Historically France has been a country with numerous memorable boxers such as Georges Carpentier, Marcel Thil, Ray Famechon and Marcel Cerdan. Sadly however in recent years the French boxing scene has all but died off with the likes of Jean Marc Mormeck and Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam only managing to give the sport a short shot in the arm.
With this in mind however it's fair to say that French boxing isn't dead, it's just not what is used to be. Earlier this year the talented Michel Soro (19-1, 12) showed that France does still have some talent to be unearthed and perhaps the most promising of the emerging French fighters is Heavyweight Newfel Ouatah (10-0, 6).
Ouatah first took to the sport as a child when the rest of France was celebrating the football team that went on to dominate European football at the turn of the millennium. With in just a few years Ouatah was starting to make an impact as a solid amateur fighter and in 2004 he claimed his first notable amateur title, the French National Championships in the Heavyweight division, stopping all 3 of his opponents on route to the title.
After his national success it was only a matter of time before Ouatah would appear on the international stage and that's exactly what he did just months later as he fought at the 2004 World Junior Championships. At this competition Ouatah lost to Cuban star Robert Alfonso, who himself went on to claim a Bronze medal.
Over the following few years Outah fought in various international tournaments. Whilst he generally didn't come out victorious in the biggest competitions he did often hold his own and picked up various titles such as the 2005 Copenhagen Cup, the 2006 French National Championship, the 2007 African Championship and numerous silver medals in things like the 2007 French National Championships and the 2007 All Africa Games (where he competed for Algeria, due to his families roots).
Despite the title wins and the various medals that Ouatah collected it's fair to suggest that the highlight of his days in the unpaid ranks was competing at the 2008 Olympic games. Whilst Ouatah failed to medal at the Beijing games, losing in the Quarter Finals to Vyacheslav Glazkov, he was still able to say that he competed with some of the best on the planet.
Following from his Olympic journey Ouatah turned professional and debuted in July 2009 by defeating Azar Layachi by TKO in the opening round. By the end of the year Ouatah had swiftly moved to 3-0 (2) having stopped Robert Gregor in a round before winning a 4 round decision over Alban Galonnier.
Having started his career well things went from strength to strength and the following year Outah would score 4 more wins, winning 3 by opening round T/KO before defeating Cyril Leonet by 10 round decision to claim the French Heavyweight title. Despite being inexperienced Ouatah had come of age and claimed his first belt in just his 7th professional bout.
Sadly just as it seemed like Ouatah would continue his rise he spent almost a year out of the ring before defeating again Cyril Leonet in the first defense of the French Heavyweight title. Since then Ouatah has fought just twice, though has defended his national title once more, defeating Mickael Vieira by TKO5 (after Vieira suffered an injury).
Whilst it's certainly far too early to say just how far Ouatah could go in the sport, he has the necessary amateur background and natural size (standing at around 6'6") as well as power to take a fighter places. Hopefully he can either reinvigorate the French boxing affair or move to either the UK or Germany and really get his career back under-way as he's a big, strong guy who could be very interesting if given the chance to shine.
Showing posts with label Heavyweight Boxing Prospect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heavyweight Boxing Prospect. Show all posts
Monday, 29 October 2012
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Robert Alfonso
When top Cuban amateurs turn professional it's often a time to get at least a little bit excited and that's exactly how I feel having found out that Robert Alfonso (0-0) will be making his professional debut (originally slated for a few weeks ago, it will now take place in November).
As we all know the Cuban amateur scene is legendary and probably the best in the world. Just amongst the Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight divisions we've had legendary names such as Teófilo Stevenson, Félix Savón, Odlanier Solís and Roberto Balado. Whilst no one will ever put Robert Alfonso on the same pedestal as those names he was a very credible amateur.
In the unpaid ranks Alfonso was an exceptional fighter though not the most successful, in fact in international competition his best achievement was probably a Gold medal at the 2007 Pan American games.
Despite his lack of medals, his record was very solid with victories over Newfel Ouatah (the 2007 All African Games Silver medal winner), Michel López Núñez (2004 Olympic Bronze medal winner), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (the 2006 South American Games Gold medal winner who is better known for his MMA exploits), Óscar Rivas (Pan Am Silver medal winner) and American Michael Hunter Jr (a 2-time AAU champion).
Stood at 6'4" and weighing around 220lbs Alfonso is an excellently sized Heavyweight and aged just 25 he has a lot of time to adapt to the professional game before needing to make his move towards a Heavyweight title. Interestingly Cuba have never had a professional boxing Heavyweight champion, despite both Juan Carlos Gomez and and Odlanier Solis fighting for the WBC title in recent years, maybe Alfonso could be the man to change that.
As we all know the Cuban amateur scene is legendary and probably the best in the world. Just amongst the Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight divisions we've had legendary names such as Teófilo Stevenson, Félix Savón, Odlanier Solís and Roberto Balado. Whilst no one will ever put Robert Alfonso on the same pedestal as those names he was a very credible amateur.
In the unpaid ranks Alfonso was an exceptional fighter though not the most successful, in fact in international competition his best achievement was probably a Gold medal at the 2007 Pan American games.
Despite his lack of medals, his record was very solid with victories over Newfel Ouatah (the 2007 All African Games Silver medal winner), Michel López Núñez (2004 Olympic Bronze medal winner), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (the 2006 South American Games Gold medal winner who is better known for his MMA exploits), Óscar Rivas (Pan Am Silver medal winner) and American Michael Hunter Jr (a 2-time AAU champion).
Stood at 6'4" and weighing around 220lbs Alfonso is an excellently sized Heavyweight and aged just 25 he has a lot of time to adapt to the professional game before needing to make his move towards a Heavyweight title. Interestingly Cuba have never had a professional boxing Heavyweight champion, despite both Juan Carlos Gomez and and Odlanier Solis fighting for the WBC title in recent years, maybe Alfonso could be the man to change that.
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Bryant Jennings
We keep hearing time and time again that America has no Heavyweight hopefuls and that division has no interest at all in the US. I find this quite funny personally as the division does seem to have a lot of interest, especially stateside and especially this coming weekend.
Whilst in Russia we will see Vitali Klitschko defend his WBC Heavyweight title against Manuel in the USA we will see Tomasz Adamek v Travis Walker (hugely promising match between veterans), Steve Cunningham v Jason Gavern, Deontay Wilder v Damon McCreary and then we have Bryant Jennings v Chris Koval. With this in mind it seemed a perfect time to take a look at Jennings.
The unbeaten Jennings (14-0, 6) is a Philadelphia native who many are tipping to be the best amongst the current batch of US heavyweights (which also includes Tor Hamer, Alexander Flores, Seth Mitchell and Joe Hanks). At 27 years old he is starting to reach his physical prime though it's the combination of his opposition and his physical features that makes Jennings such a highly rated fighter.
Despite only having a short amateur career, consisting of 17 fights (13-4) Jennings was hugely impressive reaching two finals (2009 PAL Nationals and the 2009 National Golden Gloves) though sadly came up short to Lenroy Thompson both times. Despite only having a short time in the amateurs Jennings was a natural athlete who seemed to fit comfortably into any sport he tried his hand at.
In 2010 Jennings made his professional debut by defeating fellow Philadelphian by decision over 4 rounds Zeferino Albino. By the end of the year Jennings had moves his record to 5-0 (3) including stopping Albino in the opening round of a rematch. The following year saw Jennings adding 6 more victories to his ledger with 2 of those by T/KO as he moved to 11-0 (5).
Despite looking solid in his early bouts Jennings hadn't really been tested, he was beating low level competition and finding his feet in the sport without being pushed too hard too soon. It didn't take long however for Jennings to be stepped up as he faced the then unbeaten Maurice Byarm (13-0-1, 9) at the start of 2012. This bout, put together at a weeks notices, was aired on NBC Sports after Eddie Chambers suffered an injury and saw both fighters putting their records on the line. In a thoroughly competitive bout Jennings did just enough to take the unanimous decision over the 10 round distance.
The victory over Byarm not only gave Jennings his first major television exposure, but also his first 10 round bout and perhaps more importantly his first title as he won the Pennsylvania Heavyweight Title. It didn't take long for Jennings to prove he wasn't just a 1-hit wonder as he completely dominated former WBO Heavyweight Siarhei Liakhovich before forcing a 9th round stoppage again on NBC.
Most recently Jennings claimed his second professional title, the USBA Heavyweight, by dominating and out pointing Steve Collins over the 10 round distance. This bout, like the previous two for Jennings, was aired on NBC with Jennings almost becoming an "NBC Fighter". Despite coming in at a career heaviest 225lbs Jennings was in fantastic shape against Collins.
After scoring 3 impressive wins, Jennings will now face veteran Chris Koval (25-9, 18) in what should again be a notable victory for Jennings (if he wins, as expected). Whilst this is another solid move in the right direction Koval has only won 2 of his last 7 and has been stopped 5 times in his last 9 bouts, so isn't likely to be hugely testing or particularly confident going in to this bout.
Whilst a lot is made of Jennings' athleticism and record (having faced solid tests already) it's also worth noting his unusual physical features. Despite "only" being around 6'2" Jennings has freakishly long arms which has allowed him to be very effective at range and whilst he may not always use his reach properly he has also got excellent hand speed up close.
Sadly despite a number of appearances on NBC Jennings still seems to have been repeatedly overlooked by boxing fans who really should sit up and take notice of this talented youngster who is willing to take risks, something it seems compatriot Deontay Wilder refuses to do.
Video below is thanks to BERLINKERNEYSTUDIOS
Whilst in Russia we will see Vitali Klitschko defend his WBC Heavyweight title against Manuel in the USA we will see Tomasz Adamek v Travis Walker (hugely promising match between veterans), Steve Cunningham v Jason Gavern, Deontay Wilder v Damon McCreary and then we have Bryant Jennings v Chris Koval. With this in mind it seemed a perfect time to take a look at Jennings.
