Basically the criteria is that the fighter has yet to fight at the upper-echelon (i.e. Arreola, Chambers (each fought contenders matches)). I'd also exclude guys like Solis with his amateur pedagree and Chazz Whitherspoon who's basically a journeyman now imo.
The idea is fighters who are unproven but who have potential to be something. As such, I'm not asking for a list of guys you consider the most talented necessarily (although that would be fine too), but rather for the guys you currently have an eye on.
I thought Zhilei was staying amateur for 2012. I hope I'm wrong but I swore I read it on this site yesterday. How is Chazz Witherspoon not a prospect? He lost once, that's a poor assesment. And Eddie Chambers has fought three people in the top 10 rankings at heavyweight and beaten two and gave away the other. He is no longer a prospect but a top 5 heavyweight. Arreola is a different fighter, and is about to fight his first top 10 heavyweight in Vitali. As for the guys I actually like Denis Boytsov has finally convinced me he isn't a flash in the pan. I've always liked Ondrej Pala, Gbenga Olokun has intrigued once again after I was disappointed with his performance against Charr. Robert Helenius is on there, Adam Richards used to be until he smartly moved to cruiserweight, Bermane Stoverne is a little old and a bit chinny but the guy goes for the kill everytime in the ring, and Pianeta and Deontay Wilder round out my young guys to watch. There is some decent talent in the younger portion of the heavyweight ranks, and tonight's fight between Tony grano and Travis Kauffman was a good thing for the division and it's young. Plus I hear it was a good fight.
I heard the same about Zhilei, however I just decided to include him because he is still a guy I am following.
I suppose I was a bit cynical about Chazz Whitherspoon. It is certainly erroneous at this point to call him a journeyman, as I did. He's a contender, fringe maybe, but still I think he is beyond being a prospect nonetheless.
As for Chambers and Arreola, I was actually mentioning them in passing as examples of non-prospects.
Thanks for your thoughts, the point of this thread was really more to focus on the young talent of the division.
I haven't seen the Kaufman-Grano fight yet, but I'm looking forward to watching it soon.
where did you hear he's going pro? He's supposedly headed to the WSB portion of AIBA. Where it's a more pro style and you can get paid, but it's still amateur. He seems enamoured with being an amateur stud and a police officer. Maybe Tunney has better info than I do.
I think I read it in a recent article on the front page of this site about Zhang Zhilei. In the article it was noted that Cammarelle intends to turn pro prior to the next olympics, so Zhilei is a favorite to win gold.
My top ten heavyweight prospects:
Denis Boytsov - he's ready to be tested against a top contender.
Robert Helenius - He seems to be rapidly improving. He'll fight Rene Dettweiller next on Oct 17.
Andrzej Wawrzyk - I'm very impressed by what I saw in videos of his fights. He's strangely become inactive lately though - is he injured?
Vyacheslav Glazkov - this 2008 Olympian has a style well-suited to the pros
Francesco Pianeta - not the most talented, but Sauerland has done a great job of developing him. His biggest test will be tomorrow vs. Matt Skelton.
Deontay Wilder - I think they're bring him along too slowly, he should be fighting a little better quality of clubfighter
Ondrej Pala - had a great fight with Boytsov a few years ago, and was robbed in his match with Dettweiler. He has very good potential.
Tyson Fury - he's doing great for a 21 year old. I expect him to improve and become a top contender by age 24 or 25.
Vladimir Tereshkin - definitely one to watch, but has not yet been really tested
Maxim Maslov - another one with all the tools to become a heavyweight contender.The cat in red, Tunney can you tell me how to find the video of him? Your not the first person I've heard give him praise, and I want to see what he's about.
I gotta add one more (heard he's going pro soon):
Roberto Cammarelle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Cammarelle
http://www.ideavision.it/ARCAGO2008/pugilato-roberto%20cammarelle.jpg
http://img.bloo.it/foto/4_93994596_roberto_cammarelle.jpg
http://www.coni.it/fileadmin/photogallery/26/grandi/cammarelle.JPG
(This sort of breaks my rule about amateur pedagree, but Cammarello hasn't fought professionally so he's still a prospect imo).where did you hear he's going pro? He's supposedly headed to the WSB portion of AIBA. Where it's a more pro style and you can get paid, but it's still amateur. He seems enamoured with being an amateur stud and a police officer. Maybe Tunney has better info than I do.
You have a picture of Tyson Fury for david price.
My bad, fixed it.
