Boxers Who Are 1 Win Away from Being Elite
For the purpose of this list, we're defining elite as elite within a specific weight class, rather than as pound-for-pound elite. Pound-for-pound rankings are extremely subjective, and to reach that pinnacle usually requires great success over a series of bouts.
The fighters we will be discussing here are all close to establishing themselves as unquestionably within the top 10, if not the top five, of their weight class.
Every name on this list has a good chance to emerge as a true star by the end of 2016.
10. Antoine Douglas, Middleweight
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Antoine Douglas was an amateur standout who turned professional a month after turning 20, in October 2012. Now 23, he's poised to move into legitimate, top-10 status during 2016. So far as a pro, he's 19-0-1 with 13 KOs.
The best opponent he's faced to date is Michel Soro, with whom he drew in July 2014. Douglas made excellent progress at advancing his career in 2015, fighting twice on Showtime, including a November TKO of Les Sherrington in a ShoBox main event.
Douglas has a legitimate test in front of him on March 5, when he faces Avtandil Khurtsidze, an extremely rugged veteran who hasn't lost since dropping a hard-fought decision to Hassan N'Dam in 2010.
A big performance by Douglas in this bout will have a lot of people ranking him as a top-10 middleweight. At the very least, it will put him in line for an opportunity to unquestionably establish himself as one of the division's elite.
9. Marcus Browne, Light Heavyweight
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You could make a case that Marcus Browne deserves a spot at the bottom of the light heavyweight top 10 right now. The 2012 Olympian had a terrific 2015 campaign, going 4-0 with three KOs, against former champion Gabriel Campillo and veteran journeymen Cornelius White, Aaron Pryor Jr. and Francisco Sierra.
That run clearly lifts him from the status of prospect to legitimate contender. But in a division as talent-laden as 175 pounds, he needs a genuinely signature win to get mentioned with the true elite of the weight class.
His next fight comes in April against Radivoje Kalajdzic, an undefeated native of Bosnia-Herzegovina who now fights out of Florida. An undefeated, relatively unknown fighter from the former Soviet Bloc is not one to look past.
But so long as Browne can take care of business in this one, it would be nice to see him in against another top-10 fighter later this year.
8. Joseph Parker, Heavyweight
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For boxing fans who are always on the lookout for the next big thing in the heavyweight division, New Zealand's Joseph Parker is an intriguing fighter. At 24, he's got youth. At 6'4" and 240 pounds, he's got size.
He also has a strong amateur background and an undefeated professional record of 18-0 with 16 knockouts. And with his base of operations now moved to Las Vegas, it's clear that he is intent on launching himself toward the top of the sport.
All he needs to do at this point is test himself against a legitimate contender. He's looked tremendous against high-level journeymen and gatekeepers.
Sometime before the end of the year, it would be nice to see Parker get the sort of opportunity that would legitimately launch him into the top 10.
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7. Felix Verdejo, Lightweight
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If boxers were stocks, Felix Verdejo would be the red-hot start up that investors were rushing to get behind. At 22, he has the potential to become one of the sport's biggest attractions over the next decade, so long as he can keep winning in the ring.
Verdejo has undeniable talent and a charismatic personality. At 5'9", he's got the frame to potentially reach middleweight.
He is also the most likely candidate to inherit Miguel Cotto's status as Puerto Rico's top boxing star. That guarantees big box-office success in New York City, one of the sport's traditional capitals.
Verdejo turned in a nice performance on February 27, shutting out undefeated William Silva of Brazil on the cards. It wasn't a dazzling win, but it did provide a nice showcase for Verdejo's intelligence and remarkable hand speed.
Verdejo looks ready to handle just about anybody in the world at 135 pounds. He's set to return to action in April, with the opponent still yet to be named.
6. Michel Soro, Junior Middleweight
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Michel Soro holds the European Boxing Union middleweight belt and is even ranked No. 10 there by the Ring. But his best weight is probably 154 pounds.
At either 154 or 160 pounds, he's very much on the cusp of elite status. A native of Cote d'Ivoire who now fights out of France, Soro actually had a title shot back in 2012, when he knocked down WBO junior middleweight champion Zaurbek Baysangurov but ultimately lost a decision.