The unbeaten Jennings (14-0, 6) is a Philadelphia native who many are tipping to be the best amongst the current batch of US heavyweights (which also includes Tor Hamer, Alexander Flores, Seth Mitchell and Joe Hanks). At 27 years old he is starting to reach his physical prime though it's the combination of his opposition and his physical features that makes Jennings such a highly rated fighter.
Despite only having a short amateur career, consisting of 17 fights (13-4) Jennings was hugely impressive reaching two finals (2009 PAL Nationals and the 2009 National Golden Gloves) though sadly came up short to Lenroy Thompson both times. Despite only having a short time in the amateurs Jennings was a natural athlete who seemed to fit comfortably into any sport he tried his hand at.
In 2010 Jennings made his professional debut by defeating fellow Philadelphian by decision over 4 rounds Zeferino Albino. By the end of the year Jennings had moves his record to 5-0 (3) including stopping Albino in the opening round of a rematch. The following year saw Jennings adding 6 more victories to his ledger with 2 of those by T/KO as he moved to 11-0 (5).
Despite looking solid in his early bouts Jennings hadn't really been tested, he was beating low level competition and finding his feet in the sport without being pushed too hard too soon. It didn't take long however for Jennings to be stepped up as he faced the then unbeaten Maurice Byarm (13-0-1, 9) at the start of 2012. This bout, put together at a weeks notices, was aired on NBC Sports after Eddie Chambers suffered an injury and saw both fighters putting their records on the line. In a thoroughly competitive bout Jennings did just enough to take the unanimous decision over the 10 round distance.
The victory over Byarm not only gave Jennings his first major television exposure, but also his first 10 round bout and perhaps more importantly his first title as he won the Pennsylvania Heavyweight Title. It didn't take long for Jennings to prove he wasn't just a 1-hit wonder as he completely dominated former WBO Heavyweight Siarhei Liakhovich before forcing a 9th round stoppage again on NBC.
Most recently Jennings claimed his second professional title, the USBA Heavyweight, by dominating and out pointing Steve Collins over the 10 round distance. This bout, like the previous two for Jennings, was aired on NBC with Jennings almost becoming an "NBC Fighter". Despite coming in at a career heaviest 225lbs Jennings was in fantastic shape against Collins.
After scoring 3 impressive wins, Jennings will now face veteran Chris Koval (25-9, 18) in what should again be a notable victory for Jennings (if he wins, as expected). Whilst this is another solid move in the right direction Koval has only won 2 of his last 7 and has been stopped 5 times in his last 9 bouts, so isn't likely to be hugely testing or particularly confident going in to this bout.
Whilst a lot is made of Jennings' athleticism and record (having faced solid tests already) it's also worth noting his unusual physical features. Despite "only" being around 6'2" Jennings has freakishly long arms which has allowed him to be very effective at range and whilst he may not always use his reach properly he has also got excellent hand speed up close.
Sadly despite a number of appearances on NBC Jennings still seems to have been repeatedly overlooked by boxing fans who really should sit up and take notice of this talented youngster who is willing to take risks, something it seems compatriot Deontay Wilder refuses to do.
Video below is thanks to BERLINKERNEYSTUDIOS
Monday, 2 July 2012
Joseph Parker
Later this week boxing fans will get the chance to see the professional debut of highly regarded New Zealand Heavyweight Joseph Parker, a fighter who many feel is the best New Zealand prospect since David Tua.
The 20 year old from Auckland had an incredibly impressive amateur career with a number of medals both domestically (a Silver medal in the 2009 National championships) and internationally (including a Bronze at the 2010 Youth World Championships, a Silver at the 2010 Youth Olympics and a Gold at the 2011 Arafura Games).
Sadly Parker lost out on a chance to go to the 2012 Olympics and rather than wait around for another 4 years Parker has decided to turn professional. He will be debuting on Thursday as he faces 38 year old
Parker is a tall, powerful Heavyweight who although still young for a Heavyweight prospect does look very promising with very respectable skills, size and power. Whilst it's fair to say that Parker will be a long term prospect he is one worth keeping an eye on as we really feel their could be something to this kid.
The 20 year old from Auckland had an incredibly impressive amateur career with a number of medals both domestically (a Silver medal in the 2009 National championships) and internationally (including a Bronze at the 2010 Youth World Championships, a Silver at the 2010 Youth Olympics and a Gold at the 2011 Arafura Games).
Sadly Parker lost out on a chance to go to the 2012 Olympics and rather than wait around for another 4 years Parker has decided to turn professional. He will be debuting on Thursday as he faces 38 year old
Dean Garmonsway (2-1, 2), a fight that Parker will be expected to win and win in style.
Parker is a tall, powerful Heavyweight who although still young for a Heavyweight prospect does look very promising with very respectable skills, size and power. Whilst it's fair to say that Parker will be a long term prospect he is one worth keeping an eye on as we really feel their could be something to this kid.
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Erkan Teper
The future of the heavyweight division seems to be Europe and Germany seems to be one of the key boxing countries at the moment, this means looking at German heavyweights for the future may be the way to go. One of the most promising German heavyweights is Erkan Teper (7-0, 5) a former stand out amateur who won a silver medal at the 2008 Military Games.
Teper turned professional in 2010 and made his debut by stopping the likable and hard hitting German journeyman Marcel Zeller in 3 rounds. Just months after stopping Zeller we would see Teper in what was on paper another solid match up for a novice professional when he faced Alexander Kahl. Kahl had been in over 20 fights prior to facing Teper but the extra experience did little to help him as Teper finished the fight inside a minute.
After running up 3 swift stoppage wins Teper would be put in with durable Hungarian Sandor Balogh and for the first time Teper was forced to go 6 rounds before winning the bout on points. Teper was again forced to go the distance as he took on experienced American Robert Hawkins who was dropped twice though managed to survive the 6 round distance.
Teper's 6th fight would see him facing Jakov Gospic of Croatia in a bout for the WBC Mediterranean heavyweight title. Gospic would prove to be a tough opponent though was eventually broken down in the 9th round where he was dropped twice and eventually stopped as Teper won his first title as a professional.
Since winning the WBC Mediterranean title Teper has fought just once in a none-title bout stopping the experienced Cisse Salif who had only been stopped once in has career way back in 1999 by former title contender Ray Austin. The win over Salif took Teper's record to 7-0 (5) and now Teper prepares to defend his title for the first time against an opponent who is yet to be announced. If Teper continues to face solid competition as he has done so far we can expect him to be one of the big threats in the post-Klitschko era.
Teper turned professional in 2010 and made his debut by stopping the likable and hard hitting German journeyman Marcel Zeller in 3 rounds. Just months after stopping Zeller we would see Teper in what was on paper another solid match up for a novice professional when he faced Alexander Kahl. Kahl had been in over 20 fights prior to facing Teper but the extra experience did little to help him as Teper finished the fight inside a minute.
After running up 3 swift stoppage wins Teper would be put in with durable Hungarian Sandor Balogh and for the first time Teper was forced to go 6 rounds before winning the bout on points. Teper was again forced to go the distance as he took on experienced American Robert Hawkins who was dropped twice though managed to survive the 6 round distance.
Teper's 6th fight would see him facing Jakov Gospic of Croatia in a bout for the WBC Mediterranean heavyweight title. Gospic would prove to be a tough opponent though was eventually broken down in the 9th round where he was dropped twice and eventually stopped as Teper won his first title as a professional.
Since winning the WBC Mediterranean title Teper has fought just once in a none-title bout stopping the experienced Cisse Salif who had only been stopped once in has career way back in 1999 by former title contender Ray Austin. The win over Salif took Teper's record to 7-0 (5) and now Teper prepares to defend his title for the first time against an opponent who is yet to be announced. If Teper continues to face solid competition as he has done so far we can expect him to be one of the big threats in the post-Klitschko era.
Monday, 20 February 2012
Deontay Wilder
Since this blog was started I've had to pick and choose which heavyweights to write about and I've also had to use some form of "editors discretion" over who to write about and who to "ignore", with unbeaten American heavyweight Deontay Wilder (20-0, 20) being one that I've chosen to ignore so far. Though it's now time to give "The Bronze Bomber" his dues and admit that he is slowly but surely heading in the right direction after 20 fights and over 3 years treading water as a professional.
Wilder burst on to the amateur scene back in 2007 when he won two national titles (the 2007 US Nationals and the 2007 Golden Gloves) after having only a handful of fights behind him. The following year he made a name for himself winning a bronze medal at the Olympic games losing to experienced Italian Clemente Russo. Wilder seemed like a natural and with his impressive size (6'7" and 84" wingspan) he seemed to be perfect for the growing trend of super tall athletic heavyweights (much like the Klitschko's and David Price).
Following his amateur success Wilder signed a professional deal with American promotional outfit Golden Boy Promotions and it seemed as if he would be the big USA heavyweight hopeful. Despite the high expectations many had for Wilder, he progressed slowly with his management team taking an ultra cautious approach to his career. After debuting with a 2nd round KO over Ethan Cox in November 2008 Wilder would run up 8 straight opening round victories over novices their for a pay day as opposed to winning real fights.
Through Wilder's first 10 fights his opponents combined records stood at a measly 30-37-10 (as they entered against him) averaging a little over 7.5 fights a piece (with opponent Charles Brown accounting for 22 of the 77 combined fights). Some boxing fans we're being incredibly patient with Wilder, though many had become tired of him, the over-protective matchmaking had annoyed many to the point of not caring about him and blanking him from their mind. Just a few fights later boxing fans then wrote Wilder off completely as he was decked and seemed out on his feet against Harold Sconiers before stopping Sconiers in the 4th round.