Actually I almost posted a picture of Price for Cammarelle but I noticed first. Damn google:oops:
I thought Zhilei was staying amateur for 2012. I hope I'm wrong but I swore I read it on this site yesterday. How is Chazz Witherspoon not a prospect? He lost once, that's a poor assesment. And Eddie Chambers has fought three people in the top 10 rankings at heavyweight and beaten two and gave away the other. He is no longer a prospect but a top 5 heavyweight. Arreola is a different fighter, and is about to fight his first top 10 heavyweight in Vitali. As for the guys I actually like Denis Boytsov has finally convinced me he isn't a flash in the pan. I've always liked Ondrej Pala, Gbenga Olokun has intrigued once again after I was disappointed with his performance against Charr. Robert Helenius is on there, Adam Richards used to be until he smartly moved to cruiserweight, Bermane Stoverne is a little old and a bit chinny but the guy goes for the kill everytime in the ring, and Pianeta and Deontay Wilder round out my young guys to watch. There is some decent talent in the younger portion of the heavyweight ranks, and tonight's fight between Tony grano and Travis Kauffman was a good thing for the division and it's young. Plus I hear it was a good fight.
I gotta add one more (heard he's going pro soon):
Roberto Cammarelle
Amateur Highlights
* Italian Heavyweight Champion 2000/2001, Italian Super Heavyweight Champion 2002-2007
* 1998 competed as a Heavyweight at the Junior World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Result was:
o Lost to Steffen Kretschmann (Germany) PTS (4-12)
* 2002 2nd place at the European Championships in Perm, Russia as a Superheavyweight. Results were:
o Defeated Peter Yatsura (Slovakia) PTS
o Defeated Gaga Bolkvadze (Georgia) PTS
o Defeated Artyom Tsarikov (Ukraine) PTS
o Lost to Alexander Povetkin (Russia) PTS
* 2002 2nd place at the Military World Championships in Curragh, Ireland. Lost to Sebastian Köber (Germany) PTS (7-16)
* 2004 2nd place at the European Championships in Pula, Croatia. Results were:
o Defeated Sebastian Köber (Germany) RSC
o Defeated Csaba Kurtuzs (Hungary) RSCO
o Defeated David Price (Great Britain) PTS
o Defeated Sergey Rozhnov (Bulgaria) PTS
o Lost to Alexander Povetkin (Russia) PTS
* 2004 won the Military World Championships in Fort Huachcua, United States.
* 2004 3rd place at the Athens Olympics. Results were:
o Defeated Gbenga Oloukun (Nigeria) PTS (29-13)
o Defeated Alexey Mazikin (Ukraine) PTS (23-21)
o Lost to Alexander Povetkin (Russia) PTS (18-31)
* 2005 3rd place at the World Championships in Mianyang, China. Results were:
o Defeated Ivica Bacurin (Croatia) RSCO
o Defeated Alexander Apanasenok (Belarus) RSCO
o Defeated Michael Wilson (United States) RSCO-1
o Lost to Roman Romanchuk (Russia) PTS (27-34)
* 2006 competed at the European Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Results were:
o Defeated Modo Sallah (Sweden) DSQ-3
o Lost to Islam Timurziev (Russia) PTS (21-36)
* 2007 won the World Championships in Chicago, USA. Results were:
o Defeated Nelson Hysa (Albania) PTS (20-2)
o Defeated José Payares (Venezuela) PTS (27-4)
o Defeated Kubrat Pulev (Bulgaria) PTS (12-5)
o Defeated David Price (Great Britain) Walkover
o Defeated Islam Timurziev (Russia) Walkover
o Defeated Vyacheslav Glazkov (Ukraine) PTS (24-14)
* 2008 Beijing Olympics
o Defeated Marko Tomasović (Croatia) PTS (13-1)
o Defeated Oscar Rivas (Colombia) PTS (9-5)
o Defeated David Price (Great Britain) RSC-2
o Defeated Zhang Zhilei (China) RSC-4
* 2009 won the World Championships in Milan, Italy Results were:
o Defeated Roman Kapitonenko (Ukraine) PTS (10:5)
o Defeated Viktar Zuyeu (Belarus) RET (1:0)
o Defeated Kubrat Pulev (Bulgaria) PTS (12:6)
o Defeated Rok Urbanc (Slovenia) PTS (14:0)
o Defeated Michael Hunter (USA) PTS (8:1)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Cammarelle
http://www.ideavision.it/ARCAGO2008/pugilato-roberto%20cammarelle.jpg
http://img.bloo.it/foto/4_93994596_roberto_cammarelle.jpg
http://www.coni.it/fileadmin/photogallery/26/grandi/cammarelle.JPG
(This sort of breaks my rule about amateur pedagree, but Cammarello hasn't fought professionally so he's still a prospect imo).
