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.
Monday, 10 October 2011
Monday, 3 October 2011
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
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
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Richard Towers
The heavyweight scene in Britain seems to be rather interesting at the moment, in fact with David Haye mixing it with the world elite, Michael Sprott mixing it with the elite of Europe and a number of exciting prospects coming through Brits have a lot to be excited about. It's odd however that the Best British prospects are all incredibly tall, you have both David Price and Tyson Fury both around 6'8" or 6'9" and then you also have the very interesting Richard Towers who is also 6'8" and lacks hype of the other two men.
Towers, known as the Inferno, is much older than his other British giants at 32 years old and as a result has gone a bit under the radar though talent wise he is well ahead of the other two and has the skills and speed to match his impressive physical presence.
Like a number of notable boxers Tower's (real name Hayles) hasn't always been on the right side of the law, in fact Towers was sentenced to 13 in prison (serving over 6 of them) for kidnap and had had a number of other runs ins with the law as a teenager. Since then however Towers has turned his life around remarkably and matured from being somewhat thuggish into becoming a real model of a person by warning kids off the slippery slope he was once on as well as becoming a real force in the boxing ring.
Towers would make his professional boxing debut after prison and was aged 30 at the time, an advanced age for anyone to start their career, though Towers has gone quietly and efficiently about his new job since 2009. In his debut he defeated the experienced Chris Woollas by decision and did the same over Howard Daley the following month before going on an 8 fight KO streak as the impressive physical specimen showed he had the skill to go with the size.
Although 2010 was a bit of a wasted year in terms of actual action (Towers fought just twice for a combined 3 rounds) 2011 has seen Towers get back on track with 3 fights already and another coming up at the weekend. The most recent of those fights was against Belgian tough-man Ismail Abdoul who took Towers 8 rounds, with Towers pitching a shut out on the referees card.
Towers, currently at 11-0 (8) faces unbeaten Belorussian Yuri Bihoutseu (5-0-1, 5) this coming Saturday at the Ponds Forge Arena in his home city of Sheffield on the undercard of the televised SKY Sports card that also features Gary Buckland v Gary Sykes (British Super Featherweight title fight) and Rendall Munroe v Ryuta Miyagi. I expect Towers to be impressive in defeating the unbeaten power puncher personally, though hopefully Sky will show the highlights.
Towers has both the Ingle gym and Hatton Promotions behind him which are sure to help get the best from him and despite his age he may well be the best bet from the British giants.
Thanks to sheffieldhistory for the video above.
Towers, known as the Inferno, is much older than his other British giants at 32 years old and as a result has gone a bit under the radar though talent wise he is well ahead of the other two and has the skills and speed to match his impressive physical presence.
Like a number of notable boxers Tower's (real name Hayles) hasn't always been on the right side of the law, in fact Towers was sentenced to 13 in prison (serving over 6 of them) for kidnap and had had a number of other runs ins with the law as a teenager. Since then however Towers has turned his life around remarkably and matured from being somewhat thuggish into becoming a real model of a person by warning kids off the slippery slope he was once on as well as becoming a real force in the boxing ring.
Towers would make his professional boxing debut after prison and was aged 30 at the time, an advanced age for anyone to start their career, though Towers has gone quietly and efficiently about his new job since 2009. In his debut he defeated the experienced Chris Woollas by decision and did the same over Howard Daley the following month before going on an 8 fight KO streak as the impressive physical specimen showed he had the skill to go with the size.
Although 2010 was a bit of a wasted year in terms of actual action (Towers fought just twice for a combined 3 rounds) 2011 has seen Towers get back on track with 3 fights already and another coming up at the weekend. The most recent of those fights was against Belgian tough-man Ismail Abdoul who took Towers 8 rounds, with Towers pitching a shut out on the referees card.
Towers, currently at 11-0 (8) faces unbeaten Belorussian Yuri Bihoutseu (5-0-1, 5) this coming Saturday at the Ponds Forge Arena in his home city of Sheffield on the undercard of the televised SKY Sports card that also features Gary Buckland v Gary Sykes (British Super Featherweight title fight) and Rendall Munroe v Ryuta Miyagi. I expect Towers to be impressive in defeating the unbeaten power puncher personally, though hopefully Sky will show the highlights.
Towers has both the Ingle gym and Hatton Promotions behind him which are sure to help get the best from him and despite his age he may well be the best bet from the British giants.
