Best Heavyweight Prospects?

[asdfjkl]

Junlong Zhang just KOed someone in the first rounds again, I've always predicted this guy is better as Wilder for example and the only Asian boxer that shows similar numbers as AJ does.

A cruiserweight, he ko'd a cruiserweight, probably outweighed him by 70 or 80lbs that's not to mention the height difference...

Zhang is so slow, the first top ten guy he faces is going to make mincemeat out of him

He walks slow annd he doesn't really have a defence, but his punch is ridiculously hard and fast.

[imburnal]

Efe Ajagba << more complete

http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/804221

[candyslim]

I don't get the fascination. He has a long string of wins over very limited opposition, you'd be hard pressed to make a case for more than a couple of them being rated in the top 100. He's 36 years old ffs.

If he's serious he needs to make his move, like yesterday.

[victor-romeo]

Hrgovic guys a warrior not sure about his punching power though, probably be a big player in 2-3 years..

[African Monkey]

Jun Long Zhang has anyone even seen him fight?

[jamamb]

his opponents look like they take dives

[candyslim]

Jun Long Zhang has anyone even seen him fight?

Yes I was ringside for his last three fights.

There again I could be lying

Seriously I watched him beat up some unknown relative midget on you tube. He seems heavy handed but oh so ponderous around the ring.

[KiwiRider]

Jun Long Zhang has anyone even seen him fight?

I've seen the YouTube clips of him.
His hand speed is 'OK' but he moves like he is walking through wet cement. Seeing him beat down that smurf was sad.

[candyslim]

Yes a very unedifying spectacle. The guy is 36 and acts like he has all the time in the world. Beats me how anybody takes him seriously.

[jewboypgh]

Jr Fa looked chubby but really tough . Fast hands.

[asdfjkl]

I don't get the fascination. He has a long string of wins over very limited opposition, you'd be hard pressed to make a case for more than a couple of them being rated in the top 100. He's 36 years old ffs.

If he's serious he needs to make his move, like yesterday.

But then, name me 5 heavyweights who did fight solid opposition and won.
Jun Long Zhang won against that same guy Wilder fought and KOed him loads more fast.

[Ilya Muromets]

Jun Long Zhang won by first round KO yesterday over a guy who fought Lebedev and Huck at cruiserweight. I'll look and see if there's a video online. Zhang is 19-0 with 19 KO's now, and BoxRec has him ranked #19 in the world! Is 19 a lucky number in China?

[jamamb]

hes a fraud

[candyslim]

I don't get the fascination. He has a long string of wins over very limited opposition, you'd be hard pressed to make a case for more than a couple of them being rated in the top 100. He's 36 years old ffs.

If he's serious he needs to make his move, like yesterday.

But then, name me 5 heavyweights who did fight solid opposition and won.
Jun Long Zhang won against that same guy Wilder fought and KOed him loads more fast.

Ok how about Agit Kabayel beating Christian Lewandowski, Trey Lippe Morrison over Ed Latimore, Martin Bakole Ilunga over Dominic Akinlade, Junior Fa over Fred Latham, Joe Joyce over Ian Lewison, Mladen Miljas over Dillon Carman, Raphael Tronché over Cyrille Leonet, Niall Kennedy over Alex Santos, Nathan Gorman over Mohamed Soltby, Adam Kownacki over Artur Szpilka, Oscar Rivas over Joey Abell to name a few.

Of course these are single fight step ups. If you're asking for fighters fighting succesfully and consistently against good opposition this by definition means those near the top, such as Joshua, Wilder, Povetkin, Ortiz, Parker, Pulev, Breazeale, Whyte, and recently Miller.

Is that what you meant or have I misunderstood?

[candyslim]

Jun Long Zhang won by first round KO yesterday over a guy who fought Lebedev and Huck at cruiserweight. I'll look and see if there's a video online. Zhang is 19-0 with 19 KO's now, and BoxRec has him ranked #19 in the world! Is 19 a lucky number in China?

Maybe he did make his move like yesterday as I suggested. I'm guessing the victim was a fat cruiserweight albeit one who has or at some point had some talent?

Edit: You didn't say he beat Lebedev or Huck did you, Sharing a ring with a big name doesn't necessarily mean much if you lose.

The clock's a ticking Mr Zhang.

[asdfjkl]

I don't get the fascination. He has a long string of wins over very limited opposition, you'd be hard pressed to make a case for more than a couple of them being rated in the top 100. He's 36 years old ffs.

If he's serious he needs to make his move, like yesterday.

But then, name me 5 heavyweights who did fight solid opposition and won.
Jun Long Zhang won against that same guy Wilder fought and KOed him loads more fast.

Ok how about Agit Kabayel beating Christian Lewandowski, Trey Lippe Morrison over Ed Latimore, Martin Bakole Ilunga over Dominic Akinlade, Junior Fa over Fred Latham, Joe Joyce over Ian Lewison, Mladen Miljas over Dillon Carman, Raphael Tronché over Cyrille Leonet, Niall Kennedy over Alex Santos, Nathan Gorman over Mohamed Soltby, Adam Kownacki over Artur Szpilka, Oscar Rivas over Joey Abell to name a few.

Of course these are single fight step ups. If you're asking for fighters fighting succesfully and consistently against good opposition this by definition means those near the top, such as Joshua, Wilder, Povetkin, Ortiz, Parker, Pulev, Breazeale, Whyte, and recently Miller.

Is that what you meant or have I misunderstood?

I can't post a big reactio any time soon, but except for the performance, what's the difference?
I even be that surprised if Wilder would lose against some of them as well.