Soro was frankly too inexperienced for that kind of fight at that point in his career and hadn't even really done anything to deserve the opportunity.
But at this point, he's very much ready to face the top contenders at 154 or 160 pounds. Look for him in a major fight there in 2016.
5. Julian Williams, Junior Middleweight
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Julian Williams is undefeated at 154 pounds and very much on the radar with serious boxing fans. The Transnational Boxing Rankings and the Ring both have him at No. 8, while Boxrec has him at 13.
There's no question he is a serious contender. But he's still yet to land the sort of fight that could move him into the division's elite.
On March 5, Williams faces Marcello Matano, which is a stay-busy fight he should win with relative ease. So long as he can get the job done then, he really deserves a shot at one of the top stars in the division in his next fight.
4. Eduard Troyanovsky, Light Welterweight
7 of 10Eduard Troyanovsky has an undefeated record and the IBF light welterweight title. So it's valid to rank him in the top 10 at 140 pounds. But he's yet to record the sort of win that would truly qualify him as one of the division's elite.
Troyanovsky captured his title last November, when he stopped Cesar Rene Cuenca in six rounds. Cuenca was 48-0 coming into that bout but has just two career KOs. He'd won the vacant IBF belt by defeating IK Yang, a laughably under-qualified contender.
The fight was Cuenca's first outside of his native Argentina. So beating Cuenca might have made Troyanovsky a "world champion," according to the IBF, but it hardly makes him one of the division's elite fighters.
Still, Troyanovsky does appear to have the potential to be at that level. He's going to need to beat another legitimate contender, though, before anybody sees him as a true top name in the division.
3. Sadam Ali, Welterweight
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After representing the United States in the 2008 Olympics, Sadam Ali's career has developed fairly slowly in the professional ranks. But in November 2014, he recorded an extremely impressive TKO victory over Luis Abregu, a victory that established him as a legitimate contender at welterweight.
Ali probably deserves top-10 status in the division right now. Both the Ring and the Transnational Boxing Rankings list him at No. 8. Boxrec only puts him at 14.
But Ali has the fight in front of him that could establish him as among the division's stars. On March 5, he faces Jessie Vargas, a former world champion at 140 pounds who had Timothy Bradley in serious trouble in the closing seconds of their bout last year.
This is a "pick-em" fight for me. But Ali will take a huge step forward if he can win.
2. Anthony Joshua, Heavyweight
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Make no mistake, I don't regard Charles Martin as a legitimate world champion, no matter what sort of farce the IBF wishes to maintain. It was cynical for the alphabet-soup sanctioning body to strip Tyson Fury of its share of the heavyweight crown so soon after he won it from Wladimir Klitschko.
It was flat-out absurd that it allowed Charles Martin, who had defeated absolutely nobody of note, to contest for the vacant belt against Vyacheslav Glazkov. When Glazkov was forced to cede the fight with an injured knee, Martin became the least qualified "heavyweight champion" in history.
But it has created a nice opening for Anthony Joshua, one of the fastest-rising talents in the sport. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist is 15-0 with 15 KOs.
I expect him to knockout Martin, as well. If he does, he'll be a world champion, at least in name. He will unquestionably be in line for some of the division's biggest fights.
1. Errol Spence Jr., Welterweight
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There are no doubt a lot of fans who would already argue that Errol Spence Jr. is an elite talent. The 2012 Olympian is 19-0 with 16 KOs. He has looked absolutely outstanding against borderline contenders like Alejandro Barrera, Chris van Heerden and Samuel Vargas.
Based on the eyeball test, Spence appears to live up to his nickname, "The Truth."
But it's still a bit premature to view him as a true, top-10 welterweight. He might very well be the best fighter in the division. But he still hasn't faced the level of opponent necessary to prove it.
He gets his chance in April, though, when he faces former Manny Pacquiao opponent Chris Algieri. Algieri's shot at Pacquiao was undeserved, of course. And he followed it with a fairly one-sided loss to Amir Khan.
Still, Algieri is a legitimate contender, and a win over him will make Spence an undeniable top 10. Moreover, an especially impressive performance against Algieri will provide a nice measuring stick with Pacquiao and Khan, two of the welterweight division's elite fighters.
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