Thread: The Changing of the Guard. Your favorite future fighters…

The Changing of the Guard. Your favorite future fighters…

A few days ago several of us were involved in a little bit of a discussion regarding the fact that lately there have been some big names retiring this year and we were all wondering who was out there floating around in the void to fill the gap.

After some serious deliberation…I could only come up with a couple of handfuls of names that I thought were going to be truly legit & worthy of hanging my hopes on. I then took those two handfuls of fighters, sucked down a few glasses of Long Island Iced Tea, scanned through a bunch of matches, & oddly enough…those two handfuls of fighters turned into only a few names.

Now…I am sure that everyone has their own picks for their choices of the best up & coming future fighters…& I am sure that you’ve probably already hashed this out with someone else in the past…but I’m ready to hear them & discuss right now…that is…if you got the time & patience.

Post your lists & let’s discuss…better yet…let’s just all start haggling & see what we come up with.

Cheers bitches.

My list has got a few fighters on it that have been around for awhile toiling in obscurity…but now that they’ve had their shot…they’re on the way up & the future looks bright. Here’s my list:

Wacko‘s Favorite Future Fighters:

#1: Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon: Prior to defending his WBO minimum weight title 11 times consecutively, Calderon was regularly fighting on ESPN2 to be noticed & respected….now it seems like he’s on HBO every time a mouse farts…& seeing as how all them fwockers eat is cheese…that’d be a lot. As I was saying, after his 11th defense at minimum he moved up to successfully win the WBO Light Flyweight title when he defeated Hugo Fidel Cazares by split decision. Calderon might not be the best known fighter out there…but once you see him you can’t help but love him if you‘re a fan of boxing. He’s one hell of a southpaw & as of October he remains undefeated with a record of 29 wins & 6 knockouts. He’s been featured on a vast majority of Golden Boy Promotions under cards & very rarely does he displease. What he lacks in power he makes up for in smarts & ring ethic…you don’t want to miss this up & coming Puerto Rican star in the makings.

#2: Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz: It took a pretty good while…but I’ve finally found a special spot in my heart & mind for Diaz. With a crowd pleasing style & near perfect accuracy it’s hard to figure out why Diaz didn’t grow on me earlier…he’s got everything that I like in a boxer. He’s fast as hell & he throws a large amount of combinations & I can’t remember a fighter out there that comes close to him in any of those departments. The only thing that “the Baby Bull” seems to be missing is power, but with the volume that he‘s pushing about…it seems that he doesn’t need power to be able to scorch his opponents asses. Juan is definitely one for the future. Currently, Juan Diaz (33 wins with 17 ko‘s & 0 losses) is only one strap away from unifying the lightweight division.

#3: Kelly “the Ghost” Pavlik: Talk about a crowd pleaser. Kelly Pavlik has been on the sidelines for half a decade. Many people have counted Kelly out for the bulk of his career, but after impressively destroying two of the division’s most influential figures in Jermain Taylor & Edison Miranda, boxing fans have finally begun to take notice. As of 2007, Pavlik is currently the reigning undefeated NABF, WBC, WBO, and Ring Magazine middleweight champion of the world. He’s two straps away from unifying the 160lb division much to everyone’s surprise & joy…well…everyone but Taylor fans. That being said, Pavlik is one of the most exciting fighters in the game right now…especially when you take into account that he‘s pushing a record of 32 fights with no losses & 29 knockouts. That’s a hell of a record. After making short work of Taylor & knocking him out in 7 rounds, Pavlik has been nothing but respectful of Taylor, the fans, & the media. Out of all three of the names above…Pavlik has my vote for the next big thing at 160lbs.

I know that’s a short list…but like I said…the others had to fall by the wayside due to the fact that they had been around for a pretty good while.

Cheers…let’s here what you’ve got to say.

The two top guys Mayweather and Pacquaio could still be around for a long time, but I think Berto, Kessler, Bute, Dawson, Juan Diaz, Pavlik, Cotto are all exciting prospects or guys who can get bigger.

Pavlik, Adrian Diaconu, Jason Litzau, Jorge Linares, Juan Diaz, Chad Dawson, Tye Fields{ lol}, Kessler,Zab Judah{he's funny-exciting}, Hatton, Cotto, Paul Williams, Margarito.

Most definately Katsidis also IMO.

Bazooka Banal.
Valero.
Pavlik.

aside from PAC ofcourse.
1. Kelly Pavlik= down to earth technically sound power puncher.
2. Miguel Cotto= another silent type powerhouse just like Pavlik.

Fighters whom I've been following prior to them becoming champs: Cotto, Kessler, BCDawson, AAbraham, Valero & Linares (Thanks to El Gamo), Luevano (I'll admit I never was big on him but I followed all of his early career), Ponce De Leon, Cazares.

All these guys IMO can fully rule their respective divisions and some are well on their way already. Luevano is tricky for me cause I almost feel bad that I said he'd never accomplish much but he's turned his career around and now I can jump back on and follow him.
What can I say about Solo Boxeo & EPSN aired almost of his early fights that I know of theres only 1 Cotto fight that was never televised/nore do I know of any video on it. But the kid was showed early on that he had the goods it feels good to see fighters like he & BCDawson whom I also started following his career from early on and had the pleasure of meeting.


Fighters who are still prospects/contenders and I hope to see do big things: 'Vicious' Ortiz, Giovanni Segura, JuanMa, Khan, Inkin, Andrade, Haye, JCC Jr.,

Established Champs whom I think will move onto bigger things (Not including fighters I already follow): Sam Peter, Omar Andres Narvaes, Sultan, Erdei.