Sconiers had scared the living daylights out of Wilder's team and they decided to take their fighter back down a level as Wilder faced Cruiserweight journeyman Dan Sheehan (who had been stopped in 4 of his previous 5). Wilder stopped Sheehan impressively inside a round though doubts about Wilder's chin were still being asked following the Sconiers fight and he was now 14 fights into his career with out facing anyone expected to put up much of a fight.
Though a busy 2011 Wilder fought 6 times and took significant steps up in opponents facing the likes of former world title challenger Damon Reed (who Wilder stopped inside 2 rounds) and 39 year old David Long (who Wilder stopped inside a round). Though neither Reed or Long are great opponents they both represented a step up in class and now with a record of 20-0 (20) Wilder will be looking to build towards a world ranking come the end of 2012. To start the new year Wilder will be facing the hard punching Chris Koval (25-8, 18). Sadly Koval is another step backwards for Wilder and has been stopped in 5 of his last 8 contests, though if Wilder steps up through out the year he may well begin to live up to the promise his short but impressive amateur career suggested he had.
Wilder burst on to the amateur scene back in 2007 when he won two national titles (the 2007 US Nationals and the 2007 Golden Gloves) after having only a handful of fights behind him. The following year he made a name for himself winning a bronze medal at the Olympic games losing to experienced Italian Clemente Russo. Wilder seemed like a natural and with his impressive size (6'7" and 84" wingspan) he seemed to be perfect for the growing trend of super tall athletic heavyweights (much like the Klitschko's and David Price).
Following his amateur success Wilder signed a professional deal with American promotional outfit Golden Boy Promotions and it seemed as if he would be the big USA heavyweight hopeful. Despite the high expectations many had for Wilder, he progressed slowly with his management team taking an ultra cautious approach to his career. After debuting with a 2nd round KO over Ethan Cox in November 2008 Wilder would run up 8 straight opening round victories over novices their for a pay day as opposed to winning real fights.
Through Wilder's first 10 fights his opponents combined records stood at a measly 30-37-10 (as they entered against him) averaging a little over 7.5 fights a piece (with opponent Charles Brown accounting for 22 of the 77 combined fights). Some boxing fans we're being incredibly patient with Wilder, though many had become tired of him, the over-protective matchmaking had annoyed many to the point of not caring about him and blanking him from their mind. Just a few fights later boxing fans then wrote Wilder off completely as he was decked and seemed out on his feet against Harold Sconiers before stopping Sconiers in the 4th round.
Sconiers had scared the living daylights out of Wilder's team and they decided to take their fighter back down a level as Wilder faced Cruiserweight journeyman Dan Sheehan (who had been stopped in 4 of his previous 5). Wilder stopped Sheehan impressively inside a round though doubts about Wilder's chin were still being asked following the Sconiers fight and he was now 14 fights into his career with out facing anyone expected to put up much of a fight.
Though a busy 2011 Wilder fought 6 times and took significant steps up in opponents facing the likes of former world title challenger Damon Reed (who Wilder stopped inside 2 rounds) and 39 year old David Long (who Wilder stopped inside a round). Though neither Reed or Long are great opponents they both represented a step up in class and now with a record of 20-0 (20) Wilder will be looking to build towards a world ranking come the end of 2012. To start the new year Wilder will be facing the hard punching Chris Koval (25-8, 18). Sadly Koval is another step backwards for Wilder and has been stopped in 5 of his last 8 contests, though if Wilder steps up through out the year he may well begin to live up to the promise his short but impressive amateur career suggested he had.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Joe Hanks
I've often found it really hard to find many worth while American Heavyweight Prospects to talk about on this blog and as a result it often seems I've spent more time talking about rising European fighters, however in Joe Hanks (18-0, 12) the USA does have a promising fighter.
Hanks, from New Jersey, was a solid amateur who often seemed to be described as having a style that better suited the professional game than the amateur side of the sport and in 2007 he put those comments to the test as he turned over. In his debut in December 2007 he stopped the huge 280lbs Joseph Rabotte in 2 rounds and then took 4 months to hone his craft somewhat before returning to the ring and beating Corey Winfield in a clear 4 round decision. Hanks would later add 2 more wins (both by stoppage) during 2008 before starting 2009 with a 4-0 (3) record, though he had yet to fight anyone who was really worthy of talking about, in fact it wasn't until August 2009 that Hanks faced his first real test.
After running up a perfect record of 8-0 (6) Hanks would face fellow unbeaten fighter Ashanti Jordan who was 10-0 (7). This was the first real test either man had faced though Jordan was favoured to win having been signed to Golden Boy Promotions and having had a very strong amateur background. Hanks hadn't read the script and clearly beat Jordan just dropping a single round on 1 of the 3 score cards. Jordan's hopes had been shattered and at the time of writing he hasn't returned to the ring (and is unlikely to ever do so).
6 months after beating Jordan we would see Hanks in his second test as he faced experienced journeyman Cliff Couser. Whilst Couser took an unflattering record of 26-20-2 to the ring he had once been a very good fighter and held wins over the likes of James "Quick" Tillis and Monte Barrett, and certainly knew his way around the ring. It took the still green Hanks just 142 seconds to dispatch his veteran opponent in what was a genuinely impressive result.
After picking up 2 more easy wins to take Hanks' record to 13-0 (8) he would face Johnnie White (who was 22-2, 18 himself). White was around the same age and size as Hanks and certainly still had belief in himself having only lost to Dominick Guinn and Seth Mitchell the difference however was that Hanks was simply to good. White's power was neutralised by the ability Hanks had and Hanks would take a wide decision.
Since beating White we haven't really seen Hanks step up a great deal, in fact his best win since facing White was against Alfredo Escalera Jr, a fighter who spent vast swathes of his career fighting as a Cruiserweight. Hanks did however pick up the IBA Americas heavyweight title a title that he defends this coming weekend against Cuban Rafael Pedro (21-9-1, 15). Whilst hanks is expected to deal with the veteran Cuban with out too many problems, it would be nice to see Hanks taking a step up in class again soon. Maybe facing a former champion (such as Hasim Rahman) would be a step too far but someone like Nicolai Firtha, Tye Fields or even Ray Austin could be good scalps to try and get, just to help Hanks get his name out there a bit more.
The video below is thanks to defymagonline
Hanks, from New Jersey, was a solid amateur who often seemed to be described as having a style that better suited the professional game than the amateur side of the sport and in 2007 he put those comments to the test as he turned over. In his debut in December 2007 he stopped the huge 280lbs Joseph Rabotte in 2 rounds and then took 4 months to hone his craft somewhat before returning to the ring and beating Corey Winfield in a clear 4 round decision. Hanks would later add 2 more wins (both by stoppage) during 2008 before starting 2009 with a 4-0 (3) record, though he had yet to fight anyone who was really worthy of talking about, in fact it wasn't until August 2009 that Hanks faced his first real test.
After running up a perfect record of 8-0 (6) Hanks would face fellow unbeaten fighter Ashanti Jordan who was 10-0 (7). This was the first real test either man had faced though Jordan was favoured to win having been signed to Golden Boy Promotions and having had a very strong amateur background. Hanks hadn't read the script and clearly beat Jordan just dropping a single round on 1 of the 3 score cards. Jordan's hopes had been shattered and at the time of writing he hasn't returned to the ring (and is unlikely to ever do so).
6 months after beating Jordan we would see Hanks in his second test as he faced experienced journeyman Cliff Couser. Whilst Couser took an unflattering record of 26-20-2 to the ring he had once been a very good fighter and held wins over the likes of James "Quick" Tillis and Monte Barrett, and certainly knew his way around the ring. It took the still green Hanks just 142 seconds to dispatch his veteran opponent in what was a genuinely impressive result.
After picking up 2 more easy wins to take Hanks' record to 13-0 (8) he would face Johnnie White (who was 22-2, 18 himself). White was around the same age and size as Hanks and certainly still had belief in himself having only lost to Dominick Guinn and Seth Mitchell the difference however was that Hanks was simply to good. White's power was neutralised by the ability Hanks had and Hanks would take a wide decision.
Since beating White we haven't really seen Hanks step up a great deal, in fact his best win since facing White was against Alfredo Escalera Jr, a fighter who spent vast swathes of his career fighting as a Cruiserweight. Hanks did however pick up the IBA Americas heavyweight title a title that he defends this coming weekend against Cuban Rafael Pedro (21-9-1, 15). Whilst hanks is expected to deal with the veteran Cuban with out too many problems, it would be nice to see Hanks taking a step up in class again soon. Maybe facing a former champion (such as Hasim Rahman) would be a step too far but someone like Nicolai Firtha, Tye Fields or even Ray Austin could be good scalps to try and get, just to help Hanks get his name out there a bit more.
The video below is thanks to defymagonline
Friday, 20 January 2012
Gary Cornish
Giant British heavyweights seem to be a thing now a days with the likes of David Price, Tyson Fury and Richard Towers all getting plenty of attention, though one name that often seems to be forgotten is the emerging Scottish fighter Gary Cornish. Stood at 6'7" Cornish is another giant from British and is yet another fighter who is intent on making his name in the heavyweight division.
Despite having only had 9 amateur bouts (winning them all, 6 by KO) Cornish, known as "The Highlander" has had the hype machine going crazy with his manager Tommy Gilmour believing Cornish could become the first Scottish Heavyweight world champion. Maybe that day will come one day though for now Cornish, with Gilmour behind him, is taking baby steps and slowly being shaped into the fighter that Gilmour wants him to be.
