As the revolving
door continues to
spin with alphabet
champions running in
and out; we cannot
wait until the
future of the
division arrives.
Well that means its
time again to look
at three more
candidates to see if
they got the goods
to be a true
contender.
This time around we
follow a very
obscure and slightly
elderly fighter from
the islands, a young
raw fighter who just
showcased his skills
on Showtime, and
possible stud from
the rich heavyweight
breeding grounds of
New York State. We
also will take a
look back at past
candidates and see
what they have or
have not
accomplished since
gracing us with
their prospect
presence.
Oleg Platov
Kertson Manswell (12-0-0
11KOs)
Now this is the long shot of
the group, but he has been
fairly impressive of late.
Manswell started the year
off with stopping the Vinny
Maddalone of the island
nations in Curtis Murray.
Murray was undefeated at the
time, but has since lost to
another slugger in Claudio
Rasco. Manswell then
garnered another half-decent
victory against Louis
Monaco.
If you have paid any
attention to past
installments of this series,
then Monaco is a name that
is often on the list of
victories for prospects.
However, unlike a lot of
other prospects, Manswell
stopped Monaco and now
stands with guys like Vitali
Klitschko, Lamon Brewster,
and the enigma Lance
Whitaker who have
accomplished the same feat.
Manswell
though really enters this
list because last month the
Trinidadian slugger finally
went the distance with the
declining but still durable
Corey Sanders. Sanders came
in overweight and was
underproductive as Manswell
could’ve been busier but he
carried the pace throughout.
Actually Manswell looked
about as good as Eliecer
Castillo and Timo Hoffman
did in their victories over
Sanders. Now this isn’t the
Corrie Sanders that stopped
Wladimir Klitschko, but it
is the Corey Sanders that
KO’d current WBC heavyweight
champion Oleg Maskaev in
eight. So this is a good win
for someone with so few
fights. Kertson Manswell is
a little old at 30, but
heavyweights do mature
later.
Manswell comes from seemingly
limited boxing background, but he
has fought four times this year and
against progressively better
opponents. At 6’4” and roughly 235,
the man is in shape and when he lets
his hands go, he is dangerous,
hopefully we’ll see him soon, but
most likely it will be in Germany
and he will most likely be set up
for someone like Dieter Roth.
Travis Walker (22-0-1 17KOs)
Travis Walker is a prospect I have
been keeping my eye on for some time
wondering when the hell he was going
to fight a live opponent. Finally
Walker gave me something to talk
about when he signed to fight 2004
Olympic represenative Jason Estrada.
Walker was a very accomplished
amateur for being such a crude
boxer. Over time he has worked on
timing and landing his big right
hand. Not too much has changed over
the years with his style, he knows
how to fight, but it’s not intuitive
for him yet. Walker showed moments
of skill in his victory over
Estrada, and moments of utter
inexperience, for upper-echelon
fighters would pound him mercilessly
when Walker would lunge forward head
first to land a punch. Walker has a
solid jab and previously mentioned a
big right hand, but he needs work,
but so does every prospect. Walker
with this high profile win will land
some more fights and hopefully some
better training will be down the
road for him as well. Its time for
the 6’4” Walker to get some momentum
going in his career. Walker wasn’t
overly impressive in victory, but
believe it or not, Estrada is a
tactically difficult opponent to
fight. There are no talks of any
immediate fights, but I would like
to see him again, maybe against guys
like Alonzo Butler or David
Rodriquez.
Derrick Rossy (14-0-0 8KOs)
Rossy made his first blip onto my
radar when he stopped rugged Gary
Bell earlier this year. Bell was a
much more experienced fighter who
has wins over Jameel McCline, Robert
Hawkins, and the honorable Louis
Monaco. However, Bell’s biggest
fight was up against a prime Davis
Tua, and Tua stopped him in one.
After that respectable win over
Bell, Rossy fought cannon fodder for
a couple of fights until he recently
met up with Shannon Miller. The very
Shannon Miller who combined with
Vinny Maddalone gave us the best
heavyweight fight last year on free
cable. Miller turned that experience
into a decent boxing career until
Rossy derailed him. Now Rossy is a
little bigger than I would like him
to be, but he’s not too bad
weight-wise. Rossy is however
thankfully very busy, fighting five
times this year so far. I like this
pace for the young man, as he needs
to learn how to finish opponents
once he knows he can beat them.
Besides that, Rossy would be a
handful for guys like J.D. Chapman
or Malik Scott, while still
out-classed by those two, Rossy is
closing the gap quickly. There is no
tentative fight on the schedule, but
expect to see him more often in the
next year.
