Alex Theran

Colombian boxing is on a real rise with a number of top prospects such as Oscar Rivas and Eleider Alvarez who both fought last weekend and won their fights in Canada. The most exciting Colombian boxing prospect however is 21 year old Middleweight prospect Alex “El Principe” Theran. The southpaw from Barranquilla is currently 5-0 (4) as a professional since debuting back in July 2011 and has got the hardcore boxing fans really excited.

Prior to turning professional Theran had been a top national amateur and had fought in a number of international competitions including the 2010 South American Games (where he won Silver) and the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships. In fact Theran had fought around 180 times as an amateur before turning professional earlier this year and was seen as one to watch almost immediately.

Theran's debut in July saw the power punching Colombian take out Leo Cassiani in just 34 destructive seconds. Theran had settled immediately as a professional and just weeks later he would blow out Gabriel Bracho in an impressive 78 seconds. Theran's first 2 bouts had lasted less than 2 minutes as he moved to 2-0 (2) without even breaking sweat. After impressing in his first 2 bouts it was time for Theran to have a real test and he faced former world title challenger Oney Valdez. Valdez would survive the opening round and actually see out the 6 round schedule before losing by a wide decision to Theran.

Theran's destructive run continued after the victory over Valdez as he swiftly took out Jose Chiquillo in the opening round of a bout in October before before beating Jose Antonio Cervantes, also in 1 round. This victory moved Theran to 5-0 (4) all of the stoppages coming in the opening round. So far Theran has shown blistering handspeed and incredibly impressive power as he's swiftly increased his record and started to make a march up the rankings. At the end of the week we will see Theran in another step up in class as he faces another former title contender in Milton Nunez. A win over Nunez (23-3-1, 21KO's) is expected and would be a fantastic end to the year for the young quickly rising Theran who is almost certainly expected to fight for a title in the next few years.

The victory over Cervantes can be seen in the video below thanks to Yalter777. Interestingly the video has the fighter's name as “Alex Teherán”.

Grzegorz Proksa

Grzegorz Proksa, the Polish born British based middleweight alerted the world to his great potential this past weekend by completely dominating former IBF Middleweight champion Sebastian Sylvester. Sylvester refused to come out of his corner after 3 one sided rounds at the hands of the man dubbed "Super G".

Whilst Proksa may no longer be a "prospect" as such he was a fighter who was so alarmingly eye catching that he deserved a place in this blog based on his skill, performance and the way he has managed to remain under-the-radar until the Sylvester fight despite being so ultra talented. The 26 year old was born in Jaworzno, Poland though is now fighting out of Redhill in Surrey (UK) and has already fought all over the world in a career that has somehow not managed to get the attention that he has deserved.

Despite his UK and Polish backgrounds Proksa actually made his professional debut in the USA beating Adam Capo by TKO in the opening round on the undercard of a star studded card that included Jeff Lacy defending his IBF Super Middleweight title against Rubin Williams and Jose Luis Castillo defending the WBC Lightweight title against Julio Diaz. This was way back in 2005. Just months after the victory over Capo Proksa would be back fighting in the US when he would stop Sean Rawley Wilson in 2 rounds. Like on his debut the card was star studded with the infamous first fight between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo headlining (a WBO and WBC Lightweight title unification) with Juan Manuel Marquez defending the IBF and WBA Super Featherweight titles against Victor Polo.

Over the following few years Proksa would begin to fight more regularly in the UK where he picked up both the IBF and WBC youth versions of the middleweight title. Then came a fight in Ireland and Germany and soon after he turned 25 he had added the EBU-EU (European Union) middleweight title to his belt collection. Although this belt was somewhat meaningless Proksa did defend it once, needing to go to Spain to defend it against the well regarded Spaniard Pablo Navascues. Proksa would stop Navascues in 9 rounds to defend his title and score, what was then, his biggest win.