Cornish made his professional debut in April 2011 by stopping Preston based Heavyweight journeyman Howard Daley in 2 rounds. Cornish then followed up that impress victory by stopping Hastings Rasani in 4 rounds (due to a cut). Impressively just 5 months later Rasani would score a draw with former World title challenger Albert Sosnowski. In September of '11 Cornish would head the final bell for the first time as he scored a clear points victory over the tough Rolandas Cesna.
In Cornish's most recent fight (November 2011) he would rematch Hastings Rasani, this time in an 8 round bout. After dropping the Rasani twice in round 3 Cornish failed to stop the Zimbabwean though took a wide decision with the score of 80-71.
Tomorrow night (Saturday January 21st) Gary Cornish will face the busy Latvian Remigijus Ziausys on an under-card bout at the Liverpool Olympia. Ziausys' record reads a rather ugly 20-46-3 (10) though he has proven himself to be a durable fighter having only been stopped once (by former European Cruiserweight champion Alexander Frenkel). This is despite facing fighters including Dereck Chisora, Alexander Kotlobay, Robert Helenius, Mariusz Wach, Bogdan Dinu and Giacobbe Fragomeni. Whilst we all expect Cornish to win, a stoppage victory would really be impressive from the giant from Scotland who will tower some 9 inches above his Latvian opponent.
Whilst I've not found any footage of Gary "The Highlander" Cornish, we will hopefully see highlights of his fight with Ziausys on Sky TV on the undercard of David Price v John McDermott tomorrow.
Despite having only had 9 amateur bouts (winning them all, 6 by KO) Cornish, known as "The Highlander" has had the hype machine going crazy with his manager Tommy Gilmour believing Cornish could become the first Scottish Heavyweight world champion. Maybe that day will come one day though for now Cornish, with Gilmour behind him, is taking baby steps and slowly being shaped into the fighter that Gilmour wants him to be.
Cornish made his professional debut in April 2011 by stopping Preston based Heavyweight journeyman Howard Daley in 2 rounds. Cornish then followed up that impress victory by stopping Hastings Rasani in 4 rounds (due to a cut). Impressively just 5 months later Rasani would score a draw with former World title challenger Albert Sosnowski. In September of '11 Cornish would head the final bell for the first time as he scored a clear points victory over the tough Rolandas Cesna.
In Cornish's most recent fight (November 2011) he would rematch Hastings Rasani, this time in an 8 round bout. After dropping the Rasani twice in round 3 Cornish failed to stop the Zimbabwean though took a wide decision with the score of 80-71.
Tomorrow night (Saturday January 21st) Gary Cornish will face the busy Latvian Remigijus Ziausys on an under-card bout at the Liverpool Olympia. Ziausys' record reads a rather ugly 20-46-3 (10) though he has proven himself to be a durable fighter having only been stopped once (by former European Cruiserweight champion Alexander Frenkel). This is despite facing fighters including Dereck Chisora, Alexander Kotlobay, Robert Helenius, Mariusz Wach, Bogdan Dinu and Giacobbe Fragomeni. Whilst we all expect Cornish to win, a stoppage victory would really be impressive from the giant from Scotland who will tower some 9 inches above his Latvian opponent.
Whilst I've not found any footage of Gary "The Highlander" Cornish, we will hopefully see highlights of his fight with Ziausys on Sky TV on the undercard of David Price v John McDermott tomorrow.
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
David Price
Whilst many British boxing fans are excited about Tyson Fury I'll be honest and say the biggest Heavyweight hope in the UK is Liverpudlian David Price (11-0, 9). Stood at 6'8" the Olympic bronze medal winner is really one of the most promising heavyweights in the world and will almost certainly break into the top Heavyweight rankings in just another few fights.
Price first started to make an impression on the national scene as a teenager when he won the ABA Super Heavyweight title in 2003 (before repeating the success in 2005 and 2007). Just a few years later he was making a mark on the international stage with a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth games and making the quarter final of the 2007 World championships. It was however his Bronze medal at the Beijing games that really took the world by surprise not just because of the medal but because of the way he dispatched Islam Timurziev, one of the tournament favourites in his opening bout.
Soon after the Olympics Price turned professional and in March 2009 he debuted by stopping British journeyman David Ingleby in the 3rd round. Over the following 9 months Price would add 3 more victories to his ledger to move to 4-0 (3) with only the stubborn Yavor Marinchev seeing out the 4 round distance. Marinchev had only been stopped once in his previous 20 fights which had seen him go the distance with the likes of Andrzej Wawrzyk, Mariusz Wach, Mateusz Masternak, Valery Brudov, Ran Nakash and Alexander Kotlobay.
Price would also turn out 4 times in 2010 as he stepped up in class slightly and was taken 6 rounds by popular journeyman Daniil Peretyatko (AKA "Shrek"). Whilst Peretyatko was the only man to survive the distance with Price none could match him in an actual fight as the English giant moved to 8-0 (6) by the end of the year and finally started to get some positive comments from the wider boxing public, however it wasn't until 2011 that he started to show his true potential. Price would start 2011 with a 3rd round TKO over the disgustingly out of shape Osborne Machimana who lived up to his moniker of being a big daddy as he almost tipped 300lbs on the scales. Price would then impressively stop experienced American Raphael Butler in the opening round as he showed his power was real. He would fight for the final time in the year in summer when he stopped the unbeaten Tom Dallas in the 2nd round with another impressive display of power and accuracy.
On Saturday 21st January Price will have his toughest test to date as he faces the experienced and under-rated John McDermott (26-7, 17) in an English heavyweight title fight that also doubles as British title eliminator. Despite McDermott not holding the most impressive of records many feel he has been hard done to by judging which has arguably robbed him of wins over Danny Williams (twice), Mark Krence and Tyson Fury. Though he does hold notable wins over Pele Reid (TKO2), Scott Gammer (points10) and Larry Olubamiwo (TKO1). A win for Price is expected though the manner in which he wins will be a major marker for Price in the short term.
A preview of the Price v McDermott fight can be found here.
Video below thanks to maloneypromotions
Price first started to make an impression on the national scene as a teenager when he won the ABA Super Heavyweight title in 2003 (before repeating the success in 2005 and 2007). Just a few years later he was making a mark on the international stage with a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth games and making the quarter final of the 2007 World championships. It was however his Bronze medal at the Beijing games that really took the world by surprise not just because of the medal but because of the way he dispatched Islam Timurziev, one of the tournament favourites in his opening bout.
Soon after the Olympics Price turned professional and in March 2009 he debuted by stopping British journeyman David Ingleby in the 3rd round. Over the following 9 months Price would add 3 more victories to his ledger to move to 4-0 (3) with only the stubborn Yavor Marinchev seeing out the 4 round distance. Marinchev had only been stopped once in his previous 20 fights which had seen him go the distance with the likes of Andrzej Wawrzyk, Mariusz Wach, Mateusz Masternak, Valery Brudov, Ran Nakash and Alexander Kotlobay.
Price would also turn out 4 times in 2010 as he stepped up in class slightly and was taken 6 rounds by popular journeyman Daniil Peretyatko (AKA "Shrek"). Whilst Peretyatko was the only man to survive the distance with Price none could match him in an actual fight as the English giant moved to 8-0 (6) by the end of the year and finally started to get some positive comments from the wider boxing public, however it wasn't until 2011 that he started to show his true potential. Price would start 2011 with a 3rd round TKO over the disgustingly out of shape Osborne Machimana who lived up to his moniker of being a big daddy as he almost tipped 300lbs on the scales. Price would then impressively stop experienced American Raphael Butler in the opening round as he showed his power was real. He would fight for the final time in the year in summer when he stopped the unbeaten Tom Dallas in the 2nd round with another impressive display of power and accuracy.
On Saturday 21st January Price will have his toughest test to date as he faces the experienced and under-rated John McDermott (26-7, 17) in an English heavyweight title fight that also doubles as British title eliminator. Despite McDermott not holding the most impressive of records many feel he has been hard done to by judging which has arguably robbed him of wins over Danny Williams (twice), Mark Krence and Tyson Fury. Though he does hold notable wins over Pele Reid (TKO2), Scott Gammer (points10) and Larry Olubamiwo (TKO1). A win for Price is expected though the manner in which he wins will be a major marker for Price in the short term.
A preview of the Price v McDermott fight can be found here.
Video below thanks to maloneypromotions
Monday, 28 November 2011
Edmund Gerber
This coming weekend is a boxing fans dreams with a huge number of notable fights. Seriously just look at this list of great fights:
Robert Helenius v Dereck Chisora
Alexander Povetkin v Cedric Boswell
Jhonny Gonzalez v Roinet Caballero
Prince Aaron v Brian Rose
Abner Mares v Joseph Agbeko II
Anselmo Moreno v Vic Darchinyan
Pawel Wolak v Delvin Rodriguez II
Brandon Rios v John Murray
Mike Jones v Sebastian Andres Lujan
and of course Miguel Angel Cotto v Antonio Margarito II
Though if you were just thinking it was just a night of big high profile title fights, you'd be wrong, a number of emerging prospects fight on the same night, the most interesting (in regards to the heavyweight division) is quite possibly Edmund Gerber (17-0, 11). Gerber is one of the younger prospects in the division at just 23 years old though is also one who, outside of Germany, hasn't really received much hype despite being a 4 year pro.
Gerber turned professional way back in 2007 and has slowly been improving and racking up victories. Sadly he has a number of things going against him, most notably his style which isn't the most fun to watch, in fact at times he can appear downright lazy. Although he may seem dull he does possess solid skills and genuine 1 punch KO power which he showed in fantastic fashion in his last fight as he sparked Yohan Banks.