9. Travis Kauffman:
Was going to be my pick but I just checked his boxrec and I see he was just KO'd tonight in the 4th round lol.
http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=343636&cat=boxer
won 18 (KO 15) + lost 1 (KO 1) + drawn 0 = 19
http://readingeagle.com/BlogUploads/18/Boxing%20Photos%20027.jpg
10. (The big man from China)
Zhang Zhilei
Olympic results
* Defeated Mohamed Amanissi (Morocco) 15-0
* Defeated Ruslan Myrsatayev (Kazakhstan) 12-2
* Defeated Vyacheslav Glazkov (Ukraine) walk-over
World amateur championships results
2003 (as a Super heavyweight)
* Lost to Grzegorz Kiełsa (Poland) 8-22
2005 (as a Super heavyweight)
* Defeated Vugar Alekperov (Azerbaijan) 20-11
* Lost to Odlanier Solis (Cuba) 7-17
2007 (as a Super heavyweight)
* Defeated Nurpais Torobekov (Kyrgyzstan) RSCO 3
* Defeated Rustam Rygebayev (Kazakhstan) 20-10
* Defeated Daniel Beahan (Australia) KO 2
* Lost to Vyacheslav Glazkov (Ukraine) 11-21 (placed 3rd)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/olympics/2008-08/24/xin_062080524180098479877.jpg
http://www.cnhubei.com/news/ctjb/ctjbsgk/ctjb05/200808/W020080823183353491583.jpg
http://www.zynews.com/images/2008-08/19/xin_02080519090599898936.jpg
5. (The big man from Lebanon)
Manuel Charr
won 12 (KO 6) + lost 0 (KO 0) + drawn 0 = 12
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=314362&cat=boxer
http://www.boxing.de/boxerdb/data/portrait/portraits/200904061738090.manuel%20charr.jpg
6. (The big man from India)
Gurcharan Singh
won 20 (KO 11) + lost 0 (KO 0) + drawn 0 = 20
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=74684&cat=boxer
Guru boxed on the India Olympic Team in the 2000 Olympics as a Light heavyweight. His results were:
* Defeated Ki Soo-Choi (South Korea) 11-9
* Defeated Danie Venter (South Africa) RSC 4
* Lost to Andriy Fedchuk (Ukraine) 12-12 (Fedchuk won the decision.
http://www.hindu.com/tss/tss3131/images/20080802501701202.jpg
7. (The big man from the Rogue Valley in Oregon, where I'm from)
Mike Wilson
won 1 (KO 1) + lost 0 (KO 0) + drawn 0 = 1
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=508977&cat=boxer
Amateur Highlights
2004 and 2005 United States Super heavyweight champion
2005 AIBA World amateur champions, as a Super heavyweight
* Defeated Mohamed Amanissi (Morocco) 27-20
* Defeated Rustam Rygabayev (Kazakhstan) 26-18
* Lost to Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) RSCO 1
http://www.houstonboxingscene.com/DSC04018.JPG
8.
David Price
won 1 (KO 1) + lost 0 (KO 0) + drawn 0 = 1
http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=483755&cat=boxer
2007 AIBA World championships
Price competed as a Super Heavyweight at the 2007 AIBA World Amateur championships in Chicago. His results were:
* Defeated Marko Tomasovic (Croatia) 23-11
* Defeated Mohamed Samoudi (France) RTD 2 (1:02)
* Defeated Primislav Dimovski (Macedonia) 20-4
* Lost to Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) walk-over
Olympic games results
2008 (as a Super heavyweight)
* Defeated Islam Timurziev (Russia) RSC 2 (0:31)
* Defeated ] (Lithuania) RTD 1 (retired with a back spasm
* Lost to Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) RSC 2 (1:10)
http://timesonline.typepad.com/boxing/images/2008/08/21/david_price_2.jpg
In no particular order:
1.
Alexander Ustinov
won 17 (KO 14) + lost 0 (KO 0)
http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=314868&cat=boxer
Kickboxing record
Total 63
Wins 53
By knockout 31
Losses 8
By knockout 0
Draws 1
No contests 1
Height: 6'7 1/2
Weight: 300+
http://mmalinker.com/wiki/images/3/39/Ustinov.jpg
2.
Mike Perez
won 8 (KO 6) + lost 0 (KO 0) + drawn 0 = 8
http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?cat=boxer&human_id=438253
* As an amateur was the winner at light heavyweight of the 2004 Junior Championships.
* He defected to Ireland in 2007.
http://static.boxrec.com/wiki/thumb/2/27/Perez.Ismaikel.jpg/250px-Perez.Ismaikel.jpg
3.
Deontay Wilder
won 7 (KO 7) + lost 0 (KO 0) + drawn 0 = 7
http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=468841&cat=boxer
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/2600213064_a94388cd9b.jpg
4.
Tor Hamer
won 8 (KO 6) + lost 0 (KO 0) + drawn 0 = 8
http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=467477&cat=boxer
Amateur achievements
* 2008 National Golden Gloves Super heavyweight champion
Hamer from Gleason's Gym beat southpaw Lenroy Thompson in the quarter final avenging his only loss to win the national golden gloves. His record was 34-1.
Personal
Hamer was raised in Harlem as well as suburban Baltimore, he attended private and charter schools until attending Penn State for his B.A. He has a Harvard-educated father and a Villanova-educated mother, both of whom work in education.
http://guestofaguest.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/80364.jpg