Ranking Boxing's 5 Breakout Fighters of 2014
In boxing, sometimes it only takes one fight or one punch to become a star.
It can happen in the blink of an eye, or it can take an entire career.
Star-making performances come in all shapes and sizes, and the following five men have all had their moments in 2014.
Some were young rising stars expected to make the leap, while others were forgotten, undervalued or just plain dismissed.
But all are now stars, or they're right on the cusp.
These are your five best candidates for breakout star of the year in 2014.
5. Carl Frampton
1 of 5
Carl Frampton emerged as a rising star in the lower weight classes with his championship victory over Kiko Martinez in September.
It was his second win over the rugged Spaniard, and it secured him the first world title of his young career.
Frampton now holds the IBF Super Bantamweight Championship and operates in a neighborhood populated by significant fighters and potentially significant fights.
His path forward is bright.
Frampton could continue to build his star across the pond in the United Kingdom, making good money and building his star, or he could seek American dollars by traveling stateside.
A unification fight with fellow Brit Scott Quigg makes some sense down the road. And then there’s the Leo Santa Cruz and Guillermo Rigondeaux’s of the world.
Those are some pretty high-profile fights, and Frampton is right in that mix now. He has the style, personality and talent to make some serious noise, and you shouldn’t be surprised when he does.
4. Chris Algieri
2 of 5
Chris Algieri began his 2014 campaign as a little-known fighter from Huntington, New York, and he has a chance to end it as a huge star.
The 30-year-old former kickboxing champion scored a significant upset over Ruslan Provodnikov at the Barclays Center in June to emerge from the shadows into the big-time boxing picture.
Algieri overcame two first-round knockdowns and a horribly swollen-shut right eye to capture a narrow split decision and the WBO Junior Welterweight Championship.
He did it with his jab and movement that rendered the Siberian Rocky completely inept offensively.
And now he’s parlayed that performance—whether you felt he won, you can’t deny his guts—into the opportunity of a lifetime against pound-for-pound entrant Manny Pacquiao.
That fight is obviously a tall order for anyone, but Algieri’s size, length and style could give the Filipino icon a difficult night.
An upset isn’t beyond the pale here—it seems unlikely but don’t sleep on the determined New Yorker—and if it happens, Algieri would move to the front of this list.
3. Sergey Kovalev
3 of 5
Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev has only scored a pair of spectacular stoppages over little-known foes this year, but he’s seen his star rise precipitously over the first 10 months of 2014.
The Russian power-puncher blew out Cedric Agnew and Blake Caparello, both in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to retain his share of the light heavyweight championship earlier this year.
He’ll meet the ageless Bernard Hopkins at Boardwalk Hall in November, seeking to secure three-fourths of the 175-pound crown and topple a living legend.
It’s been an interesting year for Kovalev.
He seemed to be the odd man out in the light heavyweight mix when Adonis Stevenson bolted from HBO to Showtime, taking his championship with him.
Kovalev and Stevenson were reportedly on the path to meet in a unification bout later in the year, as ESPN.com's Dan Rafael reported, but that fell through, and it was widely expected that Hopkins vs. Stevenson would take place instead.
But instead it was Stevenson left out in the cold, losing out on a chance to unify with Hopkins to his old nemesis.
Kovalev has the chance to go from star to superstar in that fight, but it's not going to be a walk in the park.
His punching power is legitimate, but Hopkins has made a career out of systematically exposing younger, hyped champions.
This is a real proving ground fight for Kovalev, but if he takes that next step, the future is possibly limitless.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
2. Kell Brook
4 of 5
Kell Brook traversed the Atlantic Ocean, walking into the StubHub Center in Carson, California, as an underdog and leaving with Shawn Porter’s IBF Welterweight Championship.
It was an impressive performance from the 28-year-old Brit, and it silenced many of the naysayers who felt he was just the latest in a long line of protected fighters from the United Kingdom.
Brook was highly effective at using Porter’s aggression against him, relegating him to charging in with winging shots that netted him little to no return.
His jab was sharp, crisp and controlled the distance of the fight, and he deserved the nod.
Brook has ascended to near the top of the British boxing mountain, and a huge fight with his compatriot Amir Khan has been discussed in earnest ever since.
Gareth A. Davies of The Telegraph reported in August that a fight was a done deal should Brook win his defense in December.
Carl Froch and George Groves drew over 80,000 fans to Wembley Stadium earlier this year, setting a standard that all UK fighters one day hope to achieve.
Now, a ton of things had to break right for that fight to generate the type of business and hype necessary to pack a stadium like Wembley, and it’s by no means a given to happen again.
But Brook and Khan certainly have a shot, and that fight is much more significant now that Special K has proven he’s the real deal.
1. Terence Crawford
5 of 5
Terence Crawford faced a ton of criticism when he began his 2014 campaign.
The Omaha, Nebraska, native was talented, yes, but he seemed to lack something, maybe an inner fire, that would push him to the next level.
Crawford went on the road in March to challenge Ricky Burns for a lightweight championship, and the festivities got off to a bad start for the American.
He seemed out of sorts early in the fight and didn’t take over until dropping the first couple of rounds. That’s a dangerous business in Scotland—where Ray Beltran had been absolutely robbed against Burns months earlier—but Crawford rallied to dominate and take a clear decision and the belt.
Returning to the sudden boxing hotbed of Omaha, Crawford rallied from an early hole to floor previously unbeaten Yuriorkis Gamboa four times en route to a brutal ninth-round stoppage in June.
If the Burns fight was his coming-out party, the Gamboa win was his star-making moment. He rallied from behind and blasted the former world champion nearly out of the ring as the headliner of an HBO show from his hometown.
It doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.
Crawford will return to Omaha in late November, defending against the same Beltran who had the title unfairly ripped from him by poor judges in Scotland.
It will be Crawford’s second-straight appearance at home in Nebraska—showing the faith HBO has in him—and his second headliner of the year.
That’s the stuff of a breakout fighter, and Crawford is most certainly that and then some.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
