Top 10 updated Eastern European Heavyweight Prospect Rankings.

Rules: Fighter must be under 34 and be either born in Eastern Europe. For the purpose of the geography gotchas, I'll define the area as West of Germany to Kazakhstan, North of Turkey, and South of Finland, which leaves Germany and Italy out of the conversation. If the fighter made Ring Magazine's top ten, I'm not calling him a prospect anymore.

Scoring system:

***** = Likely Future World Champion
**** = A top ten talent at his peak. Could win a world title belt
*** = A solid top 50-15 rated fighter at Box Rec once he matures
** = Journeyman top 100-50th rated talent who might upset someone.

While it's true the UK heavyweights have taken the top spots, I don't think they are going to be there by 2023. The USA talent is so bad, I'm not even going to consider any other them as a potential heir apparent, rather they have just a puncher's chance for the upset. None of the Far East up and comers are good enough to rate. Ditto the same for South America. The South Pacific amateur heavyweights may have something but will need to show in the 2020 Olympics. While I don't think this list as a Klitschko level talent on this list, it is a deep list, and should produce some world champions, better than Chagaev, Valuev, and Ibragimov.

1 ) ***** Hrgovic. 6'6", 82" reach, 240 pounds. Age 27 . Big, strong, durable as heck( Never floored or stopped as an amateur ), and already ranked in top 10 in alphabet rankings after just 10 pro fights. Hrgovic can box, and has a jab if he wanted to use it. Footwork and foot speed for a man his size are unusual. Very aggressive and confident in the ring with a good right hand and body punch. Still developing, I think he'll be ready to take a belt by 2021.

2 ) **** 1/2 ) Usyk. 6'3" 78" reach ( southpaw ) 215 pounds. Age 33. Usyk cleaned up at cruiserweight and did just fine at heavyweight in the amateurs. A skilled southpaw, with a reliable chin, the question remains, does he hit hard enough to stop the best at heavyweight, or will he have to settle for points by outboxing bigger men?. Usyk has pound for pound skills. At his age need to roll the dice.

3 ) **** Arslanbek Makhmudov. 6'5 1/2" estimated reach 80." 250+ pounds. Age 30. Oh my, can he hit. Quite possibly the best natural puncher since Geroge Foreman, when Arslanbek lands, the other guy's legs go, and they are often so hurt they can't even clinch. His accuracy is very good, and his ability to intimidate is rare. You can cast him as the villain in the next James Bond movie, and James better weapon on him or he'd be dead meat. Not fast on his feet, the question is who can avoid his punches to beat him? Chin is very good, only stopped once in amatuer and world series boxing career. He needs to keep his weight below 270.

4 ) **** Bakhodir Jalolov. 6'7" estimated reach 83" 240+ pounds. Age 25. Jalolov is tremendously gifted. A man that size shouldn't be able to move like he does. The huge southpaw has top-end power ( Better than Hrgovic ) and moves around on what can best be described as legs of steel. His straight left is a game-ending punch. Only dropped once in the amateurs, he had a tendency to shy away from contact. If that flaw is fixed....watch out. Hard to peg right now, as he wasn't exactly an amateur star, and has not faced good journey-level types, let alone top 50 fighter. In the end, this is a prospect list, and oh what potential. Might be overrating him...or underrating him. Based out of Brooklyn, NY USA.


5 ) *** 1/2 Viktor Vykhryst. 6'5" tall, estimated reach 80" 230 pounds. Age 27. Vykhrsyt, who fights under the name Viktor Faust was World Europen Amatuer champion. A well-schooled big man who is above average at everything, with very good counting ability and some power, he seems very committed and should be 2-0 by the end of March.


6 ) *** 1/2 Mahammadrasul Majidov. 6'3" estimated Reach 77". 230 pounds. Age 33 Majodiv was a star amatuer winning no less than three world amatuer title belts at super heavyweight, which is unheard of! A big puncher with solid skills, he seems to have lost a bit what made him so great. Too inactive as a professional, I'm not sure if he injured or just can't get/doesn't want pro fights. He should have gone pro 4 years ago. Ranked this high based on who he was.

7 ) *** 1/2 Evgeny Tishchenko. 6'5" tall, estimated reach 81" Estimated Weight 215 pounds. Age 28/ Tichenko was a highly successful amateur at heavyweight, not super heavyweight. He's off to a fast start at a pro. This guy can move and box, and it very good at keeping his ideal range. Never stopped in about 100 total pro and amateur fights, he could be a very under the radar prospect. Needs to add a bit more weight. Not a puncher.

8 ) *** Ivan Dychko. 6'9" tall, estimated reach 83". Age 29. Dychko was a very good amatuer, consistently showing he was 3rd or 4th best in the Olympics or World Amateurs who has a hit and move style that's tough to solve. A but like Fury, though not a fluid. Very good timing on his punches. He's too tall for the shorter fighters and moves to fast for the bigger fighters. His stamina is a question-mark. His competition level has been rather poor as a professional.

9 ) *** Petar Milas. 6'4 1/2". Estimated reach 78", Weight??? Age 24. Based out of Germany, this Croatian big man has fought good opposition for his first 11 fights and is already ranked 38th in the world at Boc rec. I do not recall him as an amatuer. Has rough tactics in the ring.

10 ) ** Vladyslav Sirenko 6'3" tall, estimated reach 77". Age 25 Some people see a fast handed puncher with an easy to market face. I say his competition level has been terrible. Doesn't look good vs. pressure fighter of punchers, but he's got fast mits and can bang.


Did I miss anyone? Agree or disagree with the rankings?

 

Gassiev has not fought since 7-2018 or won a match at heavyweight. If he was active, he might rate.

 

I checked him out, and agree. He's got enough to be in the top 10 prospects.