When it comes to Gerber's potential he's incredibly young and it's perhaps going to be a while to see him become the complete article, though what we have seen has been a real mixed bag. He's scored a solid stoppage over Rene Dettweiler and shut out Zack Page as well taking on a variety of British journeymen (such as Lee Swaby, Carl Baker, Colin Kenna and Paul Butler) though has yet to really mix it with any solid European level guys. Whilst he does have time on his side it would be nice to see him step in with someone like Yaroslav Zavorotnyi who will come to win and could act as a marking stick somewhat.
Gerber's next fight takes place on the card in Helsinki (which also plays host to Helenius v Chisora and Povetkin v Boswell) and will hopefully be featured on Box Nation in the UK. Although Gerber faces the veteran Marcus McGee (23-18-0-1, 7KO's) it does give us a chance to compare Gerber to David Rodriguez (who was taken the distance by McGee) and hopefully marks the start of Gerber's progression through the levels of opponents.
An updated piece on Edmund Gerber can be found on boxingprospects.info, click here for that.
Video below courtesy of deebak777
Robert Helenius v Dereck Chisora
Alexander Povetkin v Cedric Boswell
Jhonny Gonzalez v Roinet Caballero
Prince Aaron v Brian Rose
Abner Mares v Joseph Agbeko II
Anselmo Moreno v Vic Darchinyan
Pawel Wolak v Delvin Rodriguez II
Brandon Rios v John Murray
Mike Jones v Sebastian Andres Lujan
and of course Miguel Angel Cotto v Antonio Margarito II
Though if you were just thinking it was just a night of big high profile title fights, you'd be wrong, a number of emerging prospects fight on the same night, the most interesting (in regards to the heavyweight division) is quite possibly Edmund Gerber (17-0, 11). Gerber is one of the younger prospects in the division at just 23 years old though is also one who, outside of Germany, hasn't really received much hype despite being a 4 year pro.
Gerber turned professional way back in 2007 and has slowly been improving and racking up victories. Sadly he has a number of things going against him, most notably his style which isn't the most fun to watch, in fact at times he can appear downright lazy. Although he may seem dull he does possess solid skills and genuine 1 punch KO power which he showed in fantastic fashion in his last fight as he sparked Yohan Banks.
When it comes to Gerber's potential he's incredibly young and it's perhaps going to be a while to see him become the complete article, though what we have seen has been a real mixed bag. He's scored a solid stoppage over Rene Dettweiler and shut out Zack Page as well taking on a variety of British journeymen (such as Lee Swaby, Carl Baker, Colin Kenna and Paul Butler) though has yet to really mix it with any solid European level guys. Whilst he does have time on his side it would be nice to see him step in with someone like Yaroslav Zavorotnyi who will come to win and could act as a marking stick somewhat.
Gerber's next fight takes place on the card in Helsinki (which also plays host to Helenius v Chisora and Povetkin v Boswell) and will hopefully be featured on Box Nation in the UK. Although Gerber faces the veteran Marcus McGee (23-18-0-1, 7KO's) it does give us a chance to compare Gerber to David Rodriguez (who was taken the distance by McGee) and hopefully marks the start of Gerber's progression through the levels of opponents.
An updated piece on Edmund Gerber can be found on boxingprospects.info, click here for that.
Video below courtesy of deebak777
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Tyson Fury
British heavyweights have for a long time been a a running joke in the sport of boxing. Whilst a few have managed to make an impact in the last 100 years they have been few and far between with the likes of Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno, Henry Akinwande and David Haye being the few stand outs who have made it on the world stage. Sadly all of those are known almost as well for their failures as for their victories. Lennox being knocked sparked out Hasim Raham, David Haye flopping like a fish against Wladimir Klitschko, Frank Bruno being stopped by Mike Tyson and Henry Akinwande being DQ'd for hugging onto Lewis like his was his mother.
Tyson Fury (16-0, 11) however wants to change the view on British heavyweights almost single handed and is going about things in an impressive fashion so far. Fury, aged just 23 has already captured the British and Commonwealth titles and generally impressed time and time again proving that he's more than just hype.
Stood at 6'9 and with an 85" reach Fury has shown he has skills to go with his size and with wins against the likes of Scott Belshaw (TKO2), John McDermott (Points 10 and TKO 9) and Dereck Chisora (UD12) he already stands out as being above the run of the mill prospects. Whilst at times Fury has struggled (notably in the 2 McDermott fights) he has shown steady improvement and is now a more complete fighter than he's ever been. He showed a huge level of improvement when he defeated Chisora and last time out (against Nicolai Firtha) he showed an excellent jab as well as knowing what to do when he was hurt (after Firtha caught him with a beauty).
This coming Saturday Fury will face Canadian based Neven Pajkic (16-0, 5) who himself holds a number of solid wins (including a decision over Firtha, and wins over Jason Gavern, Grzegorz Kielsa, Raphael Butler and Johnnie White). A win over Pajkic would be the 4th time Fury has taken an opponents "0" (after Rich Power who was 12-0, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento who was 13-0 and Dereck Chisora who was 14-0) an impressive feat for a fighter with less than 20 fights.
Fury v Pajkic will be shown for free on Channel 5 in the UK so make sure to tune in to one of Britain's fastest rising boxing prospects.
Below is the fight between Fury and Firtha thanks to superboxmma5
Tyson Fury (16-0, 11) however wants to change the view on British heavyweights almost single handed and is going about things in an impressive fashion so far. Fury, aged just 23 has already captured the British and Commonwealth titles and generally impressed time and time again proving that he's more than just hype.
Stood at 6'9 and with an 85" reach Fury has shown he has skills to go with his size and with wins against the likes of Scott Belshaw (TKO2), John McDermott (Points 10 and TKO 9) and Dereck Chisora (UD12) he already stands out as being above the run of the mill prospects. Whilst at times Fury has struggled (notably in the 2 McDermott fights) he has shown steady improvement and is now a more complete fighter than he's ever been. He showed a huge level of improvement when he defeated Chisora and last time out (against Nicolai Firtha) he showed an excellent jab as well as knowing what to do when he was hurt (after Firtha caught him with a beauty).
This coming Saturday Fury will face Canadian based Neven Pajkic (16-0, 5) who himself holds a number of solid wins (including a decision over Firtha, and wins over Jason Gavern, Grzegorz Kielsa, Raphael Butler and Johnnie White). A win over Pajkic would be the 4th time Fury has taken an opponents "0" (after Rich Power who was 12-0, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento who was 13-0 and Dereck Chisora who was 14-0) an impressive feat for a fighter with less than 20 fights.
Fury v Pajkic will be shown for free on Channel 5 in the UK so make sure to tune in to one of Britain's fastest rising boxing prospects.
Below is the fight between Fury and Firtha thanks to superboxmma5
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Oscar Rivas
When it comes to Colombian fighters a common feature is power and and this is one feature of Oscar Rivas, a man nicknamed "Kaboom" due to his power. Rivas was born in 1987 in Valle del Cauca, Colombia (though is now based in Quebec, Canada) and it was whilst competing for Colombia as an amateur that Rivas first came to the attention of the boxing world. As an amateur Rivas would win a number of medals, most impressively was a gold medal at the 2008 Pan Am games. Amongst those he beat as an amateur were Kubrat Pulev, Robert Alfonso and Mike Wilson, 3 impressive names to have on his ledger. In fact the win over Pulev came in the 2008 Olympics, the biggest stage of all.
Since turning professional in Canada back in August 2009 Rivas has largely gone under the radar though been compiling impressive wins for such a novice. Whilst he's not being fast tracked he's already beaten a number of experienced fighters including Stephane Tessier and Ramon Hayes and gained the hard needed seasoning that many young heavyweight prospects lack until later on in their career.
Although Rivas has struggled in one of his early fights (winning "just" a majority decision over David Whittom) he is developing into a better and more complete fighter as shown by his swift stoppage victory over the previous unbeaten Zsolt Zathureczky inside a round that helped moved his record to 6-0 (3). Rivas will be taking part in his 7th professional contest when he faces the very experienced Edgars Kalnars of Latvia. It'd be a huge shock if Rivas doesn't stop the aging Latvian though the fight will help get Rivas some much needed "big scene" experience with the fight taking place on the undercard of Lucien Bute v Glen Johnson.
The videos below are for Rivas' full professional debut against Joe Stofle and are thanks to 14caratboxing
UPDATE-Rivas will fight on December 10th against Matthew Greer in Canada. Also on the card is fellow top Colombian prospect Eleider Alvarez.
Since turning professional in Canada back in August 2009 Rivas has largely gone under the radar though been compiling impressive wins for such a novice. Whilst he's not being fast tracked he's already beaten a number of experienced fighters including Stephane Tessier and Ramon Hayes and gained the hard needed seasoning that many young heavyweight prospects lack until later on in their career.
Although Rivas has struggled in one of his early fights (winning "just" a majority decision over David Whittom) he is developing into a better and more complete fighter as shown by his swift stoppage victory over the previous unbeaten Zsolt Zathureczky inside a round that helped moved his record to 6-0 (3). Rivas will be taking part in his 7th professional contest when he faces the very experienced Edgars Kalnars of Latvia. It'd be a huge shock if Rivas doesn't stop the aging Latvian though the fight will help get Rivas some much needed "big scene" experience with the fight taking place on the undercard of Lucien Bute v Glen Johnson.
The videos below are for Rivas' full professional debut against Joe Stofle and are thanks to 14caratboxing
UPDATE-Rivas will fight on December 10th against Matthew Greer in Canada. Also on the card is fellow top Colombian prospect Eleider Alvarez.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Artur Szpilka
If you frequent some of the biggest boxing forums one name seems to keep appearing when people are talking about heavyweight prospects and that's the name of 22 year old Polish fighter Artur Szpilka. Stood at 6'4" and fighting out of a crouched southpaw stance Szpilka has swiftly shown the early signs of a talented fighter despite several out of the ring mishaps which have perhaps been the most notable feature of his career so far.
