Some are already solid attractions (by today’s standards).

Sergio Mora, the 26-year-old winner of season one of The Contender, continues to improve as a professional and has sold his share of tickets in Las Vegas, L.A. and Sacramento. Despite his somewhat awkward style and lack of punching power, the prime-time network exposure he received on the NBC-televised first season of the unscripted boxing show was invaluable. In the U.S., it’s safe to say that Mora is better known than 90% of the current world title holders.

New York City-based Irishman, John Duddy, an entertaining 27-year-old left hooker with more charm than power, regularly packs Madison Square Garden’s 5,000-seat “Theater” regardless of who he fights.

Another graduate of The Contender’s season one show, Joey Gilbert, a 30-year-old boxer-lawyer, sells more tickets in his home region – Reno and Lake Tahoe, Nevada – than world-class fighters such as the Marquez brothers and Jeff Lacy. Gilbert, a collegiate amateur champ, has improved his once raw technique under the coaching of respected pro trainer Dan Birmingham.

Ronald Hearns, the 28-year-old son of legend Thomas Hearns, is developing into a solid ticket seller in the greater Detroit area after sharing a card with his father early last year that drew more than 15,000 to The Palace in Auburn Hills.

These four boxers are just a few of new faces of the middleweight division. While Gilbert and Hearns are in need of more seasoning, Mora and Duddy are ready to take the next step in their careers and could make for attractive matchups against each other, or vs. well-known junior middleweights such as Spinks (who draws well in his home city of St. Louis), Floyd Mayweather and of course De La Hoya.

Imagine how packed and electric the main arena of Madison Square Garden would be if De La Hoya fought Duddy there on next year’s St. Patrick’s Day. Imagine the ratings and the boost to the sport if such a showdown were shopped to network television instead of premium cable or being offered as a pay-per-view event. Call me crazy, but I think if marketed properly, De La Hoya-Duddy would do American Idol-like ratings on network TV. And best of all, the fight would deliver the kind of action and drama that De La Hoya-Mayweather lacked. Duddy doesn’t know any other way. He’d get caught by every punch De La Hoya threw, bleed all over the ring, and still come forward and remain a threat because of his superior strength and decent power.

Hey, the winner (which should be De La Hoya) could fight Mora in L.A. (the Staples Center) or in Las Vegas on Cinco De Mayo.

You get the picture. There are attractive fights to be made at 160 pounds, and not with the real contenders of the division.

Germany based title holders Arthur Abraham and Felix Sturm have no real incentive to come to the States. They are making good livings in their adopted country. Likewise for Finland’s Amin Asikainen, Canada’s Sebastian Demers (who will challenge Abraham for the IBF title in Germany this Saturday), Spain’s Javier Castillejo and England’s Howard Eastman.

he interest and the potential of the division belongs to its young guns. I present to you 15 up-and-comers, all of whom are under 30. They are based in different metropolitan areas of the U.S. (some of which are major markets). Some hail from different areas of the world, and most (whether due to their ethnic background/national origin or their talent/style or their personality/charisma or a combination of traits) have the potential to become attractions.

Here they are, all 15 of them, all in alphabetical order:

Tyrone Brunson, Detroit by way of Philadelphia, 22, 16-0 (16)

John Duddy, NYC by way of Ireland, 27, 21-0 (15)

Joe Greene, NYC/Brooklyn, 21, 15-0 (11)

Joey Gilbert, Reno, 30, 15-1 (11)

Emmanuel Gonzalez, Florida by way of Puerto Rico, 8-0 (4)

Ronald Hearns, Detroit, 28, 14-0 (11)

Andy Lee, Detroit by way of Ireland, 22, 9-0 (6)

Giovanni Lorenzo, NYC by way of the Dominican Republic, 26, 23-0 (15)

Craig McEwan, L.A. by way of Scotland, 25, 4-0 (3)

James Moore, NYC by way of Ireland, 29, 11-0 (

Sergio Mora, East L.A., 26, 19-0 (4)

Peter Quillin, NYC by way of Chicago, 23, 12-0 (11)

Jerson Ravelo, NYC by way of the Dominican Republic, 29, 18-2 (12)

Michael Walker, Chicago, 28, 15-0-1 (9)

Pawel Wolak, NYC by way of Poland, 25, 15-0 (10)