The key action is from the US which proves, once again, that they are developing some interesting fighters in the division and in fact are developing some really promomising prospects.
The most interesting of the prospects on show this Friday is Gerald Washington (10-0, 7) who looks to extend his winning run as he takes on Aaron Lyons (12-14-1, 9). Washington, who impressed us all when he beat Sherman Williams, looks like a very promising and explosive fighter with an athletic background. Of course we've not really seen him hit yet but he has the traits of a really good fighter in the making.
On the same show as Washington/Lyons there is another really promising American Heavyweight in the form of Dominic Breazeale (8-0, 8). Breazeale, a former amateur stand out, has been great fun since turning professional and now gets to kick 2014 with his biggest test as he takes on the tough Homero Fonseca (10-6-3, 3), who has been the distance with the very good Andy Ruiz Jr. Breazeale, despite only being a professional for 15 months so, already looks like being a better matched prospect than Doentay Wilder and it's possible that Golden Boy have learned from the Wilder experiment and realised that prospect need to be pushed rather than given nothing fights on a regular basis.
On a seperate US show we get another big hitting unbeaten prospect in the form of Aaron Green (13-0, 11) who takes on man mountain Richard Carmack (12-3, 10) in what looks like a highly explosive match up. Although Carmack is a big man it's hard to bet against Green here who appears to have the tools to go a long way in this sport, if looked after by a clever team.
A second Heavyweight bout on the Green/Carmack show sees the unbeaten Ray Edwards (4-0, 3), a former NFL star, taking on Alex Rozman (2-4, 1) in what appears to be another part of Ray Edwards's bizarre story. The former Atlanta Falcon and Minnesota Viking player has had a relatively hilarious career so far with one opponent seemingly knocked out by a phantom. Unfortunately we don't expect this one to be any better with Edwards likely being built towards a TV fight some where down the line courtesy of some very suspect match making.
A man who is much more promising, at least in terms of boxing, than Edwards is Michael Hunter (2-0, 2) who, on a seperate show to Edwards, will be fighting fellow unbeaten Gary Tapuosa (2-0-1, 1) in what looks like a good match up with Hunter facing a man who will want to remain unbeaten. Hunter, a former amateur standout, is the son of Mike "The Bounty" Hunter, who tragically died in 2006, and will be a man looking to continue the families fighting name.
On the same show as Hunter's bout we actually get 2 other Heavyweight contests. The most notable man in action is slickster Malik Scott (35-1-1, 12) who takes on Grover Young (7-11-1, 4) in what is Scott's first fight since his controversial loss to Dereck Chisora last year. Scott, who is talented, needs a big performance here if he's ever going to get another big fight and unfortunately the stoppage to Chisora has seen many fans questioning just how good he is mentally. Hopefully 2014 sees Scott facing a good caliber of opponents like he did last year.
Further down the show we see the Kevin Cunningham trained Stephan Shaw (1-0, 1) in action. The unbeaten Shaw, another former amateur standout, will be looking to score his second victory as he takes on Thomas Jones (1-2) in what is a good test for Shaw at this point in his young career.
A final US show has the most well matched bout of the day as unbeaten men collide. In one corner we have Fred Latham (4-0, 2) and in the other corner Mark Rideout (4-0-1, 1). Whilst neither guy is likely to go as far as some of the other men in action this still a fantastic match up between men who know that this is a major opportunity to go forward in their career. Great match making and credit to both men for agreeing to the match up.
The one bout not in the US sees Gabriel Enguema (1-0, 1) in action against a yet to be named opponent. This bout, in Spain, is one that we'll admit having little interest in, but it'd be brilliant if we could have a notable Spanish Heavyweight for the first time in recent memory.