Welterweight Darkhorses!

Welter is the devision to be right now......stacked with talent!

but while everyone knows the top guns, several very talented fringe contenders have fallen under the radar.

the following fighters are (to me at least) potential contenders /challengers that should have their breakthrough within a year.


1. Shamone Alvarez 19-0 (11)

not a big puncher, but a real smooth boxer. biggest win came against jose luis cruz who was 32-2-2 (26) at the time and is best known for giving shane mosley a tough night en route to losing a UD.
alvarez easily outboxed the slower cruz showing off his cute southpaw style.

2. Viacheslav Sencheko 23-0 (16)

this former olympian for the ukraine is a tall boxer/ puncher with an aggressive style.
has not yet fought any top level guys but has looked very impressive beating the second raters.
this guy has the talent to go very far IMO.

3.Yuriy Nuzhnenko 26-0 (13)

Another prospect from the ukraine, the guy is a pressure fighter with a solid punch.
has already beaten better competition than his compatriot, owning wins over world rated masa bakirov who was 24-0-2 at the time and former european champ maxim nesterenko.

4. Jackson Osei Bonsu 25-1 (22)

The 26 year old european champion hails from ghana but is based in belgium.
has yet to meet the top guns, but has some very solid wins over maxim nesterenko 43-6-1, mikhail krivolapov 40-3, former olympian nordine mouchi 29-3, christian de martinis 20-1.
is a heavily muscled fighter with a big punch. could crack the top ten.

5. Freddy Hernandez 22-1 (17)

tall mexican whos only loss came against golden johnson by split decision. will soon fight roberto garcia.
has also beaten jesus soto karass......indicating that he can make some waves.

6. Miguel Angel Rodriguez 28-2 (23)

had the misfortune of being buried on the undercards of don king promotions. doesnt get to fight often enough IMO.
showed his ability in close loss to carlos manuel baldomir in an eliminator in 2005.
has since rebounded with a one round ko of prospect james webb who was 19-1.
a hard days work for everyone.

7. Joel Julio 32-1 (30)

all but forgotten columbian ko artist after getting schooled by Quintana.
has since rebounded with a brutal stoppage of talented cornelius bundrage.
very good performance. showed numbing power and good handspeed.
groom this guy a little and he can win a belt.

8. Ishe smith

you know the guy form the first contender series.
rumored to be coming back to welter after a jr. middle stint.
loos to powell should have been no less than a draw.
bit of an arrogant *****, but a very talented fighter. very sound allround.
good power, strength, defense, speed.......thats how you define class.
if he can make 147 without problems, he can go all the way.

9. ionut dan ion 18-0 (9)

a romanian southpaw fighting for interbox in canada. talented guy who´s win over dangerous jorge daniel miranda 19-1 at the time, indicates that he can progress to contender level.

10. victor Plotnikov 18-0 (9)

a tall ukrainian. holds a win over talented marat kuzeev, 15-1.


please note the fighters named are not in a particular order.