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
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
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
Friday, 18 November 2011
Magomed Abdusalamov
Although on the older side at 30 years old the Russian born Southpaw has managed to (just) get himself mentioned on this blog due to the way his career is progressing more than anything else. Stood at 6'2" the southpaw was born in Makhachkala, Russia though is now fighting out of Oxnard, California where he is promoted by Seminole Warriors Boxing (who actually have him being younger than Boxrec).
Magomed was a solid amateur fighter having been a 2-time Russian amateur champion at Super Heavyweight (2005 and 2006) though his amateur credentials do seem to lack somewhat on the world stage mainly due to being Russia's #2 behind Islam Timurziev. Being the second choice behind Timurziev however shouldn't make boxing fans worry too much about Magomed's potential as Timurziev was the 2006 European champion and 2007 World Bronze medal winner.
After missing out on an Olympic place Magomed would turn professional and debut in September 2008. His debut was short lived as he took out Epiphanie Pipi in just 130 seconds on a card in Russia. Despite it being a brief fight it's still one of the longest of his career as he's paved a path of destruction in an 11 fight career that has seen ever opponent taken out before the final bell. In fact Magomed's first 8 fights failed to even last a round as he showed impressive power. Although many of his early wins were against relative nobodies who were their to pad his record and help him earn a reputation as a banger he did impressively take out the experienced Raymond Ochieng in 95 seconds, probably his most impressive win to date.
Now with a record of 11 wins all by KO (and only Jerry Butler having survived a round) Magomed is preparing for his toughest fight to date when he takes on Rich "Super" Power on November 20th. Power comes to the ring with a very respectable record of 15-1 (11) with his only loss coming on points to Tyson Fury last year. A stoppage win over Power would lay down the marker and give the first real comparison between Magomed and the gigantic Englishman who was recently dropped by Neven Pajkic.
With explosive power in both hands and a real killer instinct it's going to be fun to see just how far Magomed can go in the sport, though if nothing else it's nice to see that he is taking the sport seriously having lost around 30lbs since his debut. Whilst he may appear crude at times he is likely just overly confident of taking his early opponents out and has no fear which could make him one of the most fun heavyweights to watch that we've seen since Tyson.
Magomed was a solid amateur fighter having been a 2-time Russian amateur champion at Super Heavyweight (2005 and 2006) though his amateur credentials do seem to lack somewhat on the world stage mainly due to being Russia's #2 behind Islam Timurziev. Being the second choice behind Timurziev however shouldn't make boxing fans worry too much about Magomed's potential as Timurziev was the 2006 European champion and 2007 World Bronze medal winner.
After missing out on an Olympic place Magomed would turn professional and debut in September 2008. His debut was short lived as he took out Epiphanie Pipi in just 130 seconds on a card in Russia. Despite it being a brief fight it's still one of the longest of his career as he's paved a path of destruction in an 11 fight career that has seen ever opponent taken out before the final bell. In fact Magomed's first 8 fights failed to even last a round as he showed impressive power. Although many of his early wins were against relative nobodies who were their to pad his record and help him earn a reputation as a banger he did impressively take out the experienced Raymond Ochieng in 95 seconds, probably his most impressive win to date.
Now with a record of 11 wins all by KO (and only Jerry Butler having survived a round) Magomed is preparing for his toughest fight to date when he takes on Rich "Super" Power on November 20th. Power comes to the ring with a very respectable record of 15-1 (11) with his only loss coming on points to Tyson Fury last year. A stoppage win over Power would lay down the marker and give the first real comparison between Magomed and the gigantic Englishman who was recently dropped by Neven Pajkic.
With explosive power in both hands and a real killer instinct it's going to be fun to see just how far Magomed can go in the sport, though if nothing else it's nice to see that he is taking the sport seriously having lost around 30lbs since his debut. Whilst he may appear crude at times he is likely just overly confident of taking his early opponents out and has no fear which could make him one of the most fun heavyweights to watch that we've seen since Tyson.
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.
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