Among
the talent pool of fighters under the age of 25, there are speedsters,
southpaws, sluggers and skilled technicians.
-Here's
a look at ten of the fiercest, young combatants that are on the rise.
Notable Fighters Who Recently Turned
25
Devon
Alexander (23-1, 13 KO) is a former unified junior welterweight world titlist
who bounced back from a first defeat to Timothy Bradley (29-0, 12 KO) with a
successful victory in his welterweight debut.
Alexander
dominated hard-hitter Marcos Maidana (31-3, 28 KO) in route to a unanimous
decision. Next up is a title shot against IBF welterweight champ and knockout
king Randall Bailey (43-7, 37 KO).
Another
notable 25-year-old who can't make the list anymore is Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO).
A former junior welterweight champ has a string of big victories over the likes
of Zab Judah (42-7, 29 KO) and Maidana.
Recently,
Khan has suffered two losses in a row including a devastating knockout loss
this past July.
Where he
goes next is unknown at this time, but Rick Reeno of Boxing Scene reports a
Dec. 15 date for his ring return.
10. Thomas Dulorme (15-0, 12 KO)
A Puerto
Rican on the rise, Dulorme has some big shoes to fill by the likes of former
welterweight legends Miguel Cotto and Felix Trinidad.
No
pressure.
While
Dulorme still has a lot to learn, he's showing that he's an A+ student of the
game with his dominating victory over veteran, journeyman DeMarcus "Chop
Chop" Corley.
9. Mikey Garcia (28-0, 24 KO)
Garcia
comes from a talented boxing family and has consistently shown that the apple
certainly doesn't fall far from the tree.
The
24-year-old has plenty of power and a methodical style of breaking his
opponents down. He just needs to step up in the featherweight division and
finally test his skills against a beltholder.
8. Pablo Cesar Cano (25-1-1, 19 KO)
After
giving a spirited effort in a loss to Mexican legend Erik Morales (52-8, 36
KO), Cano is ready to bounce back and learn.
The
22-year-old went on a three-fight winning streak after the loss, including a
victory that earned him the interim WBA junior welterweight world title.
Now he
plans to move up to welterweight to face WBA champ Paulie Malignaggi (31-4, 7
KO) for a world title in a second weight class on Showtimethis Oct. 20.
7. Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KO)
In a
world of few skilled heavyweights, Fury is a gust of freshly knocked-out air.
He's 6'9" with an 85" reach and plenty of power at the end of that
telephone pole jab.
At 24
years of age, he has plenty of time to grow and rack up wins, while the
Klitschko Brothers retire. As Fury enters his prime in his late 20s, he'll be a
major force in the heavyweight division.
6. Thomas Oosthuizen (20-0-1, 13 KO)
Oosthuizen
is a 6'4" South African with a 78" reach, yet doesn't mind a
phone-booth war, as he displayed against Aaron Pryor Jr. (16-6, 11 KO) last
September on the undercard of Berto-Zaveck.
The
24-year-old owns a minor super middleweight sanctioning organization title in
the IBO title, but he clearly aims for greater recognition by fighting in the
United States three out of his last five fights.
Showtime has
recently taken an interest in Oosthuizen and has shown his most recent
fight against Rowland Bryant (16-2, 11 KO) this past Aug.
Armed
with an exciting action-packed style and a good chin, the lanky "Tommy
Gun" Oosthuizen could be trading leather with the elites of his
talented division very soon.
5. Gary Russell Jr. (20-0, 12 KO)
Russell
is a brilliantly accurate and amazingly fast combination puncher in the
featherweight division at the tender age of 24.
He has been
recognized as ESPN's and Ring Magazine's2011 "Prospect of
the Year." Possibly even more telling of his talents is the fact he
is managed by Al Haymon, a powerful man that knows talent.
With his
onslaught of light-switch-quick jabs and hooks and his ability to turn on his
killer instinct in an instant, world-class competition shouldn't be too far
away.
4. Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO)
The man
his fans call "Canelo" is a brightly lit, rising star of the sport.
Since capturing the WBC junior middleweight world title last year, he's
defended his belt against a growing roster of popular fighters.
From
Carlos Baldomir (49-14-6, 15 KO) to Shane Mosley (46-8-1, 39 KO), Alvarez has
faced a plethora of older fighters using the patience of a red-headed cobra ready
to strike any time.
The next
step for the popular 22-year-old is to face better competition until he's ready
for the elite fighters of his division. Hopefully that comes soon.
3. Kazuto Ioka (10-0, Six KO)
The
23-year-old strawweight phenom is one of boxing's best kept (maybe too well
kept) secrets.
He not
only won his first world title at the start of 2011 while 21 years old, he
unified his WBC world title with the WBA version the following year.
According
to Dan Rafael of ESPN, after being forced to vacate one of his
belts, the decorated Japanese fighter now plans to move up to junior
flyweight in search of even further recognition.
2. Danny Garcia (24-0, 15 KO)
He's
already responsible for one of the biggest upsets of the year against Amir Khan
and now the 24-year-old Garcia aims to clarify one of his biggest victories in
a rematch.
The
WBC/WBA junior welterweight champ has the smarts and power to be a force for
years to come so long as he doesn't let his victories over the likes of Erik
Morales go to his head.
1. Adrien Broner (24-0, 20 KO)
Broner
is likely the most polarizing 23-year-old fighter in the world right now.
On one
hand, he's won his first world title in the super featherweight division at age
22 using his speed, power and shoulder-roll defense that emulates that
of Floyd Mayweather's.
On the
other, he's cocky, loves Twitter wars and courts controversy such
as coming in overweight against Vicente Escobedo to lose his world
title on the scales.
As
Broner moves up to lightweight for his next battle in the ring, he will
continue to generate new fans as well as detractors with his brash persona and
rare skillset.
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