Dr. Z's top 20 list of heavyweight prospects, January 2024.

[Eff Pandas]

IMO, you will see 3 future heavyweight champions on this list.

If Jalolov doesn't touch a belt I'd be surprised. I'd argue he's the most talented guy on this list.

Jared is a good bet with TR behind him moving him well.

Idk about Torrez at HW, but I think he'd be great for bridgerweight as a smaller HW.

Frank & Filip are probably gonna get belt fights sooner or later so it'll all depend on who they get matched up with if they win it or not.

And there's a lot of guys who aren't well defined yet who might be the next Jalolov type guy or busts so its possible those guys find their way to a belt in 3-4yrs.

So 3 belt guys on this list seems reasonable to me.

[Dr. Z]

I like the breakdowns.

Thoughts on Ivan Dychko (2x Olympic medal winner, 13-0, 12KO's) & Moses Itauma (8-0, 7KO's)?

Dycho chose a bad pro team and is on the fast track to nowhere. When he turned pro he was a good pro prospect. A very rangy msn , and a good boxer his power is not good enough to keep the good aggressive fighters away, ... but he never moved up to those type of opponents so we will never know. He's been a pro for nearly seven years and is still fighting .500 types in South America. At age 33, he is running out time on a wasted career

[Ivich]

If you have heard of these guys, and judging by your comment which could be due to TV in the USA which features American heavyweights , you haven't. That's okay. I can help you.. The heavyweight division is a low point and too many old men are highly ranked men at the top. They won't be here for long and this is the list of young talented pros, many of which had high levels or amatuer success ready to take their place in 1-4 years. Check them out on the web.

IMO, you will see 3 future heavyweight champions on this list.

Too many old men?
Kayabel,Hrgovic, and Sanchez are all 31 with the Cuban likely older.All are top ten ranked so none them propects as we understand the term .I thought Zhang beat him ,but it was close.

Hrgovic's abysmal farce against De Mori was ludicrous,a palpable mis match.The UK odds made the Croatian a 50 /1 on favourite! Disgraceful matching.

Usyk will be far too quick for Hrgovic.

Nice to see big mouth ,and big bellied Miller get his,but I must say he took his beating with a class he has never shown before .

Parker's trainer Any Lee deserves full credit for his game plan to beat Wilder,and Parker too for sticking to it. Most of your picks haven't done anything yet and Saturday we saw how an untested European can come unstuck when he is moved even moderately up in class,size is fine but you need conditioning stamina ,and defence too!

[Dr. Z]

Too many old men?
Kayabel,Hrgovic, and Sanchez are all 31 with the Cuban likely older.All are top ten ranked so none them propects as we understand the term .I thought Zhang beat him ,but it was close.

Hrgovic's abysmal farce against De Mori was ludicrous,a palpable mis match.The UK odds made the Croatian a 50 /1 on favourite! Disgraceful matching.

Usyk will be far too quick for Hrgovic.

Nice to see big mouth ,and big bellied Miller get his,but I must say he took his beating with a class he has never shown before .

Parker's trainer Any Lee deserves full credit for his game plan to beat Wilder,and Parker too for sticking to it. Most of your picks haven't done anything yet and Saturday we saw how an untested European can come unstuck when he is moved even moderately up in class,size is fine but you need conditioning stamina ,and defence too!

Old as in over 36. 31 is a heavyweight's prime, which is what Kayabel,Hrgovic, and Sanchez are in. I do not think Usyk will be too quick for Hrgovic who is a good body puncher among other things.

If / when the match happens Usyk will be at least 37. I defined what a project in for this thread, and Kayablel was not in Ring Magazine or Box Rec's top ten.

Everybody here has not fought for a title shot yet, but a few will. There is some talent on the list.

But most importantly is this, Merry Christmas.

[Dr. Z]

(Russia) looks good. Aged just 20 and huge.. looks about 6ft 7. There's some of his amateur fights on youtube including the Russian senior championships in August where he got to the final (I thought he won). Then he had his pro debut in in October. Rare for a young Russian heavyweight to turn pro this early this young.


Mourad Aliev (France)and Sonny Conto (USA) I think deserve to get into your list, though I'm assuming you probably already know about them.

In the amateurs the standout for me is definitely Nikita Putilov (Germany), he has really good skills, I think he has a big future.

I have not seen him. He is only 20, and 6'7" tall. Watching him now.

He is chiseled, moves his feet well and jab well. He has a high guard to block hooks. But he is bit stiff in the upper body. Not exactly a puncher ( and needs to throw his right hand more out of his guard ), but he isn't even 21 yet! He was up against a 28 year old excellent & expeirnced amateur. He needs a lot more fights. A raw talent to mold who might make my list someday. I normally do not rate 20 year olds unless they were special to talents in the amateurs. And he failed to KO his man in the pro debut ..a sub .500 guy over six rounds.

Thanks for bringing him to my attention.

[juggernaut666]

Vlad Sirenko should be on the Fury vs Usyk undercard .

[garfios]

Lots of nobodies on this list

All eastern European, but they're not too many in other parts of the world. There is where the factory is.

[Dr. Z]

All eastern European, but they're not too many in other parts of the world. There is where the factory is.

Most of the world heavyweight young talents today are 6'5" + and lbs or more. Most happen to be of Eastern Europe dissent. This is relatively new for pro boxing as most of the top heavyweight prospects are Eastern Europeans / or their West Asians cousins. And is now size a real factor circa 1990 in heavyweight boxing. IMO, if this group went pro say in the 1900's they would rewrite heavyweight history with several new champions. Before this time boxing had their goon's and circus freaks at 6'4'" and over. And they were rare.

I rate every man's potential as his own individual case. Boxing is an international sport. Who is to say in the future that won't be an Amazon giant from South America, or an Asian man on my list? Or an Italian heavyweight prospect who, to quote a famous actor, can eat lightning and crap thunder. If he any such man exists in boxing, I'll rate him!

[garfios]

Most of the world heavyweight young talents today are 6'5" + and lbs or more. Most happen to be of Eastern Europe dissent. This is relatively new for pro boxing as most of the top heavyweight prospects are Eastern Europeans / or their West Asians cousins. And is now size a real factor circa 1990 in heavyweight boxing. IMO, if this group went pro say in the 1900's they would rewrite heavyweight history with several new champions. Before this time boxing had their goon's and circus freaks at 6'4'" and over. And they were rare.

I rate every man's potential as his own individual case. Boxing is an international sport. Who is to say in the future that won't be an Amazon giant from South America, or an Asian man on my list? Or an Italian heavyweight prospect who, to quote a famous actor, can eat lightning and crap thunder. If he any such man exists in boxing, I'll rate him!

I have no problem with your list. I just made a comment that happens to be true, most HW nowadays are from Eastern Europe. I used to follow amateur boxing, not any longer so I'm glad you're putting those names out, I'll check back if a new HW gets crowned to see if his/their names are on your list. Merry Christmas and God bless of all.

[Don_Jah]

@Dr. Z what's your thoughts on Alexis Barriere? 11-0 (9) ranked 50th on boxrec.