Stars of the Future

Stars of the Future

By Henry Walter 

British boxing is booming at the moment. With the likes of Anthony Joshua and Callum Smith leading the way, Britain’s boxing prospects have arguably never been stronger.

The last decade has produced a huge pool of British talent and British boxing seems to be continuing to churn out gifted fighters. Below I have listed six young boxers who I believe will be stars of the future.

Josh Kelly
Division: Welterweight
Record: 8-0 (6 KOs)

Kelly turned professional just eighteen months ago but has already captured the Commonwealth title, managing the feat in just his seventh fight. Trainer Adam Booth has stated that Kelly is the most talented fighter he has ever trained and coming from a man who has trained both David Haye and George Groves this is high praise indeed. Kelly is already a big player on the domestic scene and seems well capable of mixing it in world-class company.

Shakan Pitters
Division: Light-heavyweight
Record: 10-0 (3 KOs)

At six feet, six inches Shakan Pitters envoys tremendous height and reach advantages over his light-heavyweight contemporaries. A former West Bromwich Albion academy soccer player, Pitters has admirable speed and athleticism. A recent winner of the Ultimate Boxxer 2 tournament, Pitters looks destined for big things.

Anthony Yarde
Division: Light-heavyweight
Record: 17-0 (16 KOs)

Yarde had just twelve amateur fights before turning pro, yet the gifted boxer-puncher has blazed a path through the pro ranks. Yarde’s awesome power has seen him to victories over far more experienced opponents and he is itching to fight world ranked opponents. Once Yarde has gained enough experience he will be a force to be reckoned with.

Lee McGregor
Division: Bantamweight
Record: 5-0 (5 KOs)

The speedy and powerful Scotsman has made remarkable progress in his short professional career. In just his fourth fight he captured the IBF Youth Championship. Just three months later he won his second title with yet another knockout as he became Commonwealth champion.

At just twenty-one McGregor has his whole career ahead of him yet has already showed remarkable ability for such an inexperienced pro.

Nathan Gorman
Division: Heavyweight
Record: 14-0 (11 KOs)

Gorman comes from a family with a rich fighting heritage. His uncle was a reportedly undefeated bare-knuckle boxer and his cousin is former World Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury. Gorman has fighting in his genes and it shows. At six feet, three inches Gorman is remarkably agile and skilful for such a big man.

Gorman has easily beaten all fourteen of his professional opponents and has sparred with just about every top pro in the U.K., including his famous cousin. Gorman is on the verge of gatecrashing the top ten in the division and there is talk that his next opponent could be world ranked.

Lawrence Okolie
Division: Cruiserweight
Record: 10-0 (7 KOs)

As a former Olympian Okolie has rich amateur pedigree. Okolie has had some difficulty adapting to the pros, despite capturing the Commonwealth and British titles in his ninth and tenth fights respectively. Okolie attracted criticism during both these wins for excessive holding and a seeming lack of ability on the inside.

Despite the criticism some of his performances have attracted Okolie remains undefeated and has made extremely fast progress in the cruiserweight division. A powerful and rangy boxer Okolie has a big future in the sport as long as he stays dedicated to learning his craft.