Ranking the Best Young Fighters in Boxing Today
Four days before he was old enough to legally buy a beer in the United States, Naoya Inoue became a world champion. Eight months later, he jumped a division and claimed a second belt.
Nobody should be surprised to see his name on this list. But in general, this is a list dominated by lighter weight, Japanese fighters. Four made the cut for my top 10 and two more received consideration: Ken Shiro and Inoue's younger brother, Takuma.
My cut-off date for age here is 24 and under. So a number of exciting stars such as Oscar Valdez and the Charlo twins (Jermell and Jermall) are just a bit too long in the tooth to be considered.
10. Daigo Higa, Flyweight
1 of 10At 20, Daigo Higa is inevitably starting to draw comparisons to his countryman, Naoya Inoue. He's knocked out the first nine opponents he has faced as a professional.
Higa is not a world champion yet, but it feels like only a matter of time. He's currently the WBC youth champion at 112 pounds, a belt he won by traveling to Thailand last July to out-slug fellow unbeaten sensation Kongfah CP Freshmart.
Higa is a bullying, come-forward fighter. He does a great job changing levels and letting his hands go upstairs and down. He is definitely benefiting from the current boxing scene in Japan, which is dominated by outstanding small fighters.
According to a March profile on RingTV.Com, he's spent time sparring with both Ken Shiro and Naoya Inoue.
9. Joseph Parker, Heavyweight
2 of 10
With the heavyweight division heating up in 2016, New Zealand's Joseph Parker should have the opportunity to emerge as a major star. He was a polished, amateur boxer and has been a wrecking ball so far as a pro.
Parker is 6'4" and about 240 pounds. He's got the size and power to compete with the super-sized, modern heavyweights. In 2015, he knocked out five good, steppingstone-level big men in Jason Pettaway, Yakup Saglam, Bowie Tupou, Kali Meehan and Daniel Martz.
Those were all impressive wins, but they are also the kind of fighters Parker should handle with relative ease, if he wants to be a true contender.
But he's got the fight in front of him now that would make him a potential top-10 heavyweight. He fights Carlos Takam in New Zealand in May.
It's an IBF title eliminator, so if he wins, Parker should be on a collision course with fellow Commonwealth Games veteran Anthony Joshua.
8. Tomoki Kameda, Bantamweight
3 of 10
Tomoki Kameda is the youngest of Japan's three famous Kameda brothers. He also has the potential to be the best. His earliest nickname was "The Ultimate Weapon of the Kamedas."
Training much of the year in Mexico, he earned a new alias: El Mexicanito. His exciting, furious style of fighting made him a rising star with the hardcore fanbase in his second home.
Kameda became the WBO bantamweight champion in August 2013, when he defeated Paulus Ambunda. He defended that belt twice successfully, before vacating in 2015 to face WBA champion Jamie McDonnell.
Kameda lost back-to-back decisions to McDonnell last year. It's certainly slowed his rise, but he's young enough and talented enough to get right back on track.
7. Julio Ceja, Super Bantamweight
4 of 10
Julio Ceja is a tough, hard-nosed fighter in the best Mexican tradition. He turned professional before he was 17. Before he turned 21, he was already fighting at the world-class level, dropping a majority decision to current WBA bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell in May 2013.
Last August, Ceja captured the interim WBC title at 122 pounds when he stopped Hugo Ruiz in Round 5 of a slugfest.
Ruiz jumped all over Ceja in Round 1 of the rematch last February, dropping him early. Ceja went to the canvas hard and injured his ankle in the process. He made it back to his feet but was unable to defend himself, and the fight was stopped inside of the first minute.
The young slugger will almost certainly get a shot at redemption in a rubber match some time in the future.
6. Jose Benavidez, Light Welterweight
5 of 10
Jose Benavidez was a National Golden Gloves champion as a teenager and compiled a record of 120-5 before he turned pro. His career has been on a fast track. He's trained by Freddie Roach and promoted by Top Rank.
At 5'11" tall and with a 73" reach, Jose Benavidez has the length and frame to move up in weight class and develop into a major star. He's also shown a huge amount of talent in his young career.
