We're one of the sites that have championed a new era of rising Heavyweight prospects. This weekend was a great example of that as several young and promising Heavyweights were in action.
The most notable of the prospects in action was American KO sensation Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30) who scored his 30th straight stoppage by taking out the gutsy Nicolai Firtha (21-11-1, 8) in the fourth round. Although Firtha was down several times he did some what expose some issues with Wilder who was caught off balance early on and was very open. Unfortunately for Firtha however he couldn't take advantage of Wilder's flaws.
Although Wilder did leave Firtha a bloody mess it does seem that Wilder is getting by on athletic ability rather than boxing ability. It maybe unfair but after 30 fights we'd have expected Wilder to be showing much better technique and it's a worry that he isn't. He has the reach, speed and movement of a promising fighter but we really do worry about him when he steps up to the fringes of world class, something that will have to happen sooner rather than later.
In the UK the high profile Anthony Joshua (2-0, 2), the 2012 Olympic Gold medal winner, scored his second early victory taking out the over-matched Paul Butlin (14-20, 3). This was a much improved performance by Joshua compared to his debut though really it appears time that Butlin called it a day. With 9 stoppages against him Butlin no longer appears to be a test for a good prospect and it showed.
Joshua does have great speed and appears to be learning plenty between fights but he has certainly had harder sparring sessions than this contest.
Talking about fighters who have had harder sparring sessions Otto Wallin (3-0, 3), a fighter who is part of the Sauerland stable, will also have had harder sparring sessions than his bout. Wallin, fighting for the third time this year, managed to stop Hungarian Gabor Farkas (6-29-6, 3) in 3 rounds.
This was Wallin's longest bout to date though with 3 stoppages in 3 bouts it's hard to complain. With sparring sessions against the likes of Denis Boytsov and Kubrat Pulev he's certainly getting some great developmental sparring and something that will really help him in the long term.
Over in Russia the unbeaten 24 year old Apti Davtaev (3-0, 3) continued his run of stoppages as well. Like Wallin and Joshua it's fair to say that Davtaev will have had tougher sparring as he stopped the very fragile Vyacheslav Shcherbakov (3-16-1, 2), a man who has now been stopped 15 times in just 20 contests.
It wasn't only prospects in action however and in Poland was saw evidence of that. Although Tomasz Duszak (2-0-1, 1) did remain unbeaten in his third professional contest no one really considers him a prospect and it was shown why as he was held by Mateusz Malujda (4-3-1, 1). In a second full fledged Heavyweight contest on the same show the debuting Patryk Brzeski (1-0) defeated fellow debutant Artsiom Charniakevich (0-1). Again neither man is likely to be a force in the division.
The most notable of the prospects in action was American KO sensation Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30) who scored his 30th straight stoppage by taking out the gutsy Nicolai Firtha (21-11-1, 8) in the fourth round. Although Firtha was down several times he did some what expose some issues with Wilder who was caught off balance early on and was very open. Unfortunately for Firtha however he couldn't take advantage of Wilder's flaws.
Although Wilder did leave Firtha a bloody mess it does seem that Wilder is getting by on athletic ability rather than boxing ability. It maybe unfair but after 30 fights we'd have expected Wilder to be showing much better technique and it's a worry that he isn't. He has the reach, speed and movement of a promising fighter but we really do worry about him when he steps up to the fringes of world class, something that will have to happen sooner rather than later.
In the UK the high profile Anthony Joshua (2-0, 2), the 2012 Olympic Gold medal winner, scored his second early victory taking out the over-matched Paul Butlin (14-20, 3). This was a much improved performance by Joshua compared to his debut though really it appears time that Butlin called it a day. With 9 stoppages against him Butlin no longer appears to be a test for a good prospect and it showed.
Joshua does have great speed and appears to be learning plenty between fights but he has certainly had harder sparring sessions than this contest.
Talking about fighters who have had harder sparring sessions Otto Wallin (3-0, 3), a fighter who is part of the Sauerland stable, will also have had harder sparring sessions than his bout. Wallin, fighting for the third time this year, managed to stop Hungarian Gabor Farkas (6-29-6, 3) in 3 rounds.
This was Wallin's longest bout to date though with 3 stoppages in 3 bouts it's hard to complain. With sparring sessions against the likes of Denis Boytsov and Kubrat Pulev he's certainly getting some great developmental sparring and something that will really help him in the long term.
Over in Russia the unbeaten 24 year old Apti Davtaev (3-0, 3) continued his run of stoppages as well. Like Wallin and Joshua it's fair to say that Davtaev will have had tougher sparring as he stopped the very fragile Vyacheslav Shcherbakov (3-16-1, 2), a man who has now been stopped 15 times in just 20 contests.
It wasn't only prospects in action however and in Poland was saw evidence of that. Although Tomasz Duszak (2-0-1, 1) did remain unbeaten in his third professional contest no one really considers him a prospect and it was shown why as he was held by Mateusz Malujda (4-3-1, 1). In a second full fledged Heavyweight contest on the same show the debuting Patryk Brzeski (1-0) defeated fellow debutant Artsiom Charniakevich (0-1). Again neither man is likely to be a force in the division.
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