Ondrej Pala (11-1-0, 8 KOs)

Former Czech national amateur title contender Pala is probably the best Czech heavyweight ever; I know that's not saying much, but, hey, he's the best at something.

Pala is a solid all around fighter who does well on the inside and has good countering skills. Ondrej does plod a bit and is soft around the center, but he lost roughly 15 pounds between his last two fights. At 6'3" and 243 pounds, a little more weight loss wouldn't hurt. As for his credentials in the pros; well, Pala holds a victory over perennial Euro journeyman Alexei Osokin and was robbed in Germany against a protected, undefeated German fighter named Rene Dettweiler. That supposed loss has garnered Ondrej his biggest fight to date. We will see Ondrej in the ring again on September 9 against undefeated Russian heavyweight sensation Denis Boytsov. Pala is being used for his record against the young slugger, but he is a live underdog and could derail Boytsov's momentum.

Mariusz Wach (11-0, 4 KOs)

Wach, a former Polish national champion, is a long, lanky fighter who works well behind his jab and uses his legs as his primary form of defense. Mariusz doesn't bang much because he doesn't have much power. If some reason you can't picture exactly what this style looks like, just think of Wach as the Polish version of Alexander Dimitrenko. Wach has beaten some decent journeymen, but the name that stands out on his miniscule resume is Arthur Cook, who, if you remember, is the only man to defeat and knockout the Polish powerhouse and the man with the biggest padded record in Europe, Albert Sosnowski. Cook has some pop and is reminiscent of Chris Koval. The victory over Cook was controversial, though. Wach had spun Cook in the eighth round, apparently injuring Cook's shoulder and he wasn't able to come out for the ninth round. The fight was very close on the cards at the time of stoppage. There is talk of a rematch between the two, but no timetable is available.

Oleg Platov (21-1. 18 KOs)

Platov is incredibly easy to describe; two words, Sam Peter. Platov isn't as powerful a puncher as Peter but isn't that far behind. Oleg is a better boxer than Peter, but not by much. Oleg plods and destroys his opponent, which is the entirety of his style. Oleg will take three shots to deliver one and in the realm of European boxing, where style is preferred and respected more than power, Platov finds himself an outcast among fans and promoters. Oleg has beaten two solid Euro journeymen, Igor Shukala and Colin Kenna.

Platov's only loss was to a fighter I had never heard of and he had a losing record, which should speak volumes about Platov's boxing prowess. Oleg was the mandatory challenger a while back for some alphabet regional youth title against Chauncy Welliver, but no one wants to see an overgrown light heavyweight fight a non-technical heavyweight in Europe, so that fight never materialized. Instead Platov and his unfavorable style have been placed in what is commonly known as a "box-off" against fellow stablemate Henry Akinwande.

A "box-off" happens quite frequently in Sauerland's stable. Wilfried will get rid of his unwanted fighter by pitting two fighters who he feels aren't bringing in the fans against one another. The loser is out, while the winner gets a solid win on his record, and he can earn more off of them. So that leads us to the September 23 showdown between Platov and Akinwande.

There is no doubt that Akinwande can beat Platov in a boxing match, but as soon as Henry gets a bit too comfortable, Platov can end it. Don't forget that Akinwande is 40 and his skills aren't the same, but on the other side of the coin, Platov is only 23 and with room to grow.

These three young men have a lot to prove, but in the next month we will see whether Pala is the real deal or he makes Boytsov look like the second coming of Mike Tyson.

I hope Wach doesn't take forever to fight a real contender like Dimitrenko has, but we can expect to see Wach dance his way into the Euro scene in a year or two.

As for Platov, next month is do or die for him, at least for now. If Oleg can get past Akinwande then he is looking at some lucrative fights in the near future. Like I have always said it is more fun following a fighter's progress into a champion rather than just watching their title reign. Since most of them are from obscure places, it is nice to get familiar with them now, before they do achieve champion status.

Let's take a look back at our previously reviewed fighters and see exactly what they have accomplished the past three months. We will start with the seven fighters that will be making their last appearances on this list.

Alexander Dimitrenko: Boring second round TKO of cruiserweight Chad Van Sickle. Dimitrenko needs to fight someone real, soon.

Malik Scott: A shutout victory of Marcus McGee last month proved nothing. I hope Scott makes some noise.

Eddie Chambers: TKO's against Dominic Jenkins and Ed Mahone with the latter being a sort of a breaking out victory for Chambers.

B.J. Flores: Moved down to cruiserweight.

Michael Marrone: Hasn't fought in a few months, but does a tentative fight Sept. 2.

Jason Estrada: Hasn't fought in three months. Talks of bouts with Fres Oquendo and Travis Walker have surfaced. He is scheduled to fight Sept. 23 in Hartford.

Alexander Povetkin: Povetkin outclassed Livin Castillo, but the KO seemed, well, staged. A fight with Mahone was talked about, but it seems that a fight with Dominic Guinn is a close reality. Not bad for his ninth career fight.

Now for the rest of the perspective prospects who we are still keeping an eye on:

Scott Gammer: He finally fought this year and stopped Mark Krence in nine. A fight with Danny Williams was supposed to happen Oct. 13, but Williams pulled out and Michael Steeds is being talked about as a replacement.

Just as Gammer had previously beaten Krence, he has also defeated Steeds. One can't progress if you keep recycling opponents.

Chris Arreola: Knocked out Sedreck Fields and stopped Damian Norris this past weekend. Norris beat Jason Gavern not long ago and Damian was a good win for Arreola.

Alonzo Butler: Stopped the mighty Travis Fulton and Butler showed us how raw he is against Maurice Wheeler on ESPN. No fight scheduled.

Taras Bidenko: Just defeated Alex Mazikin in a Sauerland box-off. The fight was close, but a quality win for Bidenko.

Chazz Witherspoon: Gave a poor effort in defeating Michael Alexander on July 1. A fight in September or October is planned.

Ruslan Chagaev: A good TKO victory over the underrated Michael Sprott on July 15 and he has a proposed bout with John Ruiz for later this year.

J.D. Chapman: Garnered another hard fought victory over limited Edward Gutierrez in May and stopped Chris Lewallen in July. Chapman has a fight with overblown light heavyweight Chauncy Welliver in September.

Kevin Johnson: Out-pointed the always beatable Daniel Bispo in June. Apparently Johnson has yet to discover he has a right arm. No fight on the horizon.

Roman Greenberg: Hasn't fought in way too long. Tentative fights in September and November, but no opponents set.

Jason Gavern: Stopped Derek Berry and then was defeated by Damian Norris on ESPN. He followed the Norris loss with a victory over the very durable Jermell Barnes.

George Garcia: Continually priced himself out of a fight with J.D. Chapman. Garcia hasn't accomplished anything since, nor is there word of him accomplishing anything soon.

As always these men might not amount to anything, but some may be the greatest the sport has ever seen (doubt it). No matter what their careers end up being, it is at this stage of development that a fan is able to become attached to a particular fighter and grow with them. Until next time, keep your eyes open for these fighters and enjoy the fights.