The one quibble I have with Benadvidez is that the biggest win of his career was a travesty. In December 2014, he defeated veteran Mauricio Herrera by unanimous decision.
But I think Herrera was robbed.
Still, Herrera is one of the division's cagiest fighters. For Benavidez to even be fighting close with him at just 22 was an accomplishment of sorts. I do expect to see big things out of him in the years to come.
5. Joseph Diaz, Featherweight
6 of 10
Joseph Diaz represented the United States at the 2012 Olympic games while still a teenager. At the time, he was one of the team members one could expect to see develop into a very good professional. He didn't medal, but he was robbed against Cuba's Lazaro Alvarez, the No. 1-rated amateur in the world.
Even then, his aggressive, pressure style was clearly more suited to the pro ranks.
Diaz is 23 now and a full-fledged contender at featherweight. In March, he nearly shut out Jayson Velez over 10 rounds.
Diaz still moves straight back and makes himself vulnerable to counters after throwing his own combinations. But his hand speed and punch selection will make him a tough fight for most of the 126-pound fighters in the world.
4. Felix Verdejo, Lightweight
7 of 10
Puerto Rico has one of the world's best boxing traditions. The number of great fighters the tiny island has produced far surpasses what would reasonably be expected based upon its population.
Nobody appears to be a better bet than Felix Verdejo for becoming the country's next major star. The 2012 Olympian has the total package: speed, technical skill and good punching power, along with a charismatic smile guaranteed to sell tickets.
Now 20-0 with 14 stoppages, Verdejo should get a title shot before the end of this year or early in 2017. But it's only a matter of time before he outgrows 135 pounds. He's definitely got the length and frame to climb divisions.
3. Kosei Tanaka, Strawweight
8 of 10
The youngest current world champion, WBO minimumweight champion Kosei Tanaka captured his belt last May, when he defeated veteran Julian Yedras of Mexico, in just his fifth professional fight. He has now defended the belt once, knocking out Vic Saludar in six rounds last December 31.
Beating a fighter like Yedras while still a teenager has accelerated Tanaka's learning curve. In an interview last December with the Ring's Anson Wainwright, Tanaka described the fight as "very tough," while embracing how the win gives him "license to fight various strong boxers from all around the world from now on."
Tanaka has not shown Inoue's flashy power, but he does look to be a very intelligent, tough-nosed little fighter. He's also destined to grow out of the strawweight division and start moving up. His next fight is scheduled for May against flyweight Rene Patilano.
2. Gilberto Ramirez, Super Middleweight
9 of 10
On the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley undercard last weekend, Gilberto Ramirez turned in an outstanding performance to defeat tough veteran Arthur Abraham and win the WBO super middleweight belt.
The big surprise wasn't that Ramirez beat Abraham, although I personally chose Abraham going in. The revelation was that Ramirez did it with ease. Abraham has been one of the sport's toughest customers throughout his career, but Ramirez consistently controlled the tempo and range, exploiting his reach advantage and putting in good work to Abraham's body.
The win improved Ramirez to 34-0 with 24 KOs. It was a vastly better performance than his last HBO fight, a win over Maxim Vlasov in January 2015.
When a young fighter makes that kind of improvement in a year, it's a very good sign. At nearly 6'3" and with a 75" reach, Ramirez has the look of an emerging star.
1. Naoya Inoue
10 of 10
In April 2014, during the week of his 21st birthday, Naoya Inoue knocked out experienced champion Adrian Hernandez to seize the WBC light flyweight belt. It was just his sixth professional fight.
Inoue defended that belt once, in September 2014, then three months later jumped over the flyweight division and knocked out longtime WBO 115-pound champion Omar Narvaez, to become a two-division world champ.
Narvaez had been champion nearly a decade and his only previous loss had come by decision, when he jumped up to bantamweight to challenge Nonito Donaire in 2011.
Inoue has promising potential domestic rivals in Kosei Tanaka and Daigo Higa. But the fight the entire world wants to see is Inoue vs. pound-for-pound superstar Roman Gonzalez.
.jpg?w=600 "Browns Rejected Cowboys Trade Offer")
