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.