Although people that had seen him live were big on him he was seen as the under-dog when he traveled to the Jahnsportforum in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to face Sylvester. Sylvester was the home town favourite though it seemed straight from the off that the swift, accurate and exciting looking Proksa just simply had far too much for him. Proksa was landing clean accurate shots time and time again, boxing with his hands down low and repeatedly switching stances whilst toying with Sylvester. This was the performance of the night and the performance that saw Proksa become the European middleweight champion in excellent fashion.

Currently 26-0 (19) Proksa has already won fights in the USA, UK, Ireland, Germany and Spain and been featured on cards including the likes of Victor Ortiz, Manny Pacquiao, Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales, Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Manuel Lopez. The way he is fighting at the moment Proksa may be having his name in those sorts of circles, with a fun to watch style, fast hands and surprising power.

Thanks to IGIELI for this video

Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez

Mexican fighters are probably the most fascinating group of boxers out there at the moment. If you wish to just stereotype they are true warriors, they battle until they can't fight on and they often enjoy a good scrap. Although a few more skilled than that, such as current IBF Lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez who prefers to fight on the move with accurate counters and slippery movement, the majority prefer to fight than to box. Though one youngster who can box or bang and is very much one to watch is Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez.

Sanchez aged just 19 looks set to follow in the footsteps of so many other fighters from Mexico and go from being almost unheard of to reaching the top of the boxing tree. He has already sparred with a world champion (the then WBA Light Middleweight champion Rigoberto “Español” Alvarez, older brother of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez) and has already started to gain some form of notoriety as a hard punching youngster.

With a record of 16-0 (14) you could easily assume the 19 year old southpaw has been facing soft touch after soft touch. His record of a mere 43 rounds does suggest that his fights haven't been long gruelling tough affairs. Though below the raw numbers his opponents have been surprisingly solid so far. Since debuting as just an 18 year old back in 2009 Sanchez has faced opponents with a combined record of 123-65-6. Although he has faced several debutants and “career losers” his most recent opponents have been impressive enough fighters in their own right and have included:

Christian Solano (22-19-4 upon entering)-Solano had beaten British fighter John O'Donnell, he had taken Julio Cesar Chavez Jr 10 rounds and Saul Roman the same distance.

The, then unbeaten Rogelio Medina (23-0)

And veteran Antonio Arras (21-9)

Against Medina Sanchez picked up his first title as a professional by winning the vacant WBC Youth World middleweight title. This entitled Sanchez to a WBC ranking (though he is still outside of the top 40 after checking at with the organisation) though his most notable ranking is the #13 ranking he has with the NABO. The independent rankings of the IBO and Boxrec.com place Sanchez at #76 at Middleweight (IBO) and #41 at Middleweight (Boxrec.com) though the rankings hardly matter at this point.

From sources found on the web about Sanchez it's no wonder he is being matched as a professional. He is according to an article on “notifight.com” he was a “national champion and three-time junior national champion elite” as an amateur. Though as a professional those skills haven't really been required. Instead his exceptional power, thunderous aggression and ability to land hard clean shots to both head and body have helped “Zurdo De Oro” create a bit of a buzz.

Fighting out of Sinaloa, Mexico Sanchez will have plenty around him that know the business inside out. Sinaloa is of course the state that contains Los Mochis (think Fernando Montiel) and Culiacán (Julio Cesar Chavez). If Sanchez can emulate either of those two he'll become a name to be remembered, though as a Mexican middleweight/Super Middleweight he'll also have something going for him. Although Marco Antonio Periban is a Mexican Super Middleweight who may end up competing for a world title by the end of 2012 Sanchez, at just 19, will easily out grow the Middleweight division and could easily end up as high at Light Heavyweight. Imagine a Mexican 3 weight champion taking belts at Middleweight, Super Middleweight and Light Heavyweight, that really is the potential of young Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez.

Since his debut he has shown fast heavy hands, a patience far beyond his time and an ability to pick the right shots at the right time. The combination of these traits could very easily see him becoming of the modern Mexican greats.

Sources:
Notifight.com

Video below thanks to ZapariBoxing