Thanks to sheffieldhistory for the video above.
Andrzej Fonfara
When you think of Polish fighters the first names to come to mind are Tomasz Adamek and Andrew Golota, now ever feel free to add another name, Andrzej Fonfara. Fonfara, from Warsaw is currently based in Chicago and the 23 year old has already made a bit of impact in his new home thanks to a devastating KO earlier this year.
Born in late 1987 Fonfara would make his professional debut as just an 18 year old Welterweight defeating Miroslav Kubik in 2006 by majority decision in Poland. This was followed up by 3 more wins (1 by KO) all coming in the US before he suffered his first loss, losing a 5 round decision to Eberto Medina. By now it seemed obvious that Welterweight wasn't a suitable division for the growing 6'2" Pole who was filling out quickly.
After running up 6 straight wins Fonfara would suffer his second loss, this time being stopped by Derrick Findley in 2 rounds whilst fighting as a Middleweight. This loss was shown on ESPN Friday Night fights and perhaps exposed Fonfara as being a weak chinned having been down twice, though the 21 year old Fonfara was possibly drained at the time and Findley has a reputation as having a solid punch.
Since Fonfara's loss to Findley however he's filled out completely and has started to campaign at Light Heavyweight where he seems to have rounded out into a much better fighter and is unbeaten in his last 9 fights with his last 6 fights ending by KO. Though their is a problem with Fonfara and one that he may be slighted for. In 2009 after a 2nd TKO over Skyler Thompson Fonfara tested positive for illegal substance and that fight was turned into a No Contest. Since then however Fonfara hasn't failed a test and did spend 7 months out of action due to the suspension.
Fonfara may not be on the Light Heavyweight world title scene at the moment though he has won the WBC Youth World light heavyweight and the WBO NABO Light Heavyweight titles and he is climbing the rankings. This Friday Fonfara fights the experienced Jose Spearman in Chicago, a win will help establish Fonfara as a credible prospect.
The video below shows Fonfara's victory over Anthony Russell earlier this year (thanks to poltvchicago)
Born in late 1987 Fonfara would make his professional debut as just an 18 year old Welterweight defeating Miroslav Kubik in 2006 by majority decision in Poland. This was followed up by 3 more wins (1 by KO) all coming in the US before he suffered his first loss, losing a 5 round decision to Eberto Medina. By now it seemed obvious that Welterweight wasn't a suitable division for the growing 6'2" Pole who was filling out quickly.
After running up 6 straight wins Fonfara would suffer his second loss, this time being stopped by Derrick Findley in 2 rounds whilst fighting as a Middleweight. This loss was shown on ESPN Friday Night fights and perhaps exposed Fonfara as being a weak chinned having been down twice, though the 21 year old Fonfara was possibly drained at the time and Findley has a reputation as having a solid punch.
Since Fonfara's loss to Findley however he's filled out completely and has started to campaign at Light Heavyweight where he seems to have rounded out into a much better fighter and is unbeaten in his last 9 fights with his last 6 fights ending by KO. Though their is a problem with Fonfara and one that he may be slighted for. In 2009 after a 2nd TKO over Skyler Thompson Fonfara tested positive for illegal substance and that fight was turned into a No Contest. Since then however Fonfara hasn't failed a test and did spend 7 months out of action due to the suspension.
Fonfara may not be on the Light Heavyweight world title scene at the moment though he has won the WBC Youth World light heavyweight and the WBO NABO Light Heavyweight titles and he is climbing the rankings. This Friday Fonfara fights the experienced Jose Spearman in Chicago, a win will help establish Fonfara as a credible prospect.
The video below shows Fonfara's victory over Anthony Russell earlier this year (thanks to poltvchicago)
Friday, 9 September 2011
Wale Omotoso
It's not often that an Australian based boxer gets much hype on this site but Australian based Nigerian Wale Omotoso (18-0, 16) deserves his mention amongst the elite prospects.
Stood at 5'10" the powerfully built Welterweight debuted as a 21 year old back in 2006 though his career took quite some time to really get going. Despite stopping Singyok Sor Seesunt (TKO2) in September 2006 it would be 13 months later before Wale would fight again (stopping Ariel Omongos in 152 seconds). During 2008 however Wale was a busy boy and racked up 8 wins (6 by KO). Despite being dragged 10 rounds in his fight against Samuel Colomban, Wale would pick up the Australian Welterweight title and make his first real mark on the boxing public.
