Fights with up and coming (skilled), undefeated fighters

[MC Paul Barman]

Many times the theme in boxing seems to be "fight the lowest risk for the highest pay"..... which is understandable.
Boxers aren't the only suffering from the sin of looking for a sinecure.

But every once in awhile you'll get a match up between two undefeated, skilled, young prospects. And usually those fights turn out to be great.

Some that come to mind:
Ismayl Sillahk vs Yordanis Despaigne.
Despaigne didn't amount to much after this fight, but prior to it it was a risky fight for both fighters and it didn't let down.

 

[MC Paul Barman]

Nathan Cleverly vs Karo Murat...
Both guys had decent careers. Cleverly might have undershot the mark alittle from what was expected of him. While Murat may have shown a bit more than many were assuming.

 

[Shoemaker]

Many times the theme in boxing seems to be "fight the lowest risk for the highest pay"..... which is understandable.
Boxers aren't the only suffering from the sin of looking for a sinecure.

But every once in awhile you'll get a match up between two undefeated, skilled, young prospects. And usually those fights turn out to be great.

Some that come to mind:
Ismayl Sillahk vs Yordanis Despaigne.
Despaigne didn't amount to much after this fight, but prior to it it was a risky fight for both fighters and it didn't let down.

Sallahk also took what turned out to be a dangerous fight in Grachev, too, who was also undefeated.

 

[MC Paul Barman]

Sallahk also took what turned out to be a dangerous fight in Grachev, too, who was also undefeated.

That was the weirdest performance I ever saw by Sillahk. Early on he was outclassing Grachev and it was playing out the way most thought it would.
But then he started coasting in that one round and the audience began to boo him. It looked like he was starting to do even less in order to stick it to the audience. But then Grachev starts catching him and ultimately beats him.

I was a fan of Sillahk going into that fight, but I was never more satisfied by a loss after that fight.

 

[MC Paul Barman]

Shannon Briggs vs Darroll Wilson.
Wilson had beaten some undefeated fighters going into the Briggs fight.... but Briggs still had to be the favorite.
And I think it's still safe to say that both were up and coming at this point. Neither were viewed as a top guy in the division at the point when this fight happened.

 

[Shoemaker]

That was the weirdest performance I ever saw by Sillahk. Early on he was outclassing Grachev and it was playing out the way most thought it would.
But then he started coasting in that one round and the audience began to boo him. It looked like he was starting to do even less in order to stick it to the audience. But then Grachev starts catching him and ultimately beats him.

I was a fan of Sillahk going into that fight, but I was never more satisfied by a loss after that fight.

I remember that. IIRC it happened near the time that K9 slept Mike Jones, too. I always associate these fights together.

 

[MC Paul Barman]

Archie Ray Marquez vs Art Hovhannisyan….
Toss up fight. Marquez was a bit more highly touted (if I recall correctly), but Art was the better man that night.
Which is even more confusing considering how poorly Art looked in subsequent fights. In later fights it was shown pretty clearly how to beat a guy like Hovhannisyan. And Archie should have been the guy able to do it.

The fight is uploaded round by round... but here's the 6th:

 

[BusterKeaton]

Up and commer Eledier Alvarez yo

 

[Jonny Ninja]

Ohara davis vs josh Taylor. What looked like a 50/50 turned in to an absolute clinic and one sided beat down