Born in Wieliczka back in 1989 it's fair to say the Szpilka is still a young heavyweight and whilst he has shown both foolish youthfulness and inexperience he has also been swiftly improving and turning his life around. As a youth Szpilka got involved in illegal fights outside of football grounds and got caught in at least 2 fights between fans of Wisła Kraków and Cracovia, the second of those fights saw Szpilka locked away for almost 2 years.
Although the young fighter had been boxing professionall before his jail term it was whilst in prison that Szpilka realised what boxing really meant to him. The prison time gave Szpilka not only time to reflect on his actions but also time to dedicate himself to bulking up his body. For Szpilka's final fight before prison he weighed just 200lbs, the cruiserweight limit and on his return to the ring 23 months later he was a much more muscular fighter weighing weighing over 240lbs.
Prior to prison Szpilka had managed to run up a 5 fight record winning 3 of those by stoppage and had shown impressive power and explosiveness which had seen him dropping almost all of his early opponents. Since leaving prison Szpilka has added 2 swift wins. The first of those wins was a lightning quick (33 seconds) blow out of Ramiz Hadziaganovic (who entered 8-0) and that was followed by an opening round KO of David Williams. Of the two victories it was the one over Ramiz Hadziaganovic that really got fans excited as Szpilka landed a shot that send his opponent face first to the canvas for the full count.
With a record of 7-0 (5) Szpilka has so far shown fantastic power, great head movement, swift hands and a fun to watch style, despite this the shaven headed and tattooed fighter still has a number of questions surrounding him. The big questions is can Szpilka stay out of trouble? Can his stamina hold up over the distance? Will his power carry up to the next level? Whats his chin like? If Szpilka can indeed stay out of trouble and if he can show his power, stamina and chin hold up he could be "the new Tyson".
Szpilka is expected to fight again in a few weeks, with names such as Robert Hawkins and Larry Donald being thrown out there though the opponent hasn't been officially named as yet.
Video thanks to zakir371
Born in Wieliczka back in 1989 it's fair to say the Szpilka is still a young heavyweight and whilst he has shown both foolish youthfulness and inexperience he has also been swiftly improving and turning his life around. As a youth Szpilka got involved in illegal fights outside of football grounds and got caught in at least 2 fights between fans of Wisła Kraków and Cracovia, the second of those fights saw Szpilka locked away for almost 2 years.
Although the young fighter had been boxing professionall before his jail term it was whilst in prison that Szpilka realised what boxing really meant to him. The prison time gave Szpilka not only time to reflect on his actions but also time to dedicate himself to bulking up his body. For Szpilka's final fight before prison he weighed just 200lbs, the cruiserweight limit and on his return to the ring 23 months later he was a much more muscular fighter weighing weighing over 240lbs.
Prior to prison Szpilka had managed to run up a 5 fight record winning 3 of those by stoppage and had shown impressive power and explosiveness which had seen him dropping almost all of his early opponents. Since leaving prison Szpilka has added 2 swift wins. The first of those wins was a lightning quick (33 seconds) blow out of Ramiz Hadziaganovic (who entered 8-0) and that was followed by an opening round KO of David Williams. Of the two victories it was the one over Ramiz Hadziaganovic that really got fans excited as Szpilka landed a shot that send his opponent face first to the canvas for the full count.
With a record of 7-0 (5) Szpilka has so far shown fantastic power, great head movement, swift hands and a fun to watch style, despite this the shaven headed and tattooed fighter still has a number of questions surrounding him. The big questions is can Szpilka stay out of trouble? Can his stamina hold up over the distance? Will his power carry up to the next level? Whats his chin like? If Szpilka can indeed stay out of trouble and if he can show his power, stamina and chin hold up he could be "the new Tyson".
Szpilka is expected to fight again in a few weeks, with names such as Robert Hawkins and Larry Donald being thrown out there though the opponent hasn't been officially named as yet.
Video thanks to zakir371
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Michael Wallisch
Germany has become the base for most European fighters over the past few years but have rarely provided their own top fighters (with a few exceptions aside). In giant heavyweight prospect Michael "Der Germane" Wallisch (7-0, 4) they may have found a fighter to call their own and one who fights in with the growing "super heavyweight" movement.
Born in 1985 in Chemnitz, Sachsen (though now based in Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt) the 6'5" Wallisch is slowly forging his name in the heavyweight division. Trained by renowned former fighter Otkay Urkal we know that Wallisch won't be allowed to do things "the easy way" and he's been pushed well since debuting back in 2010.
Wallisch made his debut against Taras Varva back in March '10 and scored a 3rd round TKO before adding 3 more easy wins to move to 4-0 (3) within just a few months of becoming a professional. In Wallisch's first fight against a "known" opponent he faced veteran Turkish fighter Serdar Uysal and scored a 2nd round TKO. Since then however Wallisch has "exposed" the then 27-0 Yakup Saglam winning a clear 10 round decision over Saglam to claim the German International Heavyweight title.
Wallisch's amateur credentials aren't the best (with around just 30 fights) but with his improving opponents, his natural size and his youth he could be a real one to watch. For now we've not really seen a lot of him and whilst his style is a little bit robotic he's improving continually under the tutelage of Urkal. We should be seeing Wallisch out next later this year against an as yet unnamed opponent on what seems like it could be a very interesting night for us heavyweight fans with Glazkov, Charr and Hammer all fighting on the same night.
Video thanks toeastsidefighter1
Born in 1985 in Chemnitz, Sachsen (though now based in Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt) the 6'5" Wallisch is slowly forging his name in the heavyweight division. Trained by renowned former fighter Otkay Urkal we know that Wallisch won't be allowed to do things "the easy way" and he's been pushed well since debuting back in 2010.
Wallisch made his debut against Taras Varva back in March '10 and scored a 3rd round TKO before adding 3 more easy wins to move to 4-0 (3) within just a few months of becoming a professional. In Wallisch's first fight against a "known" opponent he faced veteran Turkish fighter Serdar Uysal and scored a 2nd round TKO. Since then however Wallisch has "exposed" the then 27-0 Yakup Saglam winning a clear 10 round decision over Saglam to claim the German International Heavyweight title.
Wallisch's amateur credentials aren't the best (with around just 30 fights) but with his improving opponents, his natural size and his youth he could be a real one to watch. For now we've not really seen a lot of him and whilst his style is a little bit robotic he's improving continually under the tutelage of Urkal. We should be seeing Wallisch out next later this year against an as yet unnamed opponent on what seems like it could be a very interesting night for us heavyweight fans with Glazkov, Charr and Hammer all fighting on the same night.
Video thanks toeastsidefighter1
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Vyacheslav Glazkov
Heavyweight boxing at the moment is dominated by Ukrainians with Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko holding all the major titles and Alexander Dimitrenko currently holding the European title though it seems like they may well have one of the divisions next stars as well. Vyacheslav Glazkov is one of the fighters who is emerging, quickly as a real one to watch in the division and has the amateur credentials to back up the hype behind him.
Born in Lugansk in late 1986 Glazkov emerged as a top amateur in his late teens having won the World University Boxing Championship in 2004 as a Heavyweight before moving into the Super Heavyweight division the following year. Although he was unlucky in 2005 to run into the excellent Odlanier Solis at the World Amateur Championships he showed enough, as a teenager for some insiders to start to take notice of him.
If 2005 was the year for him to announce himself, 2006 was the year to show the real promise he had by stopping giant Englishman David Price. Despite Price having a considerable size advantage over Glazkov the Ukrainian merely proved that size doesn't count for everything. In the biggest tournament of the year, the European Amateur Champions, Glazkov ran into top Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev who widely out pointed Glazkov, again showing that Glazkov wasn't the finished article.
It wasn't until 2007 that Glazkov managed to medal at a major competition, thanks to a Silver medal at the 2007 World Amateur Championships. Sadly for Glazkov he ran into the exceptional Roberto Cammarelle of Italy in the final and lost a wide decision on point. Despite the loss in the final Glazkov had made his mark and proven he could compete with the best in the world. The following year, at the Beijing Olympics Glazkov started well but suffered an injury on his elbow that saw him pull out of a fight with Chinese fighter Zhang Zhilei (the eventual Silver medal winner).
After the Olympic heartbreak Glazkov turned professional and made his debut in late 2009. Glazkov's debut was against Turkish heavyweight Oezcan Cetinkaya who, at the time, had a record of 15-5-1. Glazkov would box a clear decision win over his experienced opponent and set the tone for his career so far, which has seen him face very credible opponents fight after fight, rather than pad his record as fellow Olympian Deontay Wilder has done.
Since his debut Glazkov has faced several real tests such as Alexey Varakin (who was 28-16-3), Ramon Hayes (15-29-1), Mark Brown (15-3) and most recently the dangerous Denis Bakhtov (33-5) as the Ukrainian prospect has forged to a 9-0 (6) record. Impressively Glazkov hasn't just been fighting a stiff level of opposition but beating them with relative ease and racking up valuable experience with 31 rounds and an 8 round bout already under his belt.
Glazkov is next expected to fight in October on a show in the Dominican Republic against an as yet unknown opponent. Going by his record so far we can only expect to see Glazkov in a bout that will act as a real test and hopefully help make him into a more promising young fighter. To date however he's shown excellent skills, fantastic hand speed and the ability to box whilst keeping up a solid work rate. Although he has question marks over his power it's likely he'll grow his real punching power of the coming years, and what is obvious from watching him is he can land clean accurate shots time and time again. If the 6'3" fighter can keep his weight in the 220's he could well be a contender that the world can be proud of, for now however he's "just" one of the elite heavyweight boxing prospects.
Thanks to LoopingRightHand for the video below.
