Every once and awhile a young prospect comes along, and all eyes are on them. There are numerous young prospects in todays fight game that are making noise for themselves. Today let us look at three fighters who are becoming more popular than ever in the sport. The three fighters are Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs), Devin Haney (25-0, 15KOs), and Shakur Stevenson (15-0, 8KOs). Each fighter has their own skills and assets, creating their own following. Ranging from a social media star to a former Olympic silver medalist. In today’s day and age, a personality is much needed to help fuel a fighter’s career early and all three of these men have exactly that. The sky is the limit for all three but let’s look at each individually and see what makes each unique.
First up is former 2016 silver medal Olympian Shakur Stevenson (age 23), who has a charismatic personality, with great trash talk and who some consider having defensive skills relative to that of the one and only Floyd Mayweather. He also has great people in his corner such as former great Andre Ward and current world champion Terrence Crawford. He also has world class speed for hands and has one of the best IQs in boxing. Shakur brilliantly uses the southpaw stance utilizing spacing and distance to make fights difficult for his opponents. He also has Top Rank on his side and is quickly rising to stardom in the sport of boxing. Although he is a current champion some look at his resume and have questions as to how great he really is. Some also question is punching power to take down some of the bigger level fighters. But its still early in his career and he has already shown in a few years more than some do in an entire career. Stevenson has been adamant on making the best fights and doing it as fast as possible. He has recently called out Jamel Herring in hopes of taking his title so that he can pursue a fight with Oscar Valdez. The sky is the limit, as it will be interesting if he can secure a huge fight in the coming months.
Next up, Devin Haney (age 22) who turned pro at only 17 in 2015 fought in Mexico until he was licensed in the United States. He gained a lot of steam for his all-around fighting skills and sparring with the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Shawn Porter, and Amir Khan. Haney who was supposed to be tested in recent fights has shined bright and made easy work of his opponents. Another current champion who some question his resume. Haney is highly technical and possesses the knockout power needed to end fights early. He may be the most all-around fighter on our list. He also has a great team in his corner, insert the Mayweather’s. Haney has also been in off and on-again feuds with another name on our list, Ryan Garcia. They fought six times in the amateurs with both winning three times. It only makes sense to settle this tie break in the pro setting. Although Haney never had to truly fight for the WBC belt he holds, as he was given it when Lomachenko became the franchise champion, he has not been tested by opponents yet. He checks off all the boxes for a future superstar, ranging from great footwork to a barrage of punches that he can end the night early with. The hope is to truly see him tested as talks between not on Garcia but other major players in boxing such as Lomachenko are on the short list.
Our final young star is Ryan Garcia (age 22) who is one of the most influential social media boxers of our time. A fighter known for his clear hand speed with a nickname of “the flash”. He has shown in his last few fights he has the power to go with the crazy speed. Many look at him as a young Oscar De La Hoya, who coincidently promotes him through Golden Boy Promotions. Garcia provides a strong tall frame and will continue to mature as he grows in the sport of boxing. His attitude along with his social media following makes him one of the most marketable fighters and brings in money regardless of opponent. Just as the other young stars he truly has not been tested in terms of opponent until his last fight. He faced controversary by being knocked down for the first time and was able to comeback to win by TKO over Luke Campbell. This may have been the biggest test any of the three have faced so far in their careers. It looks like his next test will be Javier Fortuna and then we hope to see with a win, perhaps Garcia takes on Haney or others next.
Each fighter we looked at possess their own intrinsic value to the sport of boxing. All had the same issues of not being tested, except for Garcia’s recent bout. All three are on their way to superstardom and creating their own story. We hope opponent level continues to rise and some of these men fight each other. All things point towards big money title fights in the near future. The question is who will end with the greatest career when its all said and done. Some may point to Stevenson as he has the Mayweather type defense, while others will point to the speed of Garcia or the total fighting package of Haney. All we can do is wait and watch with anticipation as these young stars continue to rise up the ranks.
Who's your favourite young prospect? Let us know in the comments below!
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