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Warning: These Fighters Will Win Titles in 2016

After decades of watching prospects come and go you get to a point of knowing those that will make it and those that fall short.
A few are within a whisker of grabbing a world title in 2016.
Here are a few prizefighters that should be wrapping a world title belt around their waist:
Oscar Valdez (18-0, 16 Kos)
The Arizona native now trains in the Los Angeles area and has been racking up impressive wins. His last bout against slender slugger Chris Avalos was a firecracker of a fight pitting two guys with firepower. That night Valdez beat Avalos to the punch and took him out in five rounds in Las Vegas. As a former Mexican Olympian the featherweight knows a thing or two about boxing. He’s not merely a puncher, he also has defensive tools and punching speed; a style very similar to Julio Cesar Chavez. Valdez, 25, seems ready for a world title bid and will be hard to beat. He’s managed by Frank Espinoza and promoted by Top Rank. That’s a powerful combination backing Valdez.
Antonio Orozco (23-0, 15 Kos)
Based in San Diego, California the junior welterweight was brought along slowly by management for a few years. That ended in 2015 as Orozco was matched with a couple of former world champions and a fellow contender. The San Diego fighter with a style similar to Miguel Cotto showed poise and relentless aggression in defeating all by unanimous decision. His win over the wily Humberto Soto was impressive especially after the Mexican veteran pulled his fake low blow act on the referee. Orozco, 28, is ready for prime time with his fan-friendly style and “never-say-die” attitude. It’s a very tough weight division to win a world title especially considering that junior welterweights can be very tall. But his crouching style can serve him well. He’s managed by Frank Espinoza and promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.
Jessie Magdaleno (22-0, 16 Kos)
The super bantamweight from Las Vegas built a reputation as a hard-hitting 122-pound southpaw. But in two of his last three fights Magdaleno showed he can out-box an opponent if the knockout cannot be attained. Before 2015, it was a big question whether he could win without a knockout. The question was answered when granite chinned opponents like Raul Hirales and Erik Ruiz forced Magdaleno to show off his boxing skills or go down in defeat. The Las Vegas super bantamweight was able to cruise to victory by winning every round on all three judge’s score cards. Magdaleno, 24, certainly can box or punch. He’s not tall for his weight division but being a southpaw is always an advantage, especially during a firefight. He’s promoted by Top Rank and managed by Frank Espinoza. Yes, it’s the same manager who guides Orozco and Valdez up above.
Murat Gassiev (22-0, 16 Kos)
The Russian cruiserweight looks older than his actual age but also hits harder than he looks. He has heavyweight power but not the size. If he were put against a cruiserweight world champion today he would stop him before 12 rounds ended. As a heavyweight he may need more work. But he definitely has power, speed and agility. Gassiev, 22, could grow into the heavyweight division. Now training in Big Bear with Abel Sanchez, it’s one of those cool things to see when Gassiev and Gennady Golovkin hit the heavy bags at the same time. Both explode on the bags with impressive sound effects and concussions you can actually feel in your ears. It’s raw power not experienced in other gyms. Gassiev recently signed with Al Haymon so he will be getting fights and possibly television. It could be a good thing or bad thing. Time will tell. Gassiev’s style reminds me of southpaw Vassiliy Jirov. Except Gassiev is not a southpaw. We’ll see if he has Jirov’s chin.
Manuel Avila (19-0, 8 Kos)
The tall super bantamweight from Fairfield, California may not have as many knockouts as others in the weight division, but he can hit for power. At 5’7” in height he has the height and reach advantage against almost everyone he faces. Avila, 23, defeated some solid fighters in 2015 especially a knockout win over Cuba’s Yoandris Salinas. The Northern Californian has a style reminiscent of “El Terrible” Erik Morales. With that lean physique and boxing technique, Avila fools those who underestimate his power. He can pop and could move up a weight division with ease. He definitely knows how to box and has one of the better jabs in the super bantamweight or featherweight division. Avila is managed by Kathy Garcia and promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.