Born in Lugansk in late 1986 Glazkov emerged as a top amateur in his late teens having won the World University Boxing Championship in 2004 as a Heavyweight before moving into the Super Heavyweight division the following year. Although he was unlucky in 2005 to run into the excellent Odlanier Solis at the World Amateur Championships he showed enough, as a teenager for some insiders to start to take notice of him.
If 2005 was the year for him to announce himself, 2006 was the year to show the real promise he had by stopping giant Englishman David Price. Despite Price having a considerable size advantage over Glazkov the Ukrainian merely proved that size doesn't count for everything. In the biggest tournament of the year, the European Amateur Champions, Glazkov ran into top Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev who widely out pointed Glazkov, again showing that Glazkov wasn't the finished article.
It wasn't until 2007 that Glazkov managed to medal at a major competition, thanks to a Silver medal at the 2007 World Amateur Championships. Sadly for Glazkov he ran into the exceptional Roberto Cammarelle of Italy in the final and lost a wide decision on point. Despite the loss in the final Glazkov had made his mark and proven he could compete with the best in the world. The following year, at the Beijing Olympics Glazkov started well but suffered an injury on his elbow that saw him pull out of a fight with Chinese fighter Zhang Zhilei (the eventual Silver medal winner).
After the Olympic heartbreak Glazkov turned professional and made his debut in late 2009. Glazkov's debut was against Turkish heavyweight Oezcan Cetinkaya who, at the time, had a record of 15-5-1. Glazkov would box a clear decision win over his experienced opponent and set the tone for his career so far, which has seen him face very credible opponents fight after fight, rather than pad his record as fellow Olympian Deontay Wilder has done.
Since his debut Glazkov has faced several real tests such as Alexey Varakin (who was 28-16-3), Ramon Hayes (15-29-1), Mark Brown (15-3) and most recently the dangerous Denis Bakhtov (33-5) as the Ukrainian prospect has forged to a 9-0 (6) record. Impressively Glazkov hasn't just been fighting a stiff level of opposition but beating them with relative ease and racking up valuable experience with 31 rounds and an 8 round bout already under his belt.
Glazkov is next expected to fight in October on a show in the Dominican Republic against an as yet unknown opponent. Going by his record so far we can only expect to see Glazkov in a bout that will act as a real test and hopefully help make him into a more promising young fighter. To date however he's shown excellent skills, fantastic hand speed and the ability to box whilst keeping up a solid work rate. Although he has question marks over his power it's likely he'll grow his real punching power of the coming years, and what is obvious from watching him is he can land clean accurate shots time and time again. If the 6'3" fighter can keep his weight in the 220's he could well be a contender that the world can be proud of, for now however he's "just" one of the elite heavyweight boxing prospects.
Thanks to LoopingRightHand for the video below.
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Matteo Modugno
When we look at heavyweight boxing one country seems to be forgotten about. Despite having had 2 "world champions" in the heavyweight division Italy seems to have been no where near that standard in recent years, in fact their top recent heavyweight, Paolo Vidoz has become a European journeyman of sorts. One man however does give Italy a serious chance at making a mark on the heavyweight division once again. Matteo "Grissino" Modugno, (9-0, 4) appears to have all the tools a young upcoming heavyweight could ever want and seems determined as well as talented.
Born in Piacenza in 1987 the 24 year old, who is now fighting out of Langhirano, is a man mammoth who stands at 6'6" and although early footage of him does show him carrying some extra weight he has started to tone up a bit more recently. What is surprising about the big man however is that he not only incredibly well for such a huge guy be he has a really good boxing IQ for someone so inexperienced. He has shown an ability to go to both the head and body, mix up his shots and land a crisp clean jab.
Since his debut in May 2010 after having had an excellent time in the amateurs we've seen Modugno not only develop well but also step up his competition in the right sort of manner. He first started with the inexperienced Alex Szekely (TKO1) and has since fought experienced fighters like of Ferenc Zsalek (pts 6), Tomas Mrazek (pts 6) and most recently Lazlo Toth (KO3).
Although far from being the finished article he has begun to develop into a very promising heavyweight prospect who has shown power and skill to get to where he is. Although their was hope, before he turned pro, that he would compete in the 2012 London games, it seems the allure of the professional ring (and the fact Roberto Cammarelle will likely compete as Italy's super heavyweight) has seen him turn over earlier than expected. Hopefully he'll put this extra time to good use in the ring and be on the verges of a European title shot by the time of the Olympics.
Video thanks to sportdacombattimento
Born in Piacenza in 1987 the 24 year old, who is now fighting out of Langhirano, is a man mammoth who stands at 6'6" and although early footage of him does show him carrying some extra weight he has started to tone up a bit more recently. What is surprising about the big man however is that he not only incredibly well for such a huge guy be he has a really good boxing IQ for someone so inexperienced. He has shown an ability to go to both the head and body, mix up his shots and land a crisp clean jab.
Since his debut in May 2010 after having had an excellent time in the amateurs we've seen Modugno not only develop well but also step up his competition in the right sort of manner. He first started with the inexperienced Alex Szekely (TKO1) and has since fought experienced fighters like of Ferenc Zsalek (pts 6), Tomas Mrazek (pts 6) and most recently Lazlo Toth (KO3).
Although far from being the finished article he has begun to develop into a very promising heavyweight prospect who has shown power and skill to get to where he is. Although their was hope, before he turned pro, that he would compete in the 2012 London games, it seems the allure of the professional ring (and the fact Roberto Cammarelle will likely compete as Italy's super heavyweight) has seen him turn over earlier than expected. Hopefully he'll put this extra time to good use in the ring and be on the verges of a European title shot by the time of the Olympics.
Video thanks to sportdacombattimento
Petero Qica
Heavyweight Boxing Prospects can be found literally all over the world as Petero "Lauan Torpedo" Qica Jr of Fiji proves. Although little is really know about Fijian Heavyweight Champion there is enough to really be excited about him.
Qica Jr has become a well known name in his homeland having been trained by national icon Sunia Cama Senior, the former Light Heavyweight champion of Fiji who became a major trainer in his homeland until his death in 2010. Though the talk of one of Cama's former students was to take Qica over to Canada where Qica's talent could be shown to the world.
Despite only having very limited amateur experience (6-0, 5) Qica has impressed as a professional by running up a 4-0 (3) record against some stiff competition sing his debut back in August 2008. In his debut Qica would stop the experienced Fatu Tuimanono in the 3rd round, this victory was followed up months later by an opening round stoppage over Alifereti Qiolele. Though it was Qica's 3rd professional fight that made headlines back in his homeland as he defeated the hard hitting veteran Mosese Kavika. Kavika had notched up in excess of 30 fights in a career that went back to the 1980's and showed that experience against Qica though the youngster would snatch a close decision win to claim the heavyweight title of Fiji by majority decision. The two men would meet again in July 2011 this time with Qica stopping his veteran opponent.
Petero Qica Jr was last reported to be training under his father who took over the job of training the young 22 year old southpaw after the death of Cama who trained Qica Jr at the Arara-ta/YMCA Boxing Club in Suva. For the stinging southpaw we can only guess what the future holds, though it's safe to assume that not many 22 year old heavyweights have made so many newspaper headlines back home as Qica, who with 27 rounds under his belt already (including a full 12 round fight and an 11 rounder) is picking up plenty of experience at a vital learning stage in his career.
Qica Jr has become a well known name in his homeland having been trained by national icon Sunia Cama Senior, the former Light Heavyweight champion of Fiji who became a major trainer in his homeland until his death in 2010. Though the talk of one of Cama's former students was to take Qica over to Canada where Qica's talent could be shown to the world.
Despite only having very limited amateur experience (6-0, 5) Qica has impressed as a professional by running up a 4-0 (3) record against some stiff competition sing his debut back in August 2008. In his debut Qica would stop the experienced Fatu Tuimanono in the 3rd round, this victory was followed up months later by an opening round stoppage over Alifereti Qiolele. Though it was Qica's 3rd professional fight that made headlines back in his homeland as he defeated the hard hitting veteran Mosese Kavika. Kavika had notched up in excess of 30 fights in a career that went back to the 1980's and showed that experience against Qica though the youngster would snatch a close decision win to claim the heavyweight title of Fiji by majority decision. The two men would meet again in July 2011 this time with Qica stopping his veteran opponent.
Petero Qica Jr was last reported to be training under his father who took over the job of training the young 22 year old southpaw after the death of Cama who trained Qica Jr at the Arara-ta/YMCA Boxing Club in Suva. For the stinging southpaw we can only guess what the future holds, though it's safe to assume that not many 22 year old heavyweights have made so many newspaper headlines back home as Qica, who with 27 rounds under his belt already (including a full 12 round fight and an 11 rounder) is picking up plenty of experience at a vital learning stage in his career.
Bogdan Dinu
If Denis Boytsov is the prospect nearest to being the complete article and the most experienced heavyweight boxing prospect out there then Bogdan Dinu (7-0, 4) is the fighter who is still in his proverbial boxing nappies. The 25 year old from Bucharest, Romania has had a very stop start career which has seen him amass only 7 fights since his debut way back in April 2008, though he had remained a name that the hardcore fans have known about for a while.
Dinu, like so many others made his name as an amateur where he competed for his native Romania with varying degrees of success. Dinu's real success as an amateur came in the early years of competing as he won the U17 World Cadet Championships in 2003 and a bronze medal at the U17 European Champions the same year. He later added the silver medal from the European Junior Championships in 2005 before his amateur career seemed to stall somewhat. His amateur days were ended in disgrace however after being thrown out of the World Amateur Championships in 2007 as he, along team mates Ronald Gavril and Gabriel Julian Stan were thrown out of the competition and banned for life for shop lifting.