Its reflection time, as we look back
at past fighters and their progress.
We will start with the six men who
are making their last appearance on
this list, these men range from a
current WBA mandatory challenger to
a fighter that is rawer than
uncooked meat.
Scott Gammer: Out-pointed
Michael Steeds for the second time
in his career. A fight with Danny
Williams is still being talked
about, but something needs to
materialize soon.
Chris Arreola: Followed up
his solid victory over Damian Norris
with a breakout stoppage win over
previously undefeated Damian Wills.
Arreola has nothing on the immediate
horizon, but hopefully something
soon.
Alonzo Butler: Hasn’t fought
since his embarrassing performance
on ESPN and has nothing in the
pipeline. Butler is starting to
resemble Farug Saleem.
Taras Bidenko: The crafty
boxer added a TKO win over toughman
Andreas Sidon since we reviewed him
last. Bidenko is starting to create
a buzz about him and a rematch with
EBU champion Vladimir Virchis to
avenge a previous loss would be
perfect for him.
Chazz Witherspoon: The man
stays busy I’ll give him that. Two
straight 2nd round kayos over
Innocent Otukuwu and Earl Ladson
doesn’t do more than pad the record
and Andrew Greeley will only do the
same, but like I said Witherspoon is
busy.
Ruslan Chagaev: A great year
for Chagaev has just been capped off
with a solid and surprisingly
hard-fought victory over John Ruiz
this past weekend has just made
Chagaev the mandatory challenger for
Nikolay Valuev. Expect to see
Chagaev challenge for the WBA strap
this coming January instead of
unworthy Canadian Jean Francois
Bergeron.
J.D. Chapman: Fight with
Chauncy Welliver fell through, but
he still was able to stop Ray
Lunsford in Welliver’s absence.
Chapman has no immediate fight
planned and rumors of retirement are
circling about. I haven’t talked to
the kid in a while to verify that,
but the grumblings about it is
getting louder.
Kevin Johnson: Johnson
decision Demetrice King and Michael
Rhodes since we last saw him.
Problem with those victories is both
guys could’ve been stopped and
Johnson still hasn’t discovered his
right hand. No fight in the
immediate future, but a real fight
to display this kid’s skills would
do wonders for him.
Roman Greenberg: Greenberg
stopped unheralded Alexei Varakin
earlier this month and has a fight
on December 9th with Shelby Gross.
One day Greenberg will step up in
competition now that he signed with
Warriors boxing, but for now it’s
the same old cannon fodder,
Greenberg can’t avoid guys like Rick
Dyer forever.
Jason Gavern: The former cop
has been busy as a sparring partner
and has made more money at that than
fighting in the ring. Gavern will
stay a sparring partner for a little
longer and until the busy big name
season is over. We should see Gavern
early to mid next year.
George Garcia: Unanimous
decision victory over former
cruiserweight journeyman Charles
Davis doesn’t prove anything. I will
admit that I’m a little embarrassed
about calling him a prospect; I hope
he changes my sentiment shortly. I
haven’t heard of anything in the
near future for Garcia.
Ondrej Pala: The Czech
fighter suffered a hometown decision
loss to Rene Dettweiler and that was
followed by a hometown technical
loss to even more popular Denis
Boytsov. Apparently Pala has found a
niche exposing prospect fighters,
too bad he keeps getting tagged with
losses over it. Pala’s fight was
stopped early on a cut that wasn’t
serious, he was giving Boytsov a
stern test and Boytsov needed the
ref’s help in stopping the fight,
all of which was to the chagrin of
the fight fans ringside. Pala
followed the loss to Boytsov up with
two stoppage wins against no-hopers.
Pala is probably done for the year
and will fight again early next
year.
Mariusz Wach: Took another
technical decision over a fighter
not worth mentioning. Wach is
scheduled to face Arthur Cook in
Poland on December 16th. Wach’s
previous victory over Cook was a bit
controversial and Wach is looking to
prove it wasn’t a mistake.
Oleg Platov: Stopped Tama
Borbely in a keep busy fight in
September, and on the Chagaev/Ruiz
undercard Platov garnered his
biggest career victory over former
WBO heavyweight champion Henry
Akinwande. Hopefully now Platov can
score some decent fights on the
European level and contend for a
regional title by the mid-year.
As always, you never truly now how
these fighters will turn out, and
the truth most will become nothing.
I do enjoy watching young prospects
fight and love to see them develop
into a force. So instead declaring
that all are unworthy, actually take
the time to watch these young guys
and formulate an opinion of your
own. Until then enjoy the fights and
hopefully you’ll enjoy these young
fighters’ fights.
