Top 5 Heavyweight Prospects

I'm not sure Solis will make a good pro even If he loses the weight. He has a punch though so thats usually enough for the HW's.

 

Interesting, I look forward to seeing Alekseev. That's a pretty lofty comparison!

Huck is super strong, and will most likely be a champ, but Cunningham is very crafty and underrated! That will be a very good fight if it comes off.

 

Alekseev is exciting but nowhere near as good as Povetkin, a little like a young Moorer.

 

Probably because he's a frigging bum.

 

Originally Posted by cross_trainer
It's time once again to remind the forum that all is not lost in the heavyweight division...

1. Alexander Povetkin -- One of the most accomplished amateur heavies in history, if not the most accomplished. Entertaining style, tough chin, sizable punch, and a varied offense. 13-0-0 (10)

http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php...8081&cat=boxer

2. Eddie Chambers -- Probably the best of the untested American prospects, he seems at the moment to be "Chris Byrd lite"...which is still better than the vast majority of fighters today. May improve with age. 29-0-0 (16)

http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php...4277&cat=boxer

3. Chris Arreola -- Extremely exciting heavyweight, who looks a bit like David Tua but whose offense seems to revolve around the one-two. Consistent body puncher, a hard hitter with high workrate, and a good record. 22-0-0 (20)

http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php...2248&cat=boxer

4. Chazz Witherspoon -- Looking better as of late, he appears to be a skillful boxer-puncher, though he has no real outstanding qualities. Nevertheless, a good prospect.

http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php...4612&cat=boxer

5. Odlanier Solis -- Another extremely accomplished amateur heavyweight, and one of the first top Cubans to make the plunge into the professional ranks. He will be an interesting experiment, methinks.

http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.ph...er_Solis_Fonte


Honorable Mentions

Denis Boytsov -- A knockout machine, though he has recently been rather inactive compared to his early years. 18-0-0 (16).

http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php...7630&cat=boxer


Most of the other promising Eastern European boxers--Virchis, Chagaev, Ibragimov--have already graduated to contender status.

Same here. Dimitrenko should rate 2nd or 3rd on this list.

 

Good list,crosstrainer!

Povetkin and Solis have proven track records at the amateurs.Both fighters were superstars at the amateurs-outstandingly dominating forces.Povetkin even more than Solis.
To be fair I for my part wouldnt even call them prospects.
Chambers,Wizzerspoon,and Boytsov still have to go a long way to compete with the present top guns,but they all have potential.
Taras Bidenko,too,is one of those promising young prospects IMO.Since his devastating loss to Virchis(he was far ahead on points when he was knocked out by Virchis in the very last round of their encounter) he has been a bit gunshy,but so far he has won all his fights since that defeat.
He also made the water very hot for Valuev when he fought him in his 4th pro fight.Bidenko still claims that he should have declared the winner after 12 rounds with Valuev.Quite a handful of ring observers seem to agree with him.
Bidenko is scheduled to face Brasilian vet George Arias on the undercard of Felix STurm vs Randy Griffin.

 

What's sad is that while we mostly agree that this is a decent list, Povetkin and Solis are the only two with the potential to make some serious noise. Dimitrenko is like a Euro Calvin Brock, Chambers is like Chris Byrd without the great footwork, Arreola would have to get the absolute maximum out of his talent to be a true contender, and Witherspoon would need to take huge strides just to get to contender status (and even Solis needs to prove that he's not lazy and is willing to get in shape if he wants to have a serious shot).

Fortunately, it's still better than most of what's around now. In a few years, most of these guys should fit comfortably in that 5 - 20 range of B- level fighters that's so packed right now.

 

Stop insulting Brock who can fight which noone has ever said about Dimitrenko.

 

I'd probably put Dimitrenko on the list and get rid of witherspoon. Also, Alexander Alexeev at cruiser will probably move to heavyweight sooner or later.

 

A bum? You're on crack, brother. I'd pick him to beat Witherspoon, Chambers, and Arreola. All by kayo.

 

Alexeev is too small to compete as a heavy.He is a big puncher,and he for sure has the potential to be a dominating force at cruiser,but I very much doubt that his impact at heavy would be significant.

Huck showed a very convincing performance against Tokarev.A very strong and vicious puncher whose defence is a bit sloppy and whose emotions take over now and then during a fight.He still has to learn one or two things.
However,I would favour him over Cunningham who had two close fight with the relatively weak Pole Wlodarcyzk.
Huck plays in a different league.Cunningham is the underdog in their upcomming bout IMO.He has never faced in his entire pro career such a hard hitting and powerful fighter like Huck.

 

I like Huck too, but Cunningham is no slouch. Have you seen him fight? If he fights like he did against Sebastian Rothmaan, he beats Huck.

Also, Kelvin Davis and Guillermo Jones are every bit as strong as Huck, and Jones had far more experience when Cunningham edged him, albeit controversially.

Cunningham/Huck will be a very competitive fight. Cunningham is far better than Tokarev at this stage.

 

Arreola beats Solis at this point IMO. Down the road, who knows?!

 

Yeah because he's a big puncher :-( as documented by his spectacular 50% KO ratio against pathetic stiffs.:happy:happy