In 2008 Dinu made his professional debut and defeated the durable Stephane Tessier by 4 round decision and by the end of the year he had added the names of Shawn McLean (UD4) and James Pratt (KO1) to his record. All three of those fights were on notable cards held in Romania and headlined by pretty well known Romanian fighters (Such as Jo Jo Dan and Adrian Diaconu). Though much to the disappointment of the boxing world Dinu's career somewhat stalled with only a single fight in both 2009 and 2010.
Sadly for those who were excited about Dinu's early days they've had little in 2011 to get extra excited by, he's again only fought once, though the actual performance was incredibly impressive and has shown that he is developing well even if it has been away from the eyes of fans. In that fight Dinu swiftly stopped Awadh Tamim inside a round on the undercard of Lucien Bute's IBF Super Middleweight title defence against Jean Paul Mendy. It was that fight that really caught the eyes of fans, as the 6'5" Dinu showed fantastic movement, blinding handspeed and more than impressive shot selection which saw some dub him a future Klitschko conqueror.
Whilst I doubt Dinu and either Klitschko will ever share a ring together it's hard not to be impressed from the videos available of Dinu. For a 7 fight (7-0, 4) novice he's showing all the right things inside the ring even if his activity has been lacking. Dinu may well be the best kept secret in heavyweight boxing, but he's also one of the more notable heavyweight boxing prospects in regards to raw talent.
Dinu will look to improve to 8-0 this coming weekend when he faces Canadian Eric Martel Bahoeli (7-2, 4) on the undercard of Lucian Bute v Denis Grachev.
Video thanks to LionAssociation
Dinu, like so many others made his name as an amateur where he competed for his native Romania with varying degrees of success. Dinu's real success as an amateur came in the early years of competing as he won the U17 World Cadet Championships in 2003 and a bronze medal at the U17 European Champions the same year. He later added the silver medal from the European Junior Championships in 2005 before his amateur career seemed to stall somewhat. His amateur days were ended in disgrace however after being thrown out of the World Amateur Championships in 2007 as he, along team mates Ronald Gavril and Gabriel Julian Stan were thrown out of the competition and banned for life for shop lifting.
In 2008 Dinu made his professional debut and defeated the durable Stephane Tessier by 4 round decision and by the end of the year he had added the names of Shawn McLean (UD4) and James Pratt (KO1) to his record. All three of those fights were on notable cards held in Romania and headlined by pretty well known Romanian fighters (Such as Jo Jo Dan and Adrian Diaconu). Though much to the disappointment of the boxing world Dinu's career somewhat stalled with only a single fight in both 2009 and 2010.
Sadly for those who were excited about Dinu's early days they've had little in 2011 to get extra excited by, he's again only fought once, though the actual performance was incredibly impressive and has shown that he is developing well even if it has been away from the eyes of fans. In that fight Dinu swiftly stopped Awadh Tamim inside a round on the undercard of Lucien Bute's IBF Super Middleweight title defence against Jean Paul Mendy. It was that fight that really caught the eyes of fans, as the 6'5" Dinu showed fantastic movement, blinding handspeed and more than impressive shot selection which saw some dub him a future Klitschko conqueror.
Whilst I doubt Dinu and either Klitschko will ever share a ring together it's hard not to be impressed from the videos available of Dinu. For a 7 fight (7-0, 4) novice he's showing all the right things inside the ring even if his activity has been lacking. Dinu may well be the best kept secret in heavyweight boxing, but he's also one of the more notable heavyweight boxing prospects in regards to raw talent.
Dinu will look to improve to 8-0 this coming weekend when he faces Canadian Eric Martel Bahoeli (7-2, 4) on the undercard of Lucian Bute v Denis Grachev.
Video thanks to LionAssociation
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Denis Boytsov
Denis Boytsov is one of the better known names in heavyweight boxing having been featured in Ring magazine's rankings for the division though he is still only a young prospect at just 25 years of age. The young Russian has shown a lot of promise so far in a 28 fight career (all wins, 23 by knockout) that started when he was just 18 years old. Though as well as being talented, fun to watch and exciting he has also had a number of problems in a career that has, on more than one occasion, looked like it could be over before it really began.
Boytsov's story begins in Orel, with is near the Western border of Russia some 200 miles West of Moscow, it was here that Boystov was born in February 1986. It was whilst competing for Russia as an amateur that Boytsov made a number of the sports insiders take notice as he ran up impressive amateur wins. In an amateur career totally 130 fights he won well in excess of 100 and notched up 2 Cadet World Championships (2001 and 2002) and a Junior World Championship (2004).
Despite being a good amateur his style wasn't really suited to the amateur side of the sport and instead of staying in the unpaid ranks he decided to get paid for fighting and in late 2004 made his professional debut by stopping Imrich Borka inside a round. By the end of the year Boytsov had run up 4 wins (all by KO) needing a total of just 5 rounds to mow through his competition.
Over the following couple of years Boytsov was allowed to grow into a natural heavyweight and bulk his frame up from around 200lbs to around 215-220lbs as he continued to pick up wins over progressively stiffer competition through Germany and Austria. Boytsov would swiftly work his way through his competition and actually stopped his first 14 opponents inside the distance, with experienced Brazilian Edson Cesar Antonio becoming the first man to last the distance with Boytsov.
Boytsov's first title victory came against Ondrej Pala of the Czech Republic in a bout for the WBC Youth World heavyweight title, Boytsov scoring a 5th round TKO due to cuts though it wasn't until late 2008 and 2009 that he really started to make his mark on the sport. In 2008 Boytsov would score victories over well known Americans Robert Hawkins (UD8) and Vinny Maddalone (UD8) in what were seen as good tests over well known Heavyweights.
The fledgling career of Boystov however seemed to speed up in 2009 as he won both the WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title and the WBO European heavyweight title and scored wins over the likes of Taras Bydenko (TKO6) and Jason Gavern (KO7).
Just as it seemed that Denis was on the fast track to success he had a nightmare year suffering serious hand injuries that kept him out of the ring for almost then entire of 2010 and most of 2011. The injuries had required major surgery and it looked as if Boytsov, one of the most exciting young heavyweights might even have called time on his career as almost 2 years were wasted away from the ring. This coming Saturday however marks the return of the young heavyweight prospect as he fights 34 year old Matthew Greer of the USA on the undercard of Alexander Dimitrenko's European heavyweight title defence against Michael Sprott.
At 28-0 (23) Boytsov has an incredible record for such a young heavyweight, wins over Bydenko, Maddalone, Hawkins, Pala and Gavern are all very credible victories. Though he does have his problems. As well as the hand injuries he's also a very small heavyweight at just 6'1" which does give him a somewhat limited chance against the emerging heavyweight giants that are becoming the norm. Although he is powerful and fast it's hard to tell what the hand surgeries may have taken away from his explosive power until he faces Greer and maybe more worrying is the potential for those hand problems to come back in the future. For now however Denis Boytsov is real heavyweight boxing prospect to make yourself aware of.
Thanks to Middletown for the video above.
Boytsov's story begins in Orel, with is near the Western border of Russia some 200 miles West of Moscow, it was here that Boystov was born in February 1986. It was whilst competing for Russia as an amateur that Boytsov made a number of the sports insiders take notice as he ran up impressive amateur wins. In an amateur career totally 130 fights he won well in excess of 100 and notched up 2 Cadet World Championships (2001 and 2002) and a Junior World Championship (2004).
Despite being a good amateur his style wasn't really suited to the amateur side of the sport and instead of staying in the unpaid ranks he decided to get paid for fighting and in late 2004 made his professional debut by stopping Imrich Borka inside a round. By the end of the year Boytsov had run up 4 wins (all by KO) needing a total of just 5 rounds to mow through his competition.
Over the following couple of years Boytsov was allowed to grow into a natural heavyweight and bulk his frame up from around 200lbs to around 215-220lbs as he continued to pick up wins over progressively stiffer competition through Germany and Austria. Boytsov would swiftly work his way through his competition and actually stopped his first 14 opponents inside the distance, with experienced Brazilian Edson Cesar Antonio becoming the first man to last the distance with Boytsov.
Boytsov's first title victory came against Ondrej Pala of the Czech Republic in a bout for the WBC Youth World heavyweight title, Boytsov scoring a 5th round TKO due to cuts though it wasn't until late 2008 and 2009 that he really started to make his mark on the sport. In 2008 Boytsov would score victories over well known Americans Robert Hawkins (UD8) and Vinny Maddalone (UD8) in what were seen as good tests over well known Heavyweights.
The fledgling career of Boystov however seemed to speed up in 2009 as he won both the WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title and the WBO European heavyweight title and scored wins over the likes of Taras Bydenko (TKO6) and Jason Gavern (KO7).
Just as it seemed that Denis was on the fast track to success he had a nightmare year suffering serious hand injuries that kept him out of the ring for almost then entire of 2010 and most of 2011. The injuries had required major surgery and it looked as if Boytsov, one of the most exciting young heavyweights might even have called time on his career as almost 2 years were wasted away from the ring. This coming Saturday however marks the return of the young heavyweight prospect as he fights 34 year old Matthew Greer of the USA on the undercard of Alexander Dimitrenko's European heavyweight title defence against Michael Sprott.
At 28-0 (23) Boytsov has an incredible record for such a young heavyweight, wins over Bydenko, Maddalone, Hawkins, Pala and Gavern are all very credible victories. Though he does have his problems. As well as the hand injuries he's also a very small heavyweight at just 6'1" which does give him a somewhat limited chance against the emerging heavyweight giants that are becoming the norm. Although he is powerful and fast it's hard to tell what the hand surgeries may have taken away from his explosive power until he faces Greer and maybe more worrying is the potential for those hand problems to come back in the future. For now however Denis Boytsov is real heavyweight boxing prospect to make yourself aware of.
Thanks to Middletown for the video above.
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