Who in your opinion are some of the better heavyweight prospects?

Been done to death on here, but

SOLIS

HAYE - biggest chance to unify IMO.

POVETKIN

 

Sorry, didn't mean that to come out to sound like a ****.Change the thread title to 'the definitive....' and youre on to a winner.:yep

Anyway, i'll expand on my choices;

*Odlanier Solis Fonte, age 27 from Cuba.
Solid amateur career, olympic gold in 2004, 3 time world champ. Holds amatuer victories over Sultan Ibragimov and David Haye in the world chmpionships final.

*David Deron Haye, age 26 from London, England
Again, soilid amateur career, silver medal in the 2001 worlds losing to Solis in the final. Pro career so far is going to plan, despite minoir blip loss to Thompson due to his greenness at time. In my opinion he has aged very well into boxing at his move up from cruiserweight after Mormeck fight win lose or draw, he has the biggest chance to make waves at heavyweight. Has brilliant personality, and his speed and power in boxings traditional glamour division will be matched by few.

*Aleksandr Vladimirovich Povetkin, age 28 from Russia

Ex world amateur kick boxing champion, moved on to boxing to become olympic Gold medal winner.After taking Olympic Gold, he concluded his amateur career with a record of 125-7, with all losses avenged. Has his biggest pro fight coming up soon against Chris Byrd in the eliminator for Wlads belt. He's the fighter who most see as the next HW champ

 

Chazz Witherspoon ive seen a few fights of. I remember watching him in the amatuers for always KO'ing his opponents.He looks impressive, but he hasnt fought any names yet after what, 20 fights? Looks like he may quietly pop up and beat a few names in the heavies.

Ive never heard of Alonzo Butler, whats his deal Magoo?

 

Solis scares me a bit because he is fighting at over 250 pounds and as an amateur fought at around 201. He could end up in the same mold as Jason Estrada. Solis has more skills, but might need a loss to "shape up." I think Alexander Povetkin is the best contender right now to be a champion by 2008. He has a great pedigree and seems to have all the tools, despite maybe being just a tad undersized.

 

In no particular order:

Povetkin - Already said, best prospect out there at the moment. Steady in all ways, just doesn't have ideal size or strength to compete with Wlad.

Arreola - Little chance that he tops out the division, but I do like him. Has a high workrate, is exciting, defense has been improving, is learning how to punch from all angles better. Probably will end up with a few title shots in his career, and if he gets lucky, he might win one of them.

Witherspoon - IMO too slow and not active enough; struggles with D level fighters. Looks like a journeyman to me.

Travis Walker - Too much bulk for what he does, so he gets gassed out. Looks much stronger than he actually is. I doubt he can be a top 15 HW for very long, if at all.

Kevin Johnson - Relies on his jab too much, talks a lot of trash but doesn't do much else. Doesn't really display any real talent, other than a quick jab. Will get beat down once he steps up.

Stiverne - Stick a fork in him; was KOed by a light-hitting journeyman.

Solis - Could be great if he doesn't get lazy. Could end up eating his way out of contention, or could be a quicker and infinitely more skilled version of Sam Peter.

Bostyov and Virchis are also Euros who could make some noise in the near future.

I haven't seen enough of Butler to make an assessment of him, but he needs to step up his level of competition soon if he wants to be considered a prospect. I believe he's been on WNF a few times, but he hasn't done anything to make a long-term impression on me.

 

Denis Boytsov seems to be a very promising young heavy weight.He won gold (juniours) at the world championchip in south corea about 2 years ago knocking out all his opponents to win that aforementioned medal.
Quite impressive if you take into account that he faced the best young heavies this planet can offer at that tournament!

Other prospects: undefeated German heavies Egon Roth,Kretschman,and Sebastian Koeber.
Russian giant Evgeny Orlov who -according to the rumours -made the water quite hot for title holder Ruslan Chagaev at their sparring seccions.
Orlov has recently signed a pro contract with one of the leading German promoters.He seems to be quite green at boxing but has some experience at K1.

Ukranian talent Taras Bidenko gave Valuev hell in his 4th pro fight.He is scheduled to face George Arias in his next outing to a ring on the undercard of Sturm vs Griffin.

I bet my house that both Povetkin and Solis will make a lot of noise at the big boys' league.

Virchis desperately needs a shot at a mayor title.He can bang,but his skills are quite limited.

Young czech heavy Ondrej Pala needs a good big western promoter.He is a bit small,but has promising potential.

 

vladimir chanturia holds a win over chagaev in the ams.

 

Who is his promoter? Have heard that he turned pro,but I have never read a single fight report on him nor have I seen him live or tv.


By the way do you know that SES has signed Jewgeny Orlov,Valuev's successor. 2,07 m tall-almost as tall as Valuev.Former k1 fighter.
According to some rumours he made the water quite hot for Ruslan Chagaev during their sparring seccions.