Ranking the Most Promising Young Fighters in Boxing Today

At 23 years of age, Felix Verdejo is poised to become Puerto Rico's next boxing star, and Japan's Naoya Inoue is already a pound-for-pound star. American boxer Erickson Lubin is just 20, but he's already climbing the ultra-competitive rankings at 154 pounds. 

The sport's future will be bright with young stars like these. 

Young, of course, is a relative term. For the purpose of this article, I am only discussing fighters age 23 and below.

Some Honorable Mentions

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Hughie Fury, Heavyweight, 21-0 with 10 KOs, Age: 21

The younger cousin of the current heavyweight champion. Hughie is smaller than Tyson, but he's still a very large man.

Umar Salamov, Light Heavyweight, 17-0 with 12 KOs, Age: 22

Looks poised to join fellow Russians Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev in the red-hot light heavyweight division. Now based out of Las Vegas, that's guaranteed to help his career.

Lamont Roach Jr., Lightweight, 11-0 with 3 KOs, Age: 21

A former amateur standout and student of mechanical engineering, Roach is a smart, highly technical fighter.

Joseph Diaz Jr, Featherweight, 21-0 with 12 KOs, Age: 23

The 2012 Olympian from the United States has made solid progress as a professional. He beat a good fighter in one-sided fashion when he handled Jayson Velez last March and folowed it by knocking out once-beaten Victor Proa in July.

Mario Barrios, Super Featherweight, 16-0 with 8 KOs, Age: 21

At 6' and with a reach of 74", he has tremendous length for a 130-pound fighter. He might be at least one weight class higher by the time he really starts to gain attention.

Takuma Inoue, Super Flyweight, 7-0 with 2 KOs, Age: 20

The younger brother of Naoya Inoue lacks his older sibling's power but has an extremely high level of skill and determination. He has been defeating far more experienced professionals since his debut. 

10. Julio Ceja, 30-2 with 27 KOs, Super Bantamweight, Age: 23

Julio Ceja turned professional at 16 and has already fought in world-title fights. His first loss came at age 20, in a close, majority decision against current world champion Jamie McDonnell.

Ceja is a hard-punching sniper and has already been involved in some all-action fights. In August 2015, he climbed off from the canvas in Round 2 and came back to stop tough veteran Hugo Ruiz, to claim the interim WBC title at 122 pounds. 

Ruiz jumped all over Ceja in the rematch last February, stopping him in the first. But expect to see Ceja in some great fights in the years ahead.

9. Daigo Higa, 10-0 with 10 KOs, Flyweight, Age: 21

With Roman Gonzalez moving up to super flyweight in September, a space is going to open up for a new top man at 112 pounds. Juan Francisco Estrada is the immediate heir. But nobody should be overlooking Japan's Daigo Higa.

The young star is 10-0 with 10 KOs and just knocked out veteran Ardin Diale in four rounds in July, to claim the Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation Flyweight title. 

A world-title shot should be in his near future. Gonzalez's vacant WBC belt is a good bet.

8. Hinata Maruta, 3-0 with 2 KOs, Bantamweight, Age: 19

Japan has truly become the land of the bantamweight-and-below boxing prodigy. Hinata Maruta is the latest example. 

Maruata was just 18 when he turned professional. For his first fight, he faced Jason Canoy in a six-rounder. Canoy is hardly a world-beater, but he was a shockingly tough opponent for a debut fight.

The Filipino is 25-6-2 with 18 KOs. In his last fight prior to facing Maruta, he jumped all over Drian Francisco and stopped him in Round 1. Guillermo Rigondeaux couldn't put Francisco away in 10 rounds.

Maruta followed that impressive debut with two straight knockouts. Expect to hear a lot more about him in the coming years.

7. Jack Catterall, 16-0 with 9 KOs, Super Lightweight, Age: 23

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Over the past two years, boxers from the United Kingdom have enjoyed historical success at the top of the sport. The next man up for the Union Jack just might be super lightweight Jack Catterall. 

Catterall is a skilled fighter who refined his craft as a sparring partner for Floyd Mayweather. Last May, he handled Joe Hughes in a very good fight to secure a shot at the British light welterweight belt. 

The Ring already has Catterall rated in their top 10 at 140 pounds, coming in at No. 7. 

6. Konstantin Ponomarev, 30-0 with 13 KOs, Welterweight, Age: 23

Unlike many Russian boxing stars, Konstantin Ponomarev spent almost no time dallying in the amateur ranks, turning professional at age 17. He hails from Miass, a tough, Ural-mountain city in the same region that gave the world light heavyweight monster Sergey Kovalev.