Konstantin Ponomarev (29-0, 13 Kos)
Russia’s Ponomarev has decent size at 5’10” and average power for a welterweight. But he has what not all boxers possess; that’s doing what’s necessary to win. Ponomarev, 23, has many more fights than those others his age and has been tossed into the fire to see if he gets burnt. This year he faced Steve Claggett, Mikael Zewski, and last minute opponent Ramses Agaton. The welterweight from Miass, Russia defeated all three rugged prizefighters and now seems poised to challenge anyone in the division. Welterweights are loaded with talent and with four different belts available it’s comfortable to say Ponomarev will get his shot soon. He has a certain mean streak inside the ring and has shown a willingness to face anyone. He trains in Big Bear with Abel Sanchez and the Triple G team. He will get his shot. Ponomarev is promoted by Top Rank and managed by Ural Boxing Promotions. His publicist is Bernie Bahrmasel the one-man army.
Felix Verdejo (19-0, 14 Kos)
The slender Puerto Rican assassin has all the tools necessary to dethrone one or more of the current lightweight world titlists. Just give him the opportunity. His latest destruction came against Brazil’s Josenilson Dos Santos in Puerto Rico. Verdejo, 22, showed lightning reflexes in catching Dos Santos walking in with a short right cross. It was over in two rounds. Though the Brazilian had not fought in nearly two years Verdejo still electrified the crowd with the suddenness of his knockout win. It was as if Verdejo wanted to prove a point. He has a long reach for his size and great speed with power. The only test remaining will be his chin. Can he take a blow from a big hitter? Verdejo is promoted by Top Rank.
One more year of seasoning
Diego De La Hoya (13-0, 7 Kos) – He has the De La Hoya bloodlines and the speed and power to go with it. The Mexicali super bantamweight has been working on his defense more the past year. It will pay off. De La Hoya, 21, fought five times in 2015 and scored one knockout. Skills pay the bills just in case.
Jojo Diaz (19-0, 11 Kos) – Blessed with speed, agility and defense, the former U.S. Olympian could fight for a world title this year. We’ll see what his promoters decide. Diaz, 23, has that southpaw awkwardness that makes him difficult to figure out. Lately, his power has increased. He could be a super bantamweight or featherweight champion. His pick.
Saul Rodriguez (19-0-1, 14 Kos) – Knocked out Ivan Najera in one round. Najera went the distance with Felix Verdejo in a lightweight clash. Rodriguez, 22, could be ready in 2016. He has speed, aggressiveness and incredible power from both sides. You can’t teach that. Defense is coming along fast. I predict Rodriguez will be held a year to challenge Verdejo in 2017.
Jason Quigley (9-0, 8 Kos) – The middleweight from Ireland has shown to be three steps ahead in just his second year as a professional. Quigley, 24, has speed, power and the ability to box if necessary. His amateur pedigree has advanced him ahead of other middleweights. In 2017 he should be ready.
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Friday Boxing Recaps: Observations on Conlan, Eubank, Bahdi, and David Jimenez

March 7 was an unusually heavy Friday for professional boxing. The show that warranted the most ink was the all-female card in London, a tour-de-force for the super-talented Lauren Price, but there were important fights on other continents.
Brighton
Michael Conlan, who sat out all of 2024 on the heels of being stopped in three of his previous five, returned to the ring in the British seaside resort city of Brighton in a shake-off-the-rust, 8-rounder against Asad Asif Khan, a 31-year-old Indian from Calcutta making his first appearance in a British ring.
Conlan, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist who famously signed with Top Rank coming out of the amateur ranks, is now 33 years old. Against Khan, he was far from impressive, but did enough to win by a 78-74 score and lock in a match with Spain’s Cristobal Lorente, the European featherweight champion.
Conlan, who improved to 19-3 (9), absorbed a lot of punishment in those three matches that he lost. With his deep amateur background, Michael has a lot of mileage on him and he would have been smart to call it quits after his embarrassingly one-sided defeat to Luis Alberto Lopez. His frayed reflexes speak to something more than ring rust. Heading in, Khan brought a 19-5-1 record but had scored only five wins inside the distance.