If 2008 was Wale's busy year 2009 was his real break out year and despite "only" 4 fights in the year. As Wale would score a very notable scalp as he stopped Emanuel Augustus in 9 rounds and picked up the OPBF welterweight title by defeating Hwan-Young Park of South Korea. The following year Wale added 3 more wins including stopping the known Juan Alberto Godoy of Argentina.
Wale is making his US debut tomorrow night on the Yuriorkis Gamboa v Daniel Ponce De Leon undercard where he faces experienced veteran Calvin Odom (15-10, 11). Whilst Omotoso is expected to win the bout it is the start of a new chapter in his career and hopefully we will see him regularly in the US.
Known as "Lucky Boy" Wale is seen by those down under as their top boxing prospect to have been fighting in Australia in a very long time and is one that the world should start paying attention to.
Stood at 5'10" the powerfully built Welterweight debuted as a 21 year old back in 2006 though his career took quite some time to really get going. Despite stopping Singyok Sor Seesunt (TKO2) in September 2006 it would be 13 months later before Wale would fight again (stopping Ariel Omongos in 152 seconds). During 2008 however Wale was a busy boy and racked up 8 wins (6 by KO). Despite being dragged 10 rounds in his fight against Samuel Colomban, Wale would pick up the Australian Welterweight title and make his first real mark on the boxing public.
If 2008 was Wale's busy year 2009 was his real break out year and despite "only" 4 fights in the year. As Wale would score a very notable scalp as he stopped Emanuel Augustus in 9 rounds and picked up the OPBF welterweight title by defeating Hwan-Young Park of South Korea. The following year Wale added 3 more wins including stopping the known Juan Alberto Godoy of Argentina.
Wale is making his US debut tomorrow night on the Yuriorkis Gamboa v Daniel Ponce De Leon undercard where he faces experienced veteran Calvin Odom (15-10, 11). Whilst Omotoso is expected to win the bout it is the start of a new chapter in his career and hopefully we will see him regularly in the US.
Known as "Lucky Boy" Wale is seen by those down under as their top boxing prospect to have been fighting in Australia in a very long time and is one that the world should start paying attention to.
Friday, 24 June 2011
Andrzej Wawrzyk
This weekend is a really busy one for boxing fans thanks to a number of noteworthy cards, most obviously the huge Don King card in Missouri. Though the prospect I'm interested in here is a young Polish heavyweight who I have tipped for very, very big things. Andrzej Wawrzyk is 23-0 (10) and at 6'5” he's got the size to be a real force as long as he matures true power that I'm sure he will.
As an amateur Wawrzyk was truly an exceptional youngster in the Super heavyweight division where he won the European juniors and reached the quarter finals of the World juniors both in 2006. Unlike many other top juniors though Wawrzyk turned professional early and was just 19 when he turned to the paid ranks in late 2006.
On his debut Wawrzyk defeated the experienced Ervin Slonka over 4 one-sided rounds and just a week later Wawrzyk would score his first stoppage win by defeating Martin Stensky in the 2nd round. Although Wawrzyk would have his first real problems in his 3rd fight when he was dropped he'd get up and manage to just nick the win there against Aliaksandr Mazaleu.
Within a year of being a professional the giant Pole had run up a record of 11-0 (6) and early in 2008 Wawrzyk would pick up his first professional title, the Polish heavyweight title by defeating Marcin Najman in 2 rounds. He would soon add the WBC Youth World heavyweight title by stopping Harry Duiven Jr from the Netherlands (a fighter who took Odlanier Solis 8 rounds). He would defend both of those titles against Tomasz Bonin by a wide 10 round decision and has been on a string of wins against journeymen since then. Included in the names on Wawrzyk's record are the likes of Oleksiy Mazykin, Harvey Jolly, Lee Swaby and Paul Butlin.
This coming Saturday the huge Pole faces veteran German Andreas Sidon (36-10-0-1, 30) in what is another learning fight as opposed to a real test for the young heavyweight prospect. Wawryzk is, at 23 years old, one of the young emerging heavyweights who is worth following for the next few years.
As an amateur Wawrzyk was truly an exceptional youngster in the Super heavyweight division where he won the European juniors and reached the quarter finals of the World juniors both in 2006. Unlike many other top juniors though Wawrzyk turned professional early and was just 19 when he turned to the paid ranks in late 2006.
