5 fighters to watch in 2011

Written By: Jasveer Singh Gill

2010 was a good year for boxing, even though the big fight that everyone wanted – Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather – never happened.

There is still time for this to happen but after some exhilarating fights other names have come through and kept boxing interesting. In 2010 the likes of Amir Khan, Sergio Martinez, David Haye and Lucian Bute have put themselves in the limelight having gone out and put on some exciting and classy performances, helping to distract attention from the disputes which has robbed the boxing public of the great spectacle that Pacquiao vs Mayweather would be.

So as we enter 2011 the boxing public is anxiously waiting to hear who each of them will fight next. But who is to emerge to challenge them? By the end of 2011 which fighters are going to be on the ends of everyone’s tongues? Here are five that are certain to go from prospects to genuine contenders in 2011.

David Lemieux: 25 (24 k.o’s) – 0, 21 years old

Thanks to the likes of George St Pierre, Jean Pascal and Lucian Bute, the people of Canada have become huge fight fans. Big venues sell out easily over there, especially when it comes to supporting one of their own. With his crowd pleasing style, David Lemieux is on his way to being a Canadian superstar and perhaps boxing’s next great k.o king. Looking far from menacing the French-Canadian perhaps lulls his opponents into a false sense of security before pulverizing them with vicious shots from all angles. Whilst he possesses lots of power he is impressively patient and calm with it, never rushing in and showing a good array of shots. This has seen him stop fighters such as Elvin Ayala (who drew with Sergio Mora and went 12 rounds with Arthur Abraham) and leave only 4 of his 25 opponents able to get past two rounds with him. Although his defence could use some work (more head movement for one) his power will make him a threat for anyone that dares to fight him in 2011, while a title shot is inevitable.

James DeGale: 9 (7 k.o’s) – 0, 24 years old

Having only been a pro for two years and not even having had 10 bouts yet, it would have been presumptuous to place ‘Chunky’ on this list. That is until his last fight against Paul Smith. DeGale would not have made it onto this list before that fight, having faced 8 no rankers before taking on the former contestant on the boxing show ‘The Contender’ who had over 30 fights and only one loss at the time. Smith was the British super-middleweight title holder and was fourth in the WBO’s super-middleweight rankings. DeGale fought Smith in his hometown of Liverpool and the cocky West Londoner was booed from that start. DeGale went on to dismantle Smith before stopping him in nine rounds. DeGale not only showed speed and power in this fight but he showed a lot of skill that someone of his experience usually does not have. DeGale can slip shots on the inside, he uses his shoulders and elbows to block punches and uses his angles superbly. Also in this fight DeGale showed he is prepared to get dirty, pulling Smith’s head down constantly with one hand and hitting him with the other, whilst also using his forearm to push Smith off in clinches. Expect the 2008 Olympic Gold medallist to defend his British title and add the Commonwealth and European belts to his collection, before being ready to fight the very best in 2012.

Odlanier Solis: 16 (12 k.o’s) – 0, 30 years old

By the time you read this Solis is probably going to be 17-0, with a fight against veteran Ray Austin happening on 17/12/10. If you are reading this six months later Solis is probably 20-0 and is the fighter the likes of the Klitschko’s will be looking to avoid. The bout vs Austin is an eliminator for Vitali Klitschko’s WBC title and Solis has the skills to trouble the Ukranian giant. The Cuban defector Solis has an outstanding amateur record, having won the 2004 Olympic Gold medal as well as three world amateur championships, beating the likes of David Haye and Sultan Ibragimov on the way. With over 200 amateur bouts it is clear the Cuban is vastly experienced so will not be intimidated about fighting anyone anywhere. He has already destroyed perennial challenger Monte Barrett in two rounds and world title challenger Carl Drumond in four. Similar to Haye, Solis is the kind of slick heavyweight hitter that we rarely see nowadays, possessing the ability to expose slight openings in a defence. Solis has been accused of not keeping himself in the best shape but with better competition, which he is now getting, he will step up his preparations. Now fighting out of Germany, Solis will be looking to make himself the best heavyweight in the world in 2011.

Abner Mares: 21 (13 k.o’s) – 0 – 1 (draw), 25 years old

The bantamweight division is absolutely stacked with top quality fighters who are beating each other in a roundabout fashion. The likes of Joseph Agbeko, Nonito Donaire, not to mention Fernando Montiel and Vic Darchinyan make this possibly the best division in boxing right now. Mares, having just beaten (albeit controversially) Darchinyan in a war, has made a huge leap and significantly improved his odds of winning Showtime’s boxing bantamweight tournament. The Mexican has an outstanding amateur pedigree and even beat pound-for-pound top ten fighter Juan Manual Lopez before they turned pro. He has a great chin and like a typical Mexican knows how to hurt someone from the inside but has good enough ability to fight from the outside. 2011 should bring nothing but huge fights for Mares and he has the ability to win against anyone. A fight against Joseph Agbeko should be next and if Mares can perform well in that it will be nothing but super fights for him in the future.

Nathan Cleverly: 21 (10 k.o’s) – 0, 23 years old

Cleverly is currently Britain’s best world title prospect and is lined up to face the winner of the WBO title bout Juergen Braehmer vs Beibut Shumenov. The Welshman came out of the Enzo Calzaghe gym at the time it had three world champions in Gavin Rees, Enzo Maccrinelli and of course Joe Calzaghe, whom Cleverly regularly sparred with. Although he no longer trains with the Calzaghe camp Cleverly has gone to improve with every fight, showing he can both box and brawl on the way to winning the British, Commonwealth and European light-heavyweight titles. An accurate puncher, Cleverly showed good technical ability in his early days but not a lot of power, having only stopped three of his first 10 opponents. Since than, to win over fans, Cleverly decided to adopt a more exciting approach and has stopped seven of his next 11 opponents, showing a great killer instinct whenever he has an opponent hurt. He has also proved he has a tremendous chin on him, brushing of punches from big hitters such as Danny McIntosh and Karo Murat. Cleverly has been brought along perfectly, with the right fights to test him at the right time. Now, having graduated from Cardiff University where he was studying fulltime for a maths degree (which he gained), Cleverly has come onto the world scene at just the right time. At just 23 years old Cleverly will be looking to gain a world title in 2011 and then look to fight one of the big American names in his division such as Tavouris Cloud or Chad Dawson.

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