GB olympians with the most potential

Benn would be tailor made for Kelly. But would be fun while it lasted

 

Agree with a lot you say.
Once again I have to say people are being overly harsh on Ben jr. He is still very much a novice pro with little or no amateur experience. Give him. A chance before knocking him. We don't know yet how kelly would cope with intense pressure round after round. He mightn't look so hot then, who knows?

 

Kelly is going to have a great career. Looks like he will win a world title.

Buatsi could be the modern Nigel Benn with his punch power!

Exciting times -- they will move quickly.

 

As others have said a bit early this stage to tell but Kelly has certainly impressed me so far.

 

Fair point mate, i'm not a Benn hater btw, just think when you look at them side by side as prospects both at the same stage of their career the gulf is huge. It all really depends when they face and what are the circumstances.
I'd imagine Kelly will be looking at the British early next year (Skeete will have dropped it by then) and Connor is a long way from that at the moment.

I think Connor would be much more effective at super lightweight if he can make 140.

 

Buatsi for me, very natural pro style. Anthony Fowler if moved at reasonable pace will surprise some people because he has a good pro style too. And I remember writing off a young Froch because he was unorthodox, hands low, lacked speed etc & he ended up fantastic. Fowler has heavy hands too & will improve.

Funnily enough I normally like flash, speed, reflexes etc but the pro game and amateur game are so different so I'm not sure about Kelly at a higher level, same with Cordina etc

Hope to be proved wrong though, would like to see them all go onto world level but I remember David Barnes & a few more with speed, reflexes, flash etc & were good to watch but world level i the pro's is just so different.

 

Good point it is far too early to make a proper judgment and it'll be interesting to see them all develop.

I remember Bradley Saunders was meant to become an absolute wrecking machine and there was even a poll on here where most people were saying he would beat Lamont Peterson when he'd only had a handful of fights.

Also, there's loads of fighters that no one expected to do anywhere near as good as they have eg. Fury, Froch, Bellew, Crolla, Burns etc.

 

Fowler did indeed have a horrible draw, Alimkhanuly was a former world champion, he didn't win medal, but he was robbed in the quarter finals so is clearly an elite fighter.

 

Buatsi was the standout, he is probably our best bet in the pros. Other than that I really liked Pat McCormack, he may not have got particularly far, but he pushed the Cuban hard in their fight. I remember he also should have got the decision in the last Euros against Dunaytsev, although this Euros was a bit of a disappointment.
Ali and Yafai are promising, but very young so I'd say they should stay amateur for a while. Fowler stagnated badly in his last few years as an amateur, it's about time he turned pro, he could be a dark horse. Josh Kelly didn't impress me too much in Rio, think the jury is still out on him, think he lacks the kind of power to succeed at world level, but he could prove me wrong. Okolie is so raw, he has a long way to go. Joyce I don't think has real world level potential, but he could be an attraction. Not too high on Ashfaq or Cordina, I don't think either will go particularly far

 

Joshua also got stopped as an amateur, I think it's more a matter of him being so inexperienced than having a bona fide glass jaw. Chins can also improve from amateur to pro as well, so I wouldn't write Okolie right off yet

 

Well Kelly's from my home town and I hope he goes all the way.
Apart from his obvious skills and talent he's a nice kid.
Personally I'm not struck on the style never have been with the hands down routine, no matter who it is.
I think as he steps up in class he'll get nailed, and despite the 1st round stoppage last week I don't think there's a great deal of power there.
I hope I'm wrong though.

 

Okolie has very limited experience, but to be honest in his short experience he got in with some great names which kind of makes up for it.

But even in the pros he just looks unsteady. Balance looks all over the place, stance looks like he's terrified of being hit. I think he even got stunned in the fight before the Brook card?

I hope he gets the hype AJ got, means I'll make a killing when he steps in with a decent fighter and bookies make him favourite! haha

 

Okollie is still very inexperienced really, at the Olympics I'm sure he went in with like only 25 bouts under his belt. His jaw/chin is rather worrying though.

Buatsi looks raw with plenty power and a good head on his shoulders. Came across really well on TV during Ward Kov 2.

Fowler should not be written off this early, few years back I thought he was the next Froch. Time will tell however I hope he is not like Bradley Saunders who IMO had too many battles in the amateur game. Loves himself a bit too much however not a bad quality in a fighter.

Kelly excites me, I am drawn to him. Strange because I feel I shouldn't like him but he is very watchable, star quality.
I don't really know how far he will go to be honest, however it should be exciting while it lasts.