Conlan vs Khan was the co-feature. In the main event, Brighton welterweight Harlem Eubank, the cousin of Chris Eubank Jr, improved to 21-0 (9 KOs) with a dominant performance over Conlan’s Belfast homie Tyrone McKenna. Eubank was credited with three knockdowns, all the result of body punches, before referee John Latham had seen enough and pulled the plug at the 2:09 mark of round 10. It was the fourth loss in his last six outings for the 35-year-old McKenna (24-6-1).
Harlem Eubank wants to fight Conor Benn next and says he is willing to wait until after his cousin “wipes Benn out.” Chris Eubank Jr vs Benn is slated for April 26 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The North London facility, which has a retractable roof, is the third-largest soccer stadium in England.
Toronto
Local fan favorite Lucas Bahdi and his stablemate Sara Bailey were the headliners on last night’s card at the Great Canadian Casino Resort in Toronto. The event marked the first incursion of Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions into Canada.
Bahdi, who is from Niagara Falls but trains in Toronto, burst out of obscurity in July of last year in Tampa, Florida, with a spectacular one-punch knockout of heavily-hyped Ashton “H2O” Sylva. His next fight, on the undercard of Jake Paul’s match with Mike Tyson, was less “noisy” and the same could be said of his homecoming fight with Ryan James Racaza, an undefeated (15-0) but obscure southpaw from the Philippines who was making his North American debut.
Bahdi vs Racaza was a technical fight that didn’t warm up until Bahdi produced a knockdown in round seven with a sweeping left hook, a glancing blow that appeared to land behind Racaza’s ear. The Filipino was up in a jiff, looking at the referee as if to say, “this dude just hit me with a rabbit punch.”
The judges had it 99-90, 97-92, and 96-93 for the victorious Bahdi (19-0) who was the subject of a recent profile on these pages.
Sara Bailey, a decorated amateur who competed around the world under her maiden name Sara Haghighat Joo and now holds the WBA light flyweight title, successfully defended that trinket with a lopsided decision over Cristina Navarro (6-3), a 35-year-old Spaniard who “earned” this assignment by winning a 6-round decision over an opponent with a 1-4-3 record. The judges scored the monotonous fight 99-91 across the board for Bailey who improved to 6-0 and then returned to the ring to assist her husband in Lucas Bahdi’s corner.
Also
Twenty-two-year-old super bantamweight Angel Barrientes, a Las Vegas-based Hawaii native, delivered the best performance of the night with a one-sided beatdown of Alexander Castellano whose corner mercifully stopped the contest after the seventh round as the ring doctor stood in a neutral corner chatting with the referee.
The gritty Castellano, who hails from Tonawanda, New York, brought an 11-1-2 record and hadn’t previously been stopped. A glutton for punishment, he appeared to suffer a broken orbital bone. Barrientes improved to 13-1 (8 KOs).
The show was marred by an excessive amount of fluffy gobbledygook by the TV talking heads which slowed down the action and made the promotion almost unwatchable.
Cartago, Costa Rica
Fighting in his hometown, super flyweight David Jimenez scored a lopsided 12-round decision over Nicaragua’s Keyvin Lara. The judges had it 120-108, 119-109, and 116-112.
Jimenez, now 17-1, came to the fore in July of 2022 when he upset Ricardo Sandoval in Los Angeles, winning a well-earned majority decision over a 20/1 favorite riding a 16-fight winning streak. That boosted him into a title fight with the formidable Artem Dalakian who saddled him with his lone defeat.
Jimenez’s victory over Lara was his fifth since that setback. It sets up the Costa Rican for another title fight, this time against Argentina’s Fernando Martinez who acquired the WBA 115-pound title in July with an upset of Kazuto Ioka in Japan. Lara, who unsuccessfully challenged Ioka for a belt in 2016, falls to 32-7-1.
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Price Conquers Jonas on an All-Female Card at Royal Albert Hall

Ben Shalom’s BOXXER Promotions was at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall tonight with an all-female card topped by a welterweight unification fight between WBC/IBF belt-holder Natasha Jonas and WBA champion Lauren Price.
