BoxRec

could u guys please give me ur opinions on the current heavyweight prospects in britain including myself and put us in our own little ratings. just interested on who u guys think have more potential than others

Mike perez seems to be the one that stands out although he is not based in Britain he now trains there with glen mcrory he has been compared to solis in america but it is becoming evident that he may be better. His promoter gary hyde now seems to be getting him exposure and has said that in the future it is lightly that he will go to america in the future.

Have to say that heavys are always a hard one to predict, a few years ago most of us would of written off someone like Matt Skelton, but he's gone on to challange for a world title, and win the Euro title.

Out of todays heavys starting out.

Sam Sexton, looks to have improved, if he keeps up the fitness he has shown in recent fights then a British title isn't out of his reach. Nice skills and brave.

Derek Chisora, has proved himself in a couple of tests so far, already Ko'd Sexton. his main atttributes are pressure,strength and a strong punch. I can see him winning a British title, maybe going further, all depends on what happens when he hits the later rounds.

Tyson Fury, has shown above average punch variety for a 2 fight novice, good jab, and uppercut, goes well to the body for a tall guy. Needs to develop a left hook, and work on getting some more power into his right. How far can he go? well he's talking of challenging for a British title in the next year, maybe he can, but i think he needs to work on alot of things first, someone like Rogan would walk through him late on. But saying that Fury is certainly one to watch,

Larry Olubamiwo, nice speed for a big guy, seems to be very fit. So far his punch looks to be good. He needs to settle down in fights, seems to rush a bit of his work, maybe trying to impress too much, but this should come with more fights and good sparring. Again i can see him making an impression in the british title level,

Scott Belshaw, not been impressed by him, throws wide shots and although he looks to have a decent punch, anyone who can throw a well timed counter would beat him.

Old bones Ian wrote:Scott Belshaw, not been impressed by him, throws wide shots and although he looks to have a decent punch, anyone who can throw a well timed counter would beat him.

Belshaw has one hell of a punch, like a horses kick, but I would agree with the rest of what you have said he needs some rough edges taken off (with an angle grinder). hopefully he will grow this year and get more experience, belshaws problem is sparring partners, there aint many in Ireland willing to spar FOC.

Perez impressed me at first but after watching a few fights and sparring sessions he seems to tire very quickly. Stamina might be his down fall. If Hyde takes him stateside it might pay big dividends.

Larry Olubamiwo, has impressed me the last few weeks. He seems to be training hard and ready to fight any fight offered. I'll wait a little longer before making any further comments on him.

Derek Chisora and Sam Sexton both seem to be improving but again I'd like to see them out a bit more often and getting more regular TV coverage.

I'd love to see some of the heavyweight prospects facing each other , rather than going along various "Intercontintal" title style routes.

I know I'm dreaming, but it would be brilliant to see .

Well we have had a few meet, Chisora v Sexton, and some of them in the prizefighter show.
But i agree that alot of the time we miss out on them fighting each other,

Belfast brawler Martin Rogan guns for a major title against Bedford Bear Matt Skelton in Birmingham on February 28.
At stake is Skelton's Commonwealth heavyweight title.
The 37-year-old Rogan came out of nowhere last year to win the Prizefighter heavyweight tournament at York Hall in London (and the £25,000 first prize) but Prizefighter is Prizefighter: a three-round event. Rogan was then thrown in with slick, talented Audley Harrison in a 10-rounder in London and given no chance but he got stuck into the giant Londoner and outwilled him for the verdict, a rough, tough, gutsy effort from big Martin, one which earned him this shot. Unbeaten Rogan, a cabbie between fights, deserves it and will give it everything.
Admitted Skelton: "Rogan is a dangerous fighter and I was impressed by the way in which he dug deep against Harrison. Anyone with an undefeated record is a threat because they don't know how to lose."
Skelton, a whopping 42 years old, turned pro late (as did Rogan) but has proved himself the number two heavyweight in the country behind David Haye. He won the Commonwealth title with a one-sided decision over Brixton Bomber Danny Williams back in 2006 in Cardiff and bulldozed his way to an ugly decision over Michael Sprott in a defence in 2007 - just a few months after Sprott had poleaxed Harrison. Last time out in December burly Matt made his way to the Lion's Den of Italy and thumped out a nine-round win over local man Paolo Vidoz to gatecrash the world heavyweight rankings. It was a typical Skelton win: he wore down a more talented man, sneered at his best shots and broke his heart. If Rogan is big, rough and tough, Skelton is bigger, rougher and tougher, a nightmare. He went the full 12 rounds with the slick Ruslan Chagaev in a crack at the WBA heavyweight title last year to prove his worth in world class. He starts a prodigious favourite against Rogan.
Nonetheless, Rogan reminds me a little of Jerry Quarry, the rugged, fearless Irish-American who won when he was expected to lose against opponents nobody else would touch at the time (Mac Foster, Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers...). Even George Foreman, it is said, steered round Quarry. Skelton is at an age when he could 'go' overnight, especially after his big effort in Italy, and that makes this fight a fascinating one. It will also be highly watchable, both men getting stuck in and landing heavy blows. Skelton has to be the pick.

There are a few more starting out, but i've not seen them box, anyone have views on Danny Hughes, Tom Dallas, Neil Perkins?