Dawson, Diaz, and Pavlik are Americas future superstars. Thats who I predict I will be following closely. And since Holyfield, and Barrera are done it looks like they're coming along at the right time.

I love this subject, so I'll do mine by division..

HW: A. Povetkin
Cr: Enzo/Haye
Lt HW: B Hop
SM: other than kessler ...Froch
M: other than pavlik, Andy Lee
jr. M: Chavez jr.....i'm not sure what division he will settle in
Welter: Berto/Cotto
jr. welter: Malignaggi
lt.weight:baby bull diaz really impressive

below or at 130 it would be calderon, koki kameda (i think a japanese fighter will break real big soon), and you got to love arce

overall young title holders..1.pavlik..2...diaz...3.kessler...4.p.will iams...5.cotto

overall: young non-title holders...1.Lee..2.Berto...3.povetkin

Hitmandonnyys Optimistic view of boxings future:

At heavy Chagaev really seems to be the immediate future. Should he unify i can see him beaten by a fighter who will be the dominant champ.

At Cruiser, Enzo Maccarenelli. Haye is good but cant make Cruiser forever so Macca is heir apparent and i feel thats a good thing. Enzo is the nicest Boxer i have ever met.

Light Heavy: Bad Chad Dawsson. is making all the right noises as B-Hop is winding Down, Tarver is in exile and Erdei seems to be destined to life in the shadows. I like Chad and i can visualise him as a dominant champ in the future.

Supermiddle is a tricky one. Joe will be waving goodbye to boxing, in my eyes as the undisputed undefeated SM Champion. This leaves Kessler as No.2 and he is a worthy candidate. We may witness the reincarnation, rejuvination and redemption of Jeff Lacy as a force in this division and it will remain exciting in my eyes. Jermaine Taylor may also be added to this division as i feel that he really must prove himself from now on.

Middleweight: Pavlik is indeed the immediate future, i expect him to fend off the likes of Duddy with violent ease. Prospective contenders such as Lee and Quillon represent future challenges. And with the likes of Ronald Hearns on the up and up the health of the middleweight division is assured. Sturm, abraham must also be mentioned.

LightMiddle may be more problamatic. There is currently plenty of talent, but they dont seem to be upto much. Since Winky went on his unsuccesful tour of higher grounds this division really hasn't shown much. Paul Williams will be appearing here eventually. Next years Oscar fights may draw some more clarity.

Welter: If ever there was a division more stacked with talent it was the 90's welters. No problems here with current champs set to live on for a long time and dozens of contenders on the up.

Light Welter is expieriencing a little Urban blight at the moment, which is illustrated by the scheduling of a unnecessary rematch between Paulie and N'dou. Prospects such a Demetrius Hopkins do not seem to be moving in the correct ways. A hope i do see, is the athletic Pemberton. (Scott isn't it?) A hard worker, very fit and he's pretty likable. I can see him as a popular champion in a number of years.

Lightweight is similar to Welter. Plenty of Current talent and a bushel opf bright prospects although i expect the loss of Joel Casamayor to come soon. Against my will i acknowledge the fact that Amir Kahn is displaying improvement and may well make waves in a couple of Years. Katsidis....need i say more. Juan Diaz, Manny Pacquiao moving up, no problems here.

Super Feather:
Manny posssible vacating is not all that detrimental to this division. The ever brilliant JMM is currently a very deserving and legitimate champion. Valero is to this division waht Katsidis is to Lightweight. Plenty of Talent.

Featherweight is a bit of an enigma to me at the moment, really cant see much for the future yet. Rafael Marquez is at this weight now right?

SuperBantam has plenty of really good guys at the top now. With Kiko Martinez looming on the horizon and the possible rejuvination of Bernard Dunne things could get exciting in the next year or so.

Below this i really have no idea as the lower divisions aren't my forte.

Here are some new names that could be the future or move on to bigger things.

Miguel Cotto
Chad Dawson
Denis Inkin
Kelly Pavlik
Paul Williams
Ivan Calderon
Mikkel Kessler
Juan Diaz
Edwin Valero



Prospects

Lucian Bute
Koki Kameda
Andre Dirrell
Andre Ward
Andre Berto
Amir Khan
JCC JR
Rock Allen
Ronald Hearns
Aaron Pryor Jr
Dmitriy Salita
Jaidon Codrington
Allan Green
Travis Walker
Alexander Povetkin
Chris Arreola
Chazz Witherspoon


Theres plenty of new talent out there Wacko.

Ive always liked Evander Holyfield and Barrera but this last week has proven that at this age they cant keep up with the younger fitter guys . If they both retire im guna get behind guys like;

Miguel Cotto
Kelly Pavlik

I once compared a young Cotto to Barrera in that he is so cold and clinical as he goes about his work
Pavlik also reminds me of Dieggo Corrales . He is a proper fighter with heart and no messing around. These two are always guna be in good fights .

You know what...Cotto completely slipped my mind.

Honestly...I consider him one of the old gang now...I've been following that kid since he got crankin.

Originally Posted by wacko3205

You know what...Cotto completely slipped my mind.

Honestly...I consider him one of the old gang now...I've been following that kid since he got crankin.

Surprised you didn't mention Williams either i think he would give Mayweather his toughest fight due to Williams output of punches and his height infact and i know i might be shot down in flames here but i think Williams could be the 2nd best Welterweight when this mini Welterweight tourny is all set and done.