Which of the UK's "prospects" will be the most successful/failures?

Well. I've watched maybe 7-8 Vasquez fights. He's awkward & smart, he's tricky for any fighter let alone a talent just about to make his breakthrough at world level. Vasquez doesn't move as much as he used to, he's sitting in range just a little longer & trying to be more aggressive. He still spoils, he'll leap in with 1-2 punches & hold immediately.

But even in his best days, almost all of his best wins were against guys who needed to be set. Against Kim, Prescott, Gesta & Shafikov those guys were either punchers or pressure fighters. Every time they set their feet, Vasquez would move or hit and move, constantly change distance & spoil inside. He won't have the same reach advantage VS Taylor he had against some of those guys (Prescott had reach to be fair) & he isn't as mobile anymore. I was not impressed with his fight VS Argenis Mendez. He's lost a step in my opinion. Taylor can move in & out of range & move laterally. Some feel Taylor's jab could be better. Maybe but he shows a stiff jab now and again (Davies, Gonzalez, Chaibi) but uses it lightly to hide punches, get in range, to bait & by not constantly loading on the jab. He's more difficult to read & counter, so Vasquez won't have that on his side. Taylor can box an any pace, fight inside or fight in 1-2's at range, lateral movement etc. He'll be bigger, stronger & quicker handed. Vasquez at one time would have the quicker feet but I'm not sure that's the case anymore.

Vasquez will cause some problems, Taylor might need to adjust but overall he's younger, fresher, faster, bigger, more skilled overall & fighting on home soil. I loved Vasquez VS Gesta, he boxed beautifully. But this is not quite the same Vasquez as that night. He's not moving as much and with that, his sloppier technique (arm punches) is more exposed. He's still hard to hit with more than single shots (so is OD & Taylor handled him) so it might be messy but I think Taylor wins on points & moves in to world class.

I really believe he is ready. He'll have to have his wits about him, but Taylor has so many tools. He can bait, set traps, counter, change distance, move laterally, inside work, defensively responsible, fast, power, angles etc

I think he'll be too much for current Vasquez. Great learning fight though & very awkward.

 

Cheers mate very insightful post If josh is able to a good job on this guy it should set him up for a title shot next year I'd imagine

 

If josh does a number on Vasquez the boxing world will take note

 

Yeah I know he's well regarded by hardcore fans he probably doesn't get a lot of attention due to his style. Such a contrast between him and od so it should really tell us more about Josh if he pulls it off.

 

He has some flashy skills, puts his punches together nicely. He just doesn't have world class athletic ability, no x factor.

Doesn't mean he can't get a belt, Liam Smith is kind of the same except he's rugged and tough and doesn't have these flashy skills. I would say Kelly is another Liam Smith.

 

He will IMO
On wards and upwards from there on in great fight with vast experience

 

for me
1. Andrew Selby
2. Josh Taylor
3. Michael Conlan
4. Buatsi
5. Cordina

flops
1. Okolie
2. Yarde
3. Dubois - think he's going to get a culture shock soon as he faces his acid test. Hope he does well though
4. Benn - although I think he'll overachieve given his lack of amateur exp. he won't make it to world level IMO

 

Buatsi will go the furthest in my opinion, followed by Taylor and then Dubois whos still basically a boy. Josh kellys fan friendly and i could see him being successful as well.

Yarde, cordina would probably be un succesful in my opinion, as would the iron chinned okolie.

 

Josh Taylor is fantastic. He will go all the way.

I think Anthony Fowler is going to be the one to shock most people. He’s just Froch mk II.

Failures will be Yarde and Dubois. Through no fault of their own. It’s hard to build a legacy on such poor match making. Frank Warren looking after his own interests as opposed to theirs.

Look at Joe Joyce. I know he’s an Olympian and got amateur experience that Dubois hasn’t but his first pro fight is straight in there against Lewinson then if he comes through he will be on the Bellew under card against Thomas/Allen.

You can’t claim to have the biggest puncher in heavyweight boxing and put him in against light heavys.

 

I actually agree about Fowler. I saw him as potentially the second flop behind Okolie but he clearly works really hard and loves boxing. I think he's showing improvements and whilst I'm still not sure how far he'll go, I don't think he'll be a flop like before.

 

Most Successful
Josh Taylor
Josh Kelly
Joshua Buatsi
Michael Conlan
Andrew Selby
Sam Bowen
Willie Hutchinson
Lewis Crocker

Biggest Failures
Lawrence Okolie
Anthony Yarde
O'Hara Davies
Nathan Gorman
Conor Benn
Michael Venom Page
Jack Catterall

 

I don't think you can call Jack Catterall a failure, firstly he never really had any hype and he beat a good British champ to win the belt. I doubt he will be a world champ, but he is solid.

 

What about Harlem Eubank...

Potential glass jaw?

 

Definitely has glass in there.

Don't think he's good enough to be called a prospect though.