Maloney should take four of his Heavyweights: Dallas, Belshaw, Olubamiwo and Howe and stick them in a little tournament. Okay so it may not make sense financially but it would be fun for us watching them whale away at each other!

Chisora IF he gets a bit fitter seems to have the tools to do the business, I am impressed with his skills but he fights in bursts and has no consistency. Olubamiwo looked good on his debut (the only fight I have seen him in so far) as when he came out I thought "Here we go, another muscle bound type with no substance" but to be fair I liked the way when he got his man in trouble instead of storming in looking to put his head into row z he took a step back and maintained the range to pick the shots. It's little things like that you notice make a good fighter, and he can improve further still into a domestic threat.

Compare this with Howe and Belshaw, as impressed as people were with their early fights (well only Howe's debut!) they both looked fairly raw and threw huge bombs to remove their men. Belshaw has fantastic power but throws those looping punches rather than setting up with the range finder and using his physical tools. If only he could double jab! If only...

Good man bennie, interesting and well-written as always.

Derek Chisora looks the best of the bunch....hes a good pressure fighter....very intelligent....

Price looked very thin in the ankle and neck department..wont do much.

the others are ordinary

rather like the american scene...we've got a huge gap between the old war horses and the new breed

the likes of skelton/ sprott/williams are in a different universe

to compare.....Matt Skelton created a real stir very early on beating Jacklord jacobs and Holden.....he was something very special coming from out of nowhere


i dont see anything from this bunch

Chisora v Sexton II would be interesting

Old bones Ian wrote:
Larry Olubamiwo, nice speed for a big guy, seems to be very fit. So far his punch looks to be good. He needs to settle down in fights, seems to rush a bit of his work, maybe trying to impress too much, but this should come with more fights and good sparring. Again i can see him making an impression in the british title level,
.

Having watched him on Friday fight night the other week against Mr Blobby who he knocked out in the second round, i couldn't believe how UNFIT he was.

After the fight in the interview he was gasping for breath and couldn't speak properly, this after about 4 or 5 minutes work. If someone puts HIM under pressure for just a minute or two of a round he's going to be shot.

He's also a bit wild and throws his punches from unorthadox angles, meaning anyone with a good counter and a bit of speed will clip him when he lines one of these up. I don't think this guy will go that far.

Provided he fights over here again, I'd like to see Gurcharan Singh.

Chris Burton will win a British title I am sure. Don't let his PrizeFighter defeat fool ya he is still a hell of a prospect and has the appetite to do well too. Technically very good and will get better under Fannan.

TheGoods wrote:Chris Burton will win a British title I am sure. Don't let his PrizeFighter defeat fool ya he is still a hell of a prospect and has the appetite to do well too. Technically very good and will get better under Fannan.

He had a tough time against Lee Swaby not too long ago as I remember it (admittedly Swaby is an unorthodox, tough cookie but I expected more from 'Hightower' in all honestly).

Hope he can refind early form as he looked to have a good punch output for such a big un.

Maybe him v Fury could be made sooner rather than later seeing as Fury and his team want to conquer the world in double quick time?...

TheGoods wrote:Chris Burton will win a British title I am sure. Don't let his PrizeFighter defeat fool ya he is still a hell of a prospect and has the appetite to do well too. Technically very good and will get better under Fannan.

He will not win a British title because he isn't good enough, He fought 2 journeymen and Sam Sexton in his last 3 fights. He struggled badly against Swaby, lost to Sexton and was horrible against a Bulgarian who wasn't even area level.

I can't see Burton doing well because he has been horrible in his last few fights and hasn't got anything to bring to the table other than height.

Britain has never really had a depth of worldclass heavies at any 1 time, so this period is no different.

We can still have some entertaining fights at domestic or euro level though.

Prizefighter is good for the domestic scene...we've had Rogan/ Dolan and burton / Sexton they all have a good shout on the brit euro scene

funso banjo baby wrote:Prizefighter is good for the domestic scene...we've had Rogan/ Dolan and burton / Sexton they all have a good shout on the brit euro scene

Rogan may beat Skelton but it will be close
Dolan has a very good chance at CW now he has moved down
Sexton will probably be a British Champion
Burton as I said early isn't good enough and is another version of Valuev

The British scene will certainly be good to watch over the next few years.

Chisora, Larry, Dallas, Price and Fury will be involved in some decent match ups.
Then you have Sexton, Burton and the others who could make a challenge.
Having a long reign as British Champ with all these guys about would be quite an achievement in itself.

As mentioned above though, we shouldn't expect too much too soon, as Britian is hardly famous for producing world class Heavies year after year!

In the last 20 years we have only had Bruno, Akinwande(border line), Lewis and now Haye who can be considered World Class at that weight, and even Haye has his doubters at the moment.
I predict Price will go furthest(Euro Level), and maybe he and Fury will land World Title shots at some point in their career if promoted well enough.
No World Champs though unfortunately, although I would like to proved wrong of course!
Will be good to see it all unfold and hoepfully some of these prospects can start fighting each other within the next 12-18 months.

Price? I'm not convinced he will make the switch from Am to Pro that easy. He has nice skills, but has been clocked on the chin a few times and gone down or wobbled badly from what i've seen in the Am's.