Barroso Could Be Next Big Banger on HBO, Says Cohen
Dec 15, 2015 • 1:43 AM ET
By Steve Kim
Ismael Barroso lived up to his billing as one of the hardest hitting lightweights in the world by halting the respected Kevin Mitchell in five rounds this past weekend at the O2 Arena in London, England. In doing so he captured the interim WBA lightweight title.
"It was a long time coming for Barroso to get this shot and he made the most of his opportunity," said his promoter, Greg Cohen.
"Kevin Mitchell is a top lightweight, a top guy and Barroso just established himself as a murderous puncher that we've all known he is. I think he's terrific and the rest of the world got to see it."
As for what's next, Cohen explained,"Before the fight the WBA had a resolution that mandated that the winners of the Daryls Perez- Anthony Crolla fight the winner of Barroso-Mitchell and they have to do so within 120 days. So basically at this point we're going to commence negotiations regarding a Crolla fight and hopefully we'll get that done."
Cohen believes that this Venezuelan southpaw(who's record now stands at 19-0-2/18 KO's) has the kind of style that will resonate with American viewers very quickly.
"I have already sent videos, articles to Peter Nelson (the Executive V.P. of HBO Sports). Look, I think Barroso - and I said this in an email to Peter - is now at a similar stage that (Gennady) Golovkin was before the (Grzegorz) Proksa fight. That's a guy who has an unbelievable knockout ratio, a world champion and nobody really saw him until he burst on the scene,"explained Cohen
"And I think it's very similar to (Sergey) Kovalev before the Ismayl Sillakh fight and I think if Barroso gets that opportunity - and there's no doubt that fans love guys who can knock people out, fans love guys who have power in both hands - I think he has such a fan-frienly style, such a power-punching style. I think Peter's going to watch tape on him and I think he's going to see what I see.
''And I think he will get an opportunity at some point."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
