Glenn McCrory
I might be blowing my own trumpet here, but watch out for the best things British boxing has seen for years. Michael Perez, Luis Garcia and Alexis Costa will make their breakthrough this year - despite having me in their corner! They are over in Newcastle as part of our Cuban connection. They help us with our amateur boxing, so we are helping them with their professional boxing and these three have joined my gym and I have got to say, I am impressed. Perez is a heavyweight and he is simply phenomenal. He is cocky and he makes mistakes as all kids do, but I have never been so excited by a heavyweight since I stepped in the ring with a young Mike Tyson.
Jim Watt
I like the look of young Paul Appleby. He has maybe got a wee bit ahead of himself being a British champion at such a young age and he is in quite a good division, but I expect him to really grow into the role of a champion this year. He has a tough defence first up against Martin Lindsay, but he came through a tough test against Esham Pickering at the end of the year, when he struggled to find any rhythm but still won the fight comfortably. He actually boxed better than he thought, but I like the fact that he is aware of the learning curve he is on. From what I've seen, has the whole package. He's still a prospect even though he's the British champion and certainly the best we've got up here in Scotland.
Dioufy wrote:Kell Brook if he looks after himself, and Danny McIntosh.
I wasn't overly impressed with McIntosh versus Spartacus, he got the job done but looked very easy to hit. I think Cleverley would play with him. Great knockout of Anderton though.
Ones to watch,
Tony Bellew
Darren Barker
John Watson
Stephen Smith
Obviously we will have the olympians this year, Frankie Gavin, DeGale, Sutherland, Jeffries, Saunders. So they will be watched with interest, and no doubt much criticism from some on here
Karl Place - Manchester boxer who boxes for VIP Promotions.
and finally a lad from Fight Academy who is still in the Army and I just hope the Army gives him a reasonable amount of time off to live the life of a boxer - at the moment the lad is doing tremendously well "juggling too many balls" - if he trains right then I honestly believe he could raise a few eyebrows:
Old bones Ian wrote:Obviously we will have the olympians this year, Frankie Gavin, DeGale, Sutherland, Jeffries, Saunders. So they will be watched with interest, and no doubt much criticism from some on here
DeGale is a gold medalist of course, but to be honest the others only real claim to "prospect" status is that they took part in the Olympics. Hard to tell at the moment how well they will do, in 09 they are almost certainly going to be matched against very limited opponents (Sutherland possibly the exception.)
stephen smith and tony bellew both could be pushing for belt late next year if matched right and not a prosect as such but am expectin fewkes to bounce bak hope he can get a rematch with gethin he would won the fight comfortably if his head was right
Dioufy wrote:Kell Brook if he looks after himself, and Danny McIntosh.
I wasn't overly impressed with McIntosh versus Spartacus, he got the job done but looked very easy to hit. I think Cleverley would play with him. Great knockout of Anderton though.
He wasn't overly impressive against Spartacus, but to take on Steve in only his 8th fight, and to stop him, is an amazing feat. Yes, he looked tired and on his way to defeat at one point, but it was an amazing learning curve, one that will only benefit him in the future. The knock-out of Anderton was quite sexy too, but Anderton isn't that good going off his record. I think the next logical step for McIntosh will be Oakey for the English title - Oakey is as tough as nails, but can be out-boxed. I guess we'll also have a decent chance to compare Cleverly and Danny. But one thing I do know, is that Brendan Ingle thinks he's something special.
Karl Place - Manchester boxer who boxes for VIP Promotions.
and finally a lad from Fight Academy who is still in the Army and I just hope the Army gives him a reasonable amount of time off to live the life of a boxer - at the moment the lad is doing tremendously well "juggling too many balls" - if he trains right then I honestly believe he could raise a few eyebrows:
Joe Elfidh
I've tipped Joe on here before, but needs to get a move on at his age
Liam Walsh. He looked really good agaist Youssef Al Hamidi (Close to stopping him) how meny boxers look good agaist him? Hopfully he stayes out of trouble and keep busy.
CEO_Hoodlem wrote:Liam Walsh. He looked really good agaist Youssef Al Hamidi (Close to stopping him) how meny boxers look good agaist him? Hopfully he stayes out of trouble and keep busy.
That's one trio of boxers I don't want to see do well in 2009....
That's really quite a depressing read come to think of it....
Darren Sutherland is the big tip for me, although he's Irish of course.
I do think Frankie Gavin is a very good boxer, great timing and great instincts. I unfortunately have a feeling Degale will be a case of 'all that glitters is not gold'.