Ponomarev is promoted by Top Rank and has fought seven of his last 10 bouts in the United States. The last three were in Las Vegas, and in April he appeared on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley undercard.

He has been fighting very good talent. Two of his last three wins came against unbeatens Brad Solomon and Mikael Zewski.  

Ponomarev had to withdraw from an IBF title eliminator with Errol Spence last June, due to an injured hand. Spence is possibly the most talented rising star in the sport, but it would have been interesting to see how Ponomarev matched with him.

5.David Benavidez, 16-0 with 15 KOs, Super Middleweight, Age: 19

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Traditionally, classic all-Mexican matchups have occurred at the lower weight classes. Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera faced each other in three classics at between 122 and 130 pounds. Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez waged war at 122. 

But the next great battle between Mexican warriors just might happen at super middleweight. Gilberto Ramirez claimed the WBO belt at 168 earlier this, in a shut-out of Arthur Abraham. 

And David Benavidez is one of the sport's hottest young prospects. With a quarter of the year left to go, Benavidez is already 4-0 with four KOs in 2016, against opponents with a combined record of 62-7. 

He is fighting very good competition for a 19-year-old prospect and is just getting started.

4. Felix Verdejo, 22-0 with 15 KOs, Lightweight, Age: 23

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The tiny island nation of Puerto Rico has always punched well above its weight when it comes to producing big-time boxing stars. Felix Verdejo looks like a very good bet to be the next in the line. 

The 2012 Olympian has progressed at a nice clip in the professional ranks. He has defeated two unbeaten prospects and generally faced very good competition. 

With a 71 ½" reach, he has formidable length for his weight class. He also has quick hands and uses the ring well. 

Verdejo has already fought twice in Madison Square Garden's small theater. Given the substantial Puerto Rican population in New York City, this is a necessary step for any would-be Puerto Rican star.

3. Gervonta Davis, 16-0 with 15 KOs, Lightweight, Age: 21

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A former National Gold Gloves champion, Gervonta Davis has been on the fast track as a professional star. With a 16-0 record and 15 KOs, he has already notched one stoppage of a former world champion, knocking out Cristobal Cruz in October 2015. 

Known as "Tank," Davis is a compact and explosively athletic fighter. His only fight to last the distance was a six-rounder against veteran journeyman German Meraz in October 2014. At the time, Meraz had 79 professional fights, against only eight for Davis.

Davis still dropped Meraz twice.

Davis has a very interesting fight in front of him this October, when he goes down to super featherweight and faces WBC champion Jason Sosa.

Sosa escaped with a draw against Nicholas Walters last October. I watched that bout from ringside, and it was the most egregious judging decision I have ever seen in person. Still, Sosa was able to keep coming forward against the Axe Man.

So it will provide a nice comparison if Davis can take care of business against Sosa.

2. Erickson Lubin, 16-0 with 11 KOs, Super Welterweight, Age: 20

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In 2013, Erickson Lubin won the National Gold Gloves at welterweight, an always super-competitive weight class. He was not yet 18. He looked like the United States' best bet to win gold in Rio in 2016.

But instead of chasing Olympic glory, he made his professional debut less than two months after turning 18. He has been progressing at a tremendous rate since.

Fighting in the 154-pound division, he has compiled a 16-0 record with 11 KOs. He has yet to face a true contender, but he has hardly been handled with kid gloves. He has knocked out veterans like Orlando Lora (31-7-2) and Daniel Sandoval (38-4).

At 5'11" tall and with a reach of 76", Lubin has the frame to move up as he ages. With his combination of technical skill, power and athleticism, he seems destined to develop into a superstar.

1. Naoya Inoue, 10-0 with 8 KOs, Super Flyweight, Age: 23

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It is probaby not even accurate at this point to refer to Naoya Inoue as "promising." He was already delivering on his promise in 2014. 

In April 2014, in just his sixth professional bout, he stopped veteran champion Adrian Hernandez to capture the WBC light flyweight title. In December of that year, he jumped over the flyweight division and knocked out longtime WBO super flyweight champion Omar Narvaez in just two rounds. 

Narvaez had previously lost just once in 46 fights, by a decision to Nonito Donaire, when he moved up to bantamweight. So when Inoue smashed Narvaez, the entire boxing world stood up and took notice. 

Inoue took an entire year off following his defeat of Narvaez and has fought just once so far in 2016 (he has another bout scheduled for September 4). None of these fights have been against elite talent. 

So it is fair to say that it is time for Inoue to start fulfilling the amazing promise he showed with his remarkable 2014 campaign.