So far in the 2 year professional career of Hugie Fury (14-0-0 8KO) he has largely been overlooked in favour of the other top British heavyweights, however that could change this month when Fury takes on Andriy Rudenko (24-1-0 16KO).
Whilst I wouldn’t rate Rudenko as a top 25 heavyweight myself, he is a very good test for the young fighter Fury. Actually in most eyes he will be the favourite going into this fight which would mean a big boost in Hughies stock should he come out victorious.
Amir Mansour had a great year in 2014. He came into the year undefeated at 19-0-0 with 15 knockouts and was coming off of a stoppage over the once beaten Kelvin Price. He went into a bout with Steve Cunningham which would decide which American heavyweight would move up in the ranks and back into contention. The fight turned out to be one of the best of the year with a lot of punches thrown and knock downs on both sides.
In the fifth round of the fight between Mansour and Cunningham, Amir dropped Cunningham quite heavily two times. It looked as though Mansour was closing in on yet another stoppage win, but Steve managed to find a way back into the fight and even dropped Mansour in the tenth round before coming away with a close but fair decision.
WBA (10) and WBO (11) ranked heavyweight Joseph Parker (12-0-0) is training for his next fight with American heavyweight Jason Pettaway (17-1-0). Parker takes time out of his training schedule to talk to us about his career to date, while also offering his thoughts on joining the Wladimir Klitschko camp later this year as a sparring partner for the man regarded as the best heavyweight on the planet.
Joe what’s the plan for you in 2015?
Looking forward to getting back in the ring after a good year last year and fighting someone with a different style.
How often do you get to compare a professional in their seventh year to one in his second year? For myself it is not often but apparently that is normal for drawing comparsions between fellow olympians and current heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.
Both men are tall and strong and produce knockouts in high volume but that is really all you can tell so far. Anthony Joshua is still in the early stages of his career and has only just made it to double figures in total fights where as Deontay has now had 30+ bouts and his first world title. What is interesting is that other than the Stiverne fight they have been facing the same level of competition through 2014.
As all of boxing once again hangs in limbo, waiting as its two biggest stars continue to indulge in their continuing dance of ‘will they or won’t they’ we look across the landscape of what has always been boxing’s deepest division, the welterweights, to see what future talent lies ahead assuming that if the Mayweather/Pacquiao match-up actually ever happens it will probably be fought with the aid of Zimmer frames and walking sticks.
The WBC super bantamweight world champion Leo Santa Cruz has now parted ways with Golden Boy Promotions and his contract was sold to Al Haymon. As we all know Haymon keeps his fighters out of meaningful matchups where there is a chance that his fighter may actually lose. Because of this a showdown with Guillermo Rigondeaux is completely off the cards.
Owner and founder of GBP Oscar De La Hoya was very vocal about trying to make that fight and had been quoted saying it was something that boxing needed and I agree with him. Leo Santa Cruz has the punch output to possibly give the Cuban master some problems, but now we will never know.
Adrien Broner is a three weight world champion already so his name will always hold some weight. The point I am trying to highlight in this article is that very few fighters make it to the very top of the sport where they become household names and make ridiculous amount of money. When you look at the forbes list of highest paid athletes you see a boxer in the number 1 spot, but then you see only 1-2 other boxers in the top 25. There is a sharp dropoff between an elite star and a ‘good’ fighter.
For years now welterweight has been the centre of attention in the boxing world. Big names such as Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao amongst others have lured fighters from 135-140 and 154 to alter their natural weight to compete in the biggest events in the sport for huge exposure and enormous paydays.
In boxing now the best thing that can happen to a fighter is to land a fight with Mayweather. Win or lose they are guaranteed the biggest purse of their careers.
UK heavyweight Dillian Whyte fought his first decent heavyweight in Marcelo Luiz Nascimento (17-8-0 15KO) on 7th February 2015. Whyte made short work of the Brazilian heavyweight in getting him out of there in the second round.
Whyte has not been getting the same attention as Anthony Joshua, but is a decent prospect in his own right. This was the fastest Nascimento had been stopped and should propel Whyte into some better fights. I think this is the kind of performance which give him and his team the confidence to pursue some better opposition.
Anthony Joshua has had a fast paced career so far in the pro ranks. Ten fights in his first year as a pro, all wins by knockout. The level of competition has been on a steep rise also, rising from unknown fighters to serious journeymen type opponents in the very first year. It is likely that he will be fighting Kevin Johnson in his next two fights and this is the kind of guy who Dereck Chisora, Manuel Charr, Tyson Fury and Alex Leapai are fighting well into the prime of their careers. Joshua is expected to become the first man to stop Johnson in that fight.