On his debut Wawrzyk defeated the experienced Ervin Slonka over 4 one-sided rounds and just a week later Wawrzyk would score his first stoppage win by defeating Martin Stensky in the 2nd round. Although Wawrzyk would have his first real problems in his 3rd fight when he was dropped he'd get up and manage to just nick the win there against Aliaksandr Mazaleu.
Within a year of being a professional the giant Pole had run up a record of 11-0 (6) and early in 2008 Wawrzyk would pick up his first professional title, the Polish heavyweight title by defeating Marcin Najman in 2 rounds. He would soon add the WBC Youth World heavyweight title by stopping Harry Duiven Jr from the Netherlands (a fighter who took Odlanier Solis 8 rounds). He would defend both of those titles against Tomasz Bonin by a wide 10 round decision and has been on a string of wins against journeymen since then. Included in the names on Wawrzyk's record are the likes of Oleksiy Mazykin, Harvey Jolly, Lee Swaby and Paul Butlin.
This coming Saturday the huge Pole faces veteran German Andreas Sidon (36-10-0-1, 30) in what is another learning fight as opposed to a real test for the young heavyweight prospect. Wawryzk is, at 23 years old, one of the young emerging heavyweights who is worth following for the next few years.
Friday, 17 June 2011
Oliver Flores
Tonight prospect hunters get to see one of the young rising stars of the sport if they can make their way to the Palacio de Deporte in Mexico city as Costa Rican based Nicaraguan teenage Oliver Flores (21-0-1, 15) faces his stiffest test.
Flores, currently fighting out of San Jose, Costa Rica is the son of former fighter Roger Benito Flores and it seems, aged just 19, Oscar has out performed his father. Having debuted way back in 2006 just a month after he turned 15 years old Flores has come a long way and is now ranked in the top 70 at Lightweight by both Boxrec and IBO.
Flores started his career with a number of really simple looking wins against fellow inexperienced fighters do what every young protégé in this sport does. It wasn't until he'd had over a dozen fights that Flores would face a fighter with a winning record when he met the 9-0 Gabriel Dorado of Panama. Flores passed the Dorado test and also picked up his first title, the IBF Latino Super Featherweight title.
Since beating Dorado back in May 2009 Flores has run up 6 wins out of his seven fights, it's the one that he didn't win that is of the most interest. In February 2010 he only managed a draw with Santos Medrano (who entered with a record of 5-3). This result has left a lot to be desired and although Flores has managed to run up a number of wins since then it's perhaps a worry for Flores when he steps up, which he does later today when he faces Abraham Rodriguez (23-10-3, 12).
Whilst Rodriguez doesn't have an impressive record it's mostly due to the awful way he started his career where he went 5-6-2 and has since gone 18-4-1 and managed to win a number of regional titles. Although Flores is “supposed” to win Rodriguez will certainly not be a push over in what should be an interesting bout.
Flores, currently fighting out of San Jose, Costa Rica is the son of former fighter Roger Benito Flores and it seems, aged just 19, Oscar has out performed his father. Having debuted way back in 2006 just a month after he turned 15 years old Flores has come a long way and is now ranked in the top 70 at Lightweight by both Boxrec and IBO.
Flores started his career with a number of really simple looking wins against fellow inexperienced fighters do what every young protégé in this sport does. It wasn't until he'd had over a dozen fights that Flores would face a fighter with a winning record when he met the 9-0 Gabriel Dorado of Panama. Flores passed the Dorado test and also picked up his first title, the IBF Latino Super Featherweight title.
Since beating Dorado back in May 2009 Flores has run up 6 wins out of his seven fights, it's the one that he didn't win that is of the most interest. In February 2010 he only managed a draw with Santos Medrano (who entered with a record of 5-3). This result has left a lot to be desired and although Flores has managed to run up a number of wins since then it's perhaps a worry for Flores when he steps up, which he does later today when he faces Abraham Rodriguez (23-10-3, 12).
Whilst Rodriguez doesn't have an impressive record it's mostly due to the awful way he started his career where he went 5-6-2 and has since gone 18-4-1 and managed to win a number of regional titles. Although Flores is “supposed” to win Rodriguez will certainly not be a push over in what should be an interesting bout.
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