Best under-30 "heavyweght" prospect

I did have hopes for Gurgen ... he looked great in the past but has been really inactive and his recent fight was terrible.

Huni/Pero for top 5 ... and Teremoana possible belt but may come up against Jalolov (again).

Gadhzimagomedov and Opetaia may have a tough time against larger hard hitters like Bakole.

Novitskyi I think is on the Usyk/Fury card, for some reason.

 

Suslenkov couldn't even hurt beyond shot Hammer, he is small and not that good. His reputation is based solely on beating washed up and totally unprepared Hunter who took the fight on like 4 days notice. He isn't that good, European level contender is his ceiling

Carty and Novitsky are beyond average.

Sirenko might develop into contender, but I'm not expecting more from him. The same goes for Wardley

Hova is also not that impressive

I think 4 best under 30 HW prospects are Opetaia, Teremoana, Itauma and Pero. Opetaia is by far the most proven of them, but he will have a serious size disadvantage at HW. My bold pick is Teremoana Teremoana

 

1. Moses - his chin is unknown. And i wonder how he will do vs taller opponents given that he is 6'3. But the combination of handspeed and power and variety of punches he possesses is amazing. He puts together beautiful combination punches. He is only 19 and could get ALOT better in 2-4 years time. I think he has tremendous upside.

2. Jai Opetaia - his left hand is the best i have seen in a long time. I think that southpaw left along with his power right, a wealth of experience, and speed will serve him very well. The only reason i am not putting him at #1 is because his defense is a bit leaky. And at heavyweight he will be facing bigger punchers. Still, if he can build himself properly at heavyweight, he has a huge ceiling.

3. Teramona - big, strong, tall, great jab and devestating right hand. As i mentioned in the other thread, my only hesitation with him is due to him saying he doesn't love boxing. If he does fall in love with it, his size and power would create major problems for anyone.

I expect Huni, Torrez, Wardley etc. to be legit top 10 guys. But they all have their limitations. Huni isn't a big puncher, Torrez is too open defensively, Wardley doesn't have great fundementals. Do i think these guys are all good fighters who could potentially pick up a belt? Sure. But elite heavies? Unlikely.

Fisher needs A LOT of development. He isn't naturally as talented as Moses for example. So they need to give him another 3 years or so of serious development.

I think in terms of talent, Itauma, Opetaia and Teramona are ahead of the pack.

 

For me Lazizbek Mullojonov is a massive talent but he will be staying in amateurs for a while it seems.

 

Was wondering why Jalolov wasn't there then realised he is 30 years old. Time flies. He needs to start taking the pros seriously soon.

 

If I had to pick the biggest HW prospects.

It would be between Itauma, Opetaia, Torrez and although he is 30, I have to also mention Jalolov.

 

NA

 

I agree, I've got a weirdly bad feeling that the new era won't be anywhere as interesting as this era's fighters, although Turki gives me hope.

 

Richard Torrez Jr. is my favorite on that list.

I'm not sure he's the best, but he's good and he'll never be in a dull fight.

Wardley is improving and he's already very good.

Several others like Huni and Teremoana are somewhat overrated. I'd like to see Moses in with a decent opponent before I can evaluate him.

 

I actually think it will be interesting. Usyk has laid the blueprint for cruiserweights to move up to heavyweight. Put on a small amount of muscle, don't gain 30-40 lbs of fat which will drain your endurance and reduce your speed.

IMO any good cruiserweight can at least be a top 10 heavyweight contender if not champ IF he plays his cards right and doesn't put on too much weight. Smaller heavies in the Wlad era were putting on too much weight to out big the big man.

 

Mark Petrovsky should be in the poll, age 25. World championship gold medalist.