[SportsRatings]

I think Zhilei Zhang is a better prospect than Jun Long Zhang. He won a silver medal in the Olympics and is a few years younger and a few inches taller. Not as fat, either.

[candyslim]

"Except for the performance, what's the difference?" I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I'll try to answer what I think you're asking: The difference between the losing fighters I listed and Zhang's victims is that they are all either well known, or prospects also looking to step up.

Did you mean to say you would not be surprised if some of those listed beat Wilder? If you meant any of those in the first group, I'd maybe give a chance to Rivas and Joyce, maybe Ilunga and Miljas in a year or two.

Wilder has actually got a pretty good resumé - for a contender. It's only as a world champion's resumé that it sucks.

[candyslim]

Jun Long Zhang won by first round KO yesterday over a guy who fought Lebedev and Huck at cruiserweight. I'll look and see if there's a video online. Zhang is 19-0 with 19 KO's now, and BoxRec has him ranked #19 in the world! Is 19 a lucky number in China?

As I suspected his recent victim lost to both Huck and Lebedev, in fact his most impressive result if I haven't overlooked any, is his 2015 draw with Ovill McKenzie, but McKenzie never fought again after that which probably tells you something.

It isn't who you lose to that means much, it's who you beat. Take our fellow poster Galen Brown. He has a very respectable record positively overflowing with quality opposition, but nobody is giving him a top ranking on that basis.

[asdfjkl]

I don't get the fascination. He has a long string of wins over very limited opposition, you'd be hard pressed to make a case for more than a couple of them being rated in the top 100. He's 36 years old ffs.

If he's serious he needs to make his move, like yesterday.

But then, name me 5 heavyweights who did fight solid opposition and won.
Jun Long Zhang won against that same guy Wilder fought and KOed him loads more fast.

Ok how about Agit Kabayel beating Christian Lewandowski, Trey Lippe Morrison over Ed Latimore, Martin Bakole Ilunga over Dominic Akinlade, Junior Fa over Fred Latham, Joe Joyce over Ian Lewison, Mladen Miljas over Dillon Carman, Raphael Tronché over Cyrille Leonet, Niall Kennedy over Alex Santos, Nathan Gorman over Mohamed Soltby, Adam Kownacki over Artur Szpilka, Oscar Rivas over Joey Abell to name a few.

Of course these are single fight step ups. If you're asking for fighters fighting succesfully and consistently against good opposition this by definition means those near the top, such as Joshua, Wilder, Povetkin, Ortiz, Parker, Pulev, Breazeale, Whyte, and recently Miller.

Is that what you meant or have I misunderstood?

Lewandowski who also lost against Timur from Uzbekistan?
Ed Latimore who had a lucky draw against Willis Lockett who had 1 win in his past 10 fights?
Fred Latham who is a rank 300+ guy who lost all of his matches this year?
Ian Lewison seems to be reasonable, for a debute fight.

But sorry, the real guys I see that indeed regularly fight top contenders are AJ, Parker and Povetkin. And then there are a bunch that seem to be willing to fight, but barely get the chance, like Ortiz.
Wilder proved himself to be a ducker since the beginning of his carreer already, never fought solid competition, Duhaupas (who already lost against Pianeta and Teper) probably was the best and TBH I knew that was a slight mistake from Wilder his side.
Even Povetkin somehow made short work from Duhaupas, despite Povetkin is getting old.

[candyslim]

Lewandowski : Won every fight up until Kabayel and Timur Stark had only lost to Denis Boytsov and Erkan Teper so he's no mug either.

Latimore: Was a decent amateur who had won every fight until Morrison.

Latham: I'm not wildly impressed with Latham but he was 9-1-1 going into the Fa fight and at least one poster on here was quite excited at the prospect of that fight.

Lewison: A damn fine debut opponent for literally anybody.

Wilder: His team have been careful not to risk him against anyone who would have a decent chance of beating him, but although his record is not befitting of a WBC Champion, if he were just a regular contender his record would be impressive.

I do have a soft spot for Povetkin and Ortiz who are real fighting men whatever you feel about their drug histories.

Parker is a young champion who has fought decent opposition even if it does feel he could run out of luck anytime. He'd be well advised to try to settle on 33% or even take 30% if Hearn/Joshua are playing hard ball, before he drops his WBO title for a regular payday.

[chinarich]

How about this chap?

http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/507716

Serbia's number one HW with a perfect 21-0. At just 39 years of age and boasting only a single victory over a fighter with a winning record he must be primed to take the division by storm. His nickname is rather unfortunate, given the history of conflict in the region it makes him sound like he should be standing trial in The Hague...

[Azmir]

How about this chap?

http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/507716

Serbia's number one HW with a perfect 21-0. At just 39 years of age and boasting only a single victory over a fighter with a winning record he must be primed to take the division by storm. His nickname is rather unfortunate, given the history of conflict in the region it makes him sound like he should be standing trial in The Hague...

There are more guys like Sanel here in ex-Yu countries. Almost 30 victories with zero defeats, fighting only against boxers with a massive losing record. What about this guy? http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/674375

This young fella fights Alex Dimitrenko this friday. http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/607373

Don't get me wrong, but many tough boxers are connected to the crime scene here. I'm not saying either Sanel, Boban or Miljan. I don't know them personally.

[Lackeos]

Best heavyweight prospects?
Minimum age requirement: 36
Maximum potential requirement: literally 0 potential

What do you guys think of this prospect Brian Durham? He is only 53 years old, and he has already achieved the impressive rank of #862 on boxrec. All 14 of his losses so far are pre-prime defeats. I have a completely baseless hunch that he is still improving and won't reach his prime until he is 64.

[candyslim]

If I didh't know better of you Lackeos, it is just conceivable I might have thought you were being ironic there