Liverpool’s Jonas, who turns 41 in June, has had a sterling career, but Father Time has caught up with her. The 30-year-old Price, an Olympic gold medalist, had faster hands, faster feet, and hit harder. The classy Jonas (16-3-1) acknowledged as much in her post-fight interview: “She beat me to the punch every time.”
The scores were 100-90, 98-92, and 98-93.
In advancing her record to 9-0 (2), Price built a strong case that she is the best fighter to come down the pike from Wales since Joe Calzaghe. As for her next bout, she hopes to fight the winner of the March 29 rematch in Las Vegas between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan. That match, with all of the meaningful welterweight hardware at stake, would be a hot ticket item if potted in Cardiff.
Semi-wind-up
Caroline Dubois staved off a late rally to successfully defend her WBC lightweight title with a majority decision over South Korea’s spunky Bo Mi Re Shin. The judges had it 98-92, 98-93, and 95-95. Although the 95-95 tally by the Korean judge was quite a stretch, Shin performed far better than the odds – Dubois was a consensus 35/1 favorite — portended.
Dubois, a 24-year-old Londoner trained by Shane McGuigan, is the sister of IBF heavyweight title-holder Daniel Dubois. Reportedly 36-3 as an amateur, she advanced her pro record to 11-0-1 (5). Heading in, Shin (18-3-3) had won nine of her previous 10 with the lone setback coming via split decision in a robust fight with Belgium’s Delfine Persoon in Belgium.
Other Bouts of Note
Kariss Artingstall returned to the ring after a 14-month absence and scored a unanimous decision over former amateur rival Raven Chapman. The scores were 98-91, 97-92, 96-93.
The prize for Artingstall, who happens to be Lauren Price’s partner, was the inaugural British female featherweight title and a potential rematch with Skye Nicolson who would relish the chance to avenge her last defeat, a loss by split decision to Attingstall in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics. Nicolson, who was part of tonight’s broadcast team, defends her title later this month in Sydney against Florida’s Tiara Brown.
It was the first 10-rounder for Artingstall (7-0). Chapman (9-2) had an uphill battle after Artingstall decked her in the second round with a straight left hand.
In a mild upset, Jasmina Zopotoczna, a UK-based Pole, won a split decision over Chloe Watson, adding Watson’s European flyweight title to her own regional trinket. One of the judges favored Watson 97-93, but each of his colleagues had it 96-95 for the Pole. Although there was no great furor, the verdict was unpopular.
Zapotoczna, who fought off her back foot, improved to 9-1. It was the first pro loss for Watson who is trained by Ricky Hatton.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 316: Art of the Deal in Boxing and More

So, they want to save boxing?
A group of guys with recent ties to the sport of boxing and bags of money suddenly believe they can save a sport that is older than any other sport since the dawn of mankind.
Boxing is the oldest sport.
When cavemen roamed the planet, you can believe one tribe bet another tribe their guy could whip the other guy. Thus began the sport of boxing. There was no baseball, soccer or horse racing.
Even the invention of the wheel was still a few generations away when men were duking it out with other men for sport.
Throughout history mentions of one man fighting another man without arms are written in the Tales of Ulysses and other literary references.
Boxing will never die. Period.
Here is the reason why.
Boxing requires only two men in their underwear with no weapons and no requirement of classes in jujitsu, kickboxing, wrestling or advance training facilities. You can prepare in your backyard with one heavy bag and a pair of boxing gloves. It’s simple.
MMA, on the other hand, requires money.
Boxing is for the poor. Any kid can walk into a gym and begin training. When they become adults, then they start paying to use the gym.
Don’t let people fool you and tell you “boxing is dying.”
People have been saying those same words since John L. Sullivan in the late 1800s. You can look it up.
The phrase “boxing is dying,” is said by people who want you to pay them money to save it. Kind of sounds like the guy currently sitting in the White House who is going to save America by firing Americans from their jobs and allowing Russia to take over Ukraine.
Don’t believe these people.
Boxing does not need saving.
Why would Dana White, who has stated for decades that MMA is bigger than boxing, though no MMA fighter can equal the purses of a Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Tyson Fury, why is he involved in boxing?
