12.10.06 – By Jim Amato: At one time, Anthony Hanshaw was the second best amateur boxer in his weight class. The #1 guy was a fellow by the name of Jermain Taylor. After turning professional, his career seemed to be going right on track. He started his pro career in 2000 and in less then a year he was 11-0. He fought in Vegas and Atlantic City and he appeared to be a star in the making.
In his twelfth fight, he met another unbeaten prospect in Kingsley Ikeke. The fight took place in Canton, Ohio and all three judges had it 98-92 for Hanshaw. Ikeke would go on to become a highly ranked middleweight. In fact, his only other loss was to Arthur Abraham for the vacant IBF middleweight title.
After Ikeke, Tony beat journeymen like Dana Rucker and Etienne Whitaker. Then came a twenty one month layoff. While Hanshaw was inactive, his amateur nemesis Jermain Taylor was streaking toward a title shot.
Hanshaw returned in 2004 and reeled off three quick knockouts over sub par opposition. Then came another layoff that lasted nearly two years. By that time, Taylor had twice defeated long reigning champion Bernard Hopkins and was king of the middleweights.
Since returning in 2006, Anthony seems to have put his once promising career back on track. After a quick KO win, Hanshaw was entered into Showtime network’s eight man super middleweight tournament. He out boxed Esteban Camou to advance to the semi-finals. He then halted the dangerous Leferrell Bunting in impressive fashion. He will next meet Jean Paul Mendy for the tournament championship. Also on the line is the vacant International Boxing Organization’s super middleweight title. A win over Mendy, who is 23-0 may also put Hanshaw in line for a bout with some of the leading contenders.
Personal problems and injuries cost Hanshaw almost four years of his career. Now, trainer John Russell ( who trained Buster Douglas to his upset win over Mike Tyson ) seems to have Anthony focused on the job at hand. The talent and solid amateur background are there. It has just been a matter of putting it all together. It looks like he has.
Anthony was born in Warren, Ohio and raised in Mansfield, Ohio ( the home of Prince Charles Williams ). He has a solid fan base in the Youngstown area, which is the hot bed of boxing in Ohio. With Youngstown’s Kelly Pavlik moving high in to the ratings, a future showdown between Hanshaw and Pavlik is a natural, but that is a story for another day.