@kostya by ko about the USA HW prospects: Right now the Strandzha cup is running it's 70th edition. The final in the super heavy division is going to be Petar Belberov (Bulgaria) vs Richard Torres JR (USA). Don't know much about him but the media in Bulgaria said that he is a southpaw and he won the USA championship twice. He is just 19... could he be the next big American deal? If he beats Belberov he would impress me. Belberov is 29, that is a ten year gap between them, also Belberov is in his backyard and has won Strandzha cup three times already.
Probably the best American Super-Heavyweight in over a decade. Won the Chemistry Cup last year in dominant fashion, good boxer, hits hard, but at 6'1''-6'2'' he's rather short for today's standards. I could see him winning a medal in Tokyo 2020.
Richard Torres Jr won Strandzha cup against Belberov in an one sided fight that went to the decisions. Well I guess this is the one hope that USA will be rooting for in the next few years.
Conto and Hines are solid prospects - probably not "can't miss" prospects - but solid. I've heard of Sands - he's got some size - but I think he's more of a longshot. I think he recently fought Francois Russell who is 3-30 or something along those lines - but fights legit opponents at the start of their careers - and he stopped him fairly quick. Marcus Carter's career seems to have hit the "Pause" button for some reason - but I'd rate him with Conto and Hines. Maybe a bit higher. Michael Polite-Coffie might rate as a longshot along with Sands. He's getting a late start, though, and his hands don't look fast to me.
Patrick Ferguson, a 14-0-1 USA CW prospect will be fighting Abraham Tabul for the 2nd time in Ghana. Ferguson traveled to Ghana at the start of 2018 on short notice to fight Tabul. He started slow in that fight but came on in the 2nd half and was awarded a draw (viewing the fight on YT, I thought he did just enough to win - but it turns out they have hometown decisions in Ghana, too). Tabul has since been stopped by a European CW prospect. I don't think Ferguson's ceiling is that high, but with more time to prepare for this fight, I suspect that he will win a clear UD. After this, he needs to step-up to another level (where, I expect, he will lose). (BTW: I would strongly recommend viewing Ferguson's comeback win against Panuve Helu on YT. Definite FOTY candidate for 2018)
Agreed. It hurts to admit it as an American, but we are definitely not the presence we once were in HW boxing. Still worth keeping an eye on these guys though, hopefully at least one of them will turn out to have something special.