The Future Of Heavyweight Boxing By Robbie Mitchell

The Future Of Heavyweight Boxing

By Robbie Mitchell

Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, these are the king pins that probably enter your mind when you think about heavyweight boxing, but any hardcore boxing fan won’t just know about our top trio but they will be keeping an eye on the younger crop of contenders as well.

Here is my look at the fighters that are predicted to shake up the heavyweight division in the near future:

Daniel Dubois 13-0

The Greenwhich giant is still only 21, but has got a lot of people excited and he is widely considered to be the best young heavyweight out there at the moment, so it seems kind of fitting that he has just been awarded the best young fighter of the year award!.

The 6’5 inch powerhouse has absolutely destroyed all but one man that has stepped into the ring with him and even though he’s not knocking out world title holders at the moment, he is certainly on his way and has already picked up 8 straps in his short 13 fight career. The only person to go the distance with Dubois was Kevin Johnston who only seemed interested in running and hiding the entire fight.

Dubois last 3 fights have generated a lot of buzz throughout the heavyweight scene and has a lot of people talking, he was involved in his first “dog fight” with Richard Lartey in April which saw both men plant their feet and swing bombs at each other. Dubois then went on to savagely knockout Nathan Gorman to take home the British title and then made very short work of Ebenezer Tetteh just under a month ago.

Efe Ajagba 11-0

Not many people will have heard of Ajagba I believe he will be a huge problem to the rest of the heavyweight division. Ajagba is only 25 and was encouraged to start boxing at the age of 17 after he knocked a bouncer clean out with one punch.

Only two fighters have managed to avoid being knocked out him and the only reason one of them survived was because he walked out of the ring as soon as the bell went. Curtis Harper left the ring as soon as the bell rang and he later put this down to “not being offered enough money for the fight”

The only other fighter to avoid being knocked out by Ajagba is Ali Demirezen who is a 2016 Turkish Olympian and was undefeated at the time. Demirezen is no world level beater but he gave Ajagba a good run for his money and can take pride in being the only man to actually fight with him and stay on his feet for the whole fight.

Efe and his team are in no rush to force him to the top of the food chain and he is taking his time and learning fights while he masters his art. Ajagba was present when Deontay Wilder knocked Dominic Breazeale in the first round and told a reporter that he was in “no rush” to start jumping in there with the top dogs.

Martin Bakole 13-1

The most noticeable difference between Bakole, Dubois & Ejagba is that Martin is no longer an undefeated boxer, he suffered a huge upset loss after being stopped by former cruiserweight contender Michael Hunter last October.

Martin stands at an intimidating 6’6 and has knockout power in both hands, there were rumours flying around a few years ago that he made Dubois “quit” during several sparing sessions, Bakole seemed to be heading in a similar direction as Dubois and Ajagba until his shock loss to Hunter.

I think its unfair to completely write Bakole of after that loss, he seriously injured his right shoulder in the 7th round and seemed to be pleading with his trainer (Billy Nelson) to stop the fight. Nelson received a lot of hate from the boxing world after he was caught on video refusing to stop the fight and seemingly forcing his injured fighter back out to fight the last two rounds while injured. Nelson was even heard saying “just two more rounds, we can rebuild your shoulder, you’re not quitting” many people disapproved of how Nelson handled the situation.

Bakole has rebounded with two wins since the Hunter loss.