Heavyweight Prospects with Time on Their Side
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 25 May 2020
Daniel Dubois finishes Kyoto Fujimoto.
In today’s modern heavyweight landscape it pays to be patient, whether you’re a trainer, promoter or fighter. With schedules pushed back indefinitely and promotions scrambling for venues, perhaps the only fighters benefiting from the situation are the sport’s young guns, who can squirrel themselves away with their coaches and wait on their rivals to grow old and grey.
Here are some on the heavyweight division’s hottest young prospects, along with how we predict they will burst onto the scene as soon as big-time boxing returns in earnest.
Which of these prospects will rise quickest through the rankings?
Daniel Dubois
Frank Warren may be something of an ailing promoter when it comes to the rest of his stable, but he sure does know how to back the right heavyweight, owning a stake in Tyson Fury and also controlling the career of Daniel Dubois.
Lots of prospects these days boast impressive records flush with KOs, but the word from London gyms is that the man known as Dynamite is the real deal. His next scheduled bout is due to be against Joe Joyce, a man who changed codes late in his career and, despite notching wins against the likes of Bryant Jennings and Bermane Stiverne, has yet to face anyone with the youthful exuberance and power of Dubois.
Dubois should have too much speed for the lumbering Juggernaut and move on to bigger and better things in the new year.
Time will tell as to which fighters will return stronger from their enforced layoffs.
Efe Ajagba
There comes a moment in a young buck’s career where his chin is tested for the first time. That moment came for PBC’s Efe Ajagba in December 2019, when the unheralded Iago Kiladze put him on the seat of his pants. Ajagba did come back to win thanks to his natural power, but if Deontay Wilder’s demise has taught us anything it is that power and physical prowess don’t always win out at the top level.
For now, Ajagba is back to the drawing board to some degree, but if he can get the right people in his corner he could yet be a force to be reckoned with.
Filip Hrgovic
This Croatian Olympian was recently nominated as one of the WBC’s hottest prospects of 2019, having dispatched the likes of Eric Molina and Gregory Corbin. With his flawless record and seemingly iron chin you can see why.
In a stacked division full of high-profile names with obvious vulnerabilities, the 27-year old risks becoming an avoided fighter, meaning he may have to take risks as the away fighter, acting as the B-side in Vegas or New York. However, such is the talent of Hrgovic that he may well be worth a punt no matter the odds against him.
Evgeny Romanov
A man who knocked out Deontay Wilder in the amateurs and who since turning pro in 2016 has won 14 back-to-back, Evgeny Romanov is one of a long line of Russian prospects looking to break out on the world stage.
So far he hasn’t boxed outside of his native country and that may have to change if he’s to progress, but having travelled extensively during his amateur days Romanov is a dark horse to be watched carefully over the next 12 months.
Hughie Fury
He may have lost on the three occasions he attempted to compete at elite level, but no other 25-year old in the sport has as much experience under his belt than Hughie Fury, who pushed Kubrat Pulev, Alexander Povetkin and Joseph Parker all the way.
If Tyson Fury’s cousin can add some much-needed power to his arsenal and infuse his jab with some snap, then he could yet become a real force in the heavyweight division.
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