to have the world as his oyster. He has been active in 2011 having fought 3 times already and hopefully his time will capitalise on his new found fame by striking whilst the iron is hot. Dulorme has all the markings of a star though really will need to be given tougher tests before we mark him down as Puerto Rico's next great star.

JFKConspiracy (via sweetboxing)

Carlos Negron, the 6'6” Puerto Rican who turned professional as a skinny cruiserweight just a couple of years ago is now becoming a fully fledged Heavyweight and has extend his record to 12-0 (8) and 2-0 (1) as a Heavyweight. He beat the wonderfully named Emerson Chasing Bear on the Juan Manuel Lopez v Orlando Salido under-card by 4^th round by TKO. Although I've not seen the fight Negron could well be a true force in the division if he continues to develop like many feel he can. He's a huge fighter with a wonderfully athletic build and if he manages to get his jab going his 83” reach will be one of the sports most potent weapons.

Jamie “The Nuisance” Kavanagh made his UK debut on the under-card of Amir Khan v Paul McCloskey and beat regular test case Sid Razak over a 6 round decision. Razak, in his 70^th professional contest fell to 6-64 whilst Kavanagh progressed to 6-0 (2). The 20 year old from Dublin (though based in LA) will be given time to develop his talent and power though he's still a name that needs to be remembered for the future.

John Jackson was one of the last names mentioned by this blog and last night, in Uruguay he extend his record to an impressive 10-0 (9). The son of famed punched Julian Jackson seems to be following in his father's footsteps as a power punching force. Aged just 22 it might be too early to mark him as a future star though the Light Middleweight from the U.S. Virgin Islands is a fighter who must be on the verges of making a US debut after having fought at home, in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.

The fighters who haven't fought since this blog went live:
Carlos Ivan Velasquez
Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez
Froilan Saludar
Joe Hanks (fights on 22^nd April against Terrell Nelson)

Karl Place

British boxing is still on a bit of a high, currently the Brits have 4 world champions to celebrate with Amir Khan (WBA Light Welterweight), Carl Froch (WBC Super Middleweight), David Haye (WBA Heavyweight) and Ricky Burns (WBO Super Bantamweight) and a number of high ranked contenders. It’s when we looking to the future that we see just how hot British boxing really is. Not only do we have fighters like John Murray on the verge of world title fights but a lot of young raw talent breaking through. This coming Saturday we see one of the most exciting young British prospects back in action in a major Sky Sports 1 show. Although the main event on “Saturday Fight Night” is Stuart Hall (10-0-1, 6KO’s) defending his British Bantamweight title against John Donnelly (12-1, 3KO’s) it’s the co-feature that really interests me.

22 year old Light Welterweight Karl Place (12-0, 7KO’s) returns to the ring to face George Watson (8-3-2, 1KO). Place is really one of the most exciting young talents in the UK and has shown plenty to be excited about so far. Stood at 5’11” Place has the natural size to fill out into perhaps even a Light Middleweight though for now he’s a tall lanky Light Welterweight with a big future ahead of himself and with VIP Promotions/Steve Wood behind him theirs no reason why he can’t become a big star.

Place debuted as a professional back in October 2008 just weeks after turning 20 and scored a 2nd round stoppage over Chris Kitson. He would follow that up over the proceeding months by beating up some of the best journeymen with points wins over Carl Allen, Johnny Greaves and Baz Carey. Those 3 fights account for 12 rounds of Place’s 40 career rounds to date. After those fights Place would defeat 3 fighters in confidence building victories before getting his most notable name to date, Steve Saville.

Saville was a limited fighter but a tough guy, although he entered on a 3 fight losing streak they had included a loss to Gary McArthur (who entered 11-0) and Frankie Gavin (who was 3-0). Place started the fight terribly and seemed to lack the defensive skill to keep Saville off him, he had his nose in the opening round and appeared to be eating Saville‘s left hand too often. Late in round Place was caught with a big shot and appeared to be wobbled. He came out for the 2nd and appeared to have calmed down as he went about breaking down Saville and beating him to the canvas in the 2nd. Saville had received hard blows to the body and head from Place who learned more in that fight than he had in his previous 7.



Since scoring the victory over Saville Place has fought 4 times, scoring wins over Michael Frontin (TKO5), experienced journeyman Billy Smith (4PTS), Maurycy Gojko (TKO3) and Danny Dontchev (6PTS). With George Watson in the opposite corner on Saturday Place competes in his first fight scheduled for 8 rounds and Watson, despite the losses on his record is a tough fight. To date Watson has only been stopped once, two fights ago by Stephen Jennings (LTKO3) and has since taking the hard hitting Carl Johanneson 8 rounds. A stoppage for place would be hugely impressive, though a win would expected and still impressive for Place.

Video’s courtesy of Frank Maloney’s Youtube channel.