Brian Norman Jnr's KO win welcomes all the big names to 147

A world champion at 24 after dropping a knockout of the year in Japan this week, Brian Norman Jnr has placed himself in an enviable position.

Georgia’s WBO welterweight champion rides his thunderous fifth-round finish of Jin Sasaki in Japan toward a prominent position considering unified champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis exits the 147lbs division for junior-middleweight this week, and the fact that a host of major fighters are coming to welterweight.

Those names include former two-division champion Devin Haney, new WBA champion Rolly Romero and the popular former two-division title challenger Ryan Garcia, along with the possibility that two-division champion Teofimo Lopez will move up.

“He made a statement that he [intends] to rule over the welterweight division, that he’s going to dominate,” returning trainer of the year Robert Garcia said of Norman on ProBox TV’s Friday recap of Norman’s triumph on “BoxingScene Today.”

“I don’t think Ryan Garcia or Devin Haney will want to fight him.”

After bursting upon the scene with a knockout of then-unbeaten top-five contender Giovanni Santillan at his hometown arena in San Diego last year, Norman ventured again into hostile territory and dropped Sasaki twice in the first round before viciously dropping him for good with the left hook in the fifth.

He was bowing to the fans even as Sasaki was being counted out.

“Brian Norman is physically coming into his own,” former 140lbs champion and “BoxingScene Today” analyst Chris Algieri said. “Man, the guy can punch. [He] was just locked in – faster, sharper, ready.”

The Sasaki fight aired in the early morning hours Thursday in the U.S., but the highlights continued on all day and “that’s going to live on forever … they knocked it out of the park,” Algieri said. 

“Everyone’s talking about it,” Garcia said. “This man will compete against anybody.” 

Norman endeared himself to the Japanese fans and delighted his promoters, with Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum attending the fight in person.

As Top Rank heads into an uncertain period following the expiration of its broadcast deal with ESPN, the next best opportunity for Norman might be a date with his top-ranked contender Alexis Rocha, who fights on DAZN for Golden Boy Promotions.

Representatives of Romero, Ryan Garcia and Haney did not immediately respond to BoxingScene when asked about their reaction to Norman and interest in fighting him.

“He’s the goods,” Algieri said.