There is big money to be made in boxing, especially with internet gambling sites being allowed all over the world. And boxing is popular worldwide. MMA is not.
More people know who Canelo is than UFC’s Alex Pereira.
I respect the UFC fighters. They put in hard work and battle injuries throughout their careers. But MMA is simply not as big as boxing. The purses of MMA fighters at the top level don’t come close to boxing’s top money earners.
Why did Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz and others quickly switch to boxing when called?
The money in boxing is much bigger.
Follow the money.
NYC
A rumble is planned for Times Square in New York City.
Vatos from Southern California are fighting dudes from Nevada and Brooklyn. Sounds like a script from the Gangs of New York.
Where is Leonardo DiCaprio when you need him?
Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) will meet Rollie Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) in a welterweight match set for May 2, on Times Square in mid-Manhattan. This is one of three marquee bouts planned to be streamed on DAZN.
Others matched will be Arnold Barboza (32-0, 11 KOs) versus super lightweight titlist Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs), and Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) against Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) in a welterweight contest.
This is the proposed match by The Ring magazine backed by Turki Alalshikh who, along with Golden Boy Promotions and Matchroom Boxing, is sponsoring this fight card.
It was also announced that Alalshikh, TKO Group Holdings, and Sela are forming a promotion company.
TKO owns UFC and WWE.
SoCal Fights
Southern California will be busy with boxing cards this weekend.
This Thursday, March 6, is Golden Boy Promotions with a boxing card featuring Manny Flores (19-1, 15 KOs) versus Jorge Leyva (18-3, 13 KOs) in a super bantamweight match at Fantasy Springs Casino. DAZN will stream the boxing card from Indio, California.
On Saturday, March 8, the Fox Theater in Pomona, California hosts a boxing card featuring super middleweights Ruben Cazales (10-0) vs Adam Diu Abdulhamid (18-16). Also, super featherweights Michael Bracamontes (10-2-1) meets Eugene Lagos (16-9-3) at the historic venue promoted by House of Pain Boxing.
On Saturday March 8, Elite Boxing hosts a boxing card at Salesian High in East Los Angeles featuring East L.A. native Merari Vivar (8-0) against Sarah Click (2-8-1) and several other fights.
On Saturday, March 8, an event hosted by House of Champions features top contenders Joet Gonzalez (26-4) vs Arnold Khegai (22-1-1) in a featherweight main event at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, Calif.
A Big All-Female Card in London
On Friday, March 7, the historic Royal Albert Hall in the Kensington borough of London will host an all-female card with two world title fights including a unification fight in the welterweight division.
Natasha Jonas (16-2-1) and Lauren Price (8-0) meet 10 rounds for the IBF, WBC, and WBA belts.
Jonas, 40, the current WBC and IBF titlist, recently defeated Ivana Habazin and before that edged past Mikaela Mayer in a win that could have gone the other way very easily. She will be facing Price, an Olympic gold medalist and current WBA and IBO titlist.
Price, 30, hails from Wales and has an aggressive pressure style that saw her win a battle between punchers with a third-round knockout of Colombia’s Bexcy Mateus this past December in Liverpool. Before that she defeated the always tough Jessica McCaskill.
In the co-main event, lightweights Caroline Dubois (10-0-1) and Bo Mi Re Shin (18-2-3) meet for the WBC world title.
Me Re Shin, 30, fights out of South Korea and has knockout power. She was one of only two fighters to stop Venezuela’s Ana Maria Lozano who has 38 pro fights. That says something. She lost a split decision to Delfine Persoon in Belgium. That really says something.
Dubois had two competitive fights, first, against Jessica Camara that ended in a technical draw due to a clash of heads. Before that she defeated Maira Moneo. Dubois has very good talent and is still young at 24. Is she ready for Mi Re Shin?
Times Square photo credit: JP Yim
Fights to watch:
Thurs., March 6: DAZN, Manny Flores (19-1) vs. Jorge Leyva (18-3)
Fri., March 7: free on DAZN, Lucas Bahdi (18-0) vs. Ryan James Racaza (15-0)
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