BOXING IS A SPORT OF UNLIKELY HEROES, BUT SOME FIGHTERS HAVE STAR POTENTIAL WRITTEN ALL OVER THEM FROM THE BEGINNING
By Joseph Santoliquito PROSPECT OF THE YEAR
YOENLI HERNANDEZ
MOSES ITAUMA
ABDULLAH MASON Mason (16-0, 14 KOs) checks all the boxes when it comes to speed, size, awareness and attitude, and there is perhaps no brighter spotlight on a current prospect. The 20-year-old lightweight southpaw went 5-0 in 2024 with five stoppages. Out of 40 scheduled rounds for the year, he fought 13. No one went beyond the fourth round against him. There was criticism that he had yet to be challenged by the steady diet of soft touches Top Rank fed him, although the cumulative record of the five opponents he beat was 87-17-4. Those critics were emboldened after Mason was floored twice by left hooks from Dominican veteran Yohan Vasquez, but they were forced to retreat when Mason stormed through the adversity to win by second-round knockout. Vasquez had won only once in his previous four fights and was easy to overlook, but Mason handled the situation well. Let’s see what Top Rank has planned for him in 2025.
JHON OROBIO Promoted by Eye of the Tiger out of Montreal, Canada, the 5-foot-6 Orobio (12-0, 11 KOs) was nothing short of sensational in 2024, going 7-0 with six stoppage victories, all in the first or second round. He comes with a boxer-puncher style. Trained by Marc Ramsay, the 21-year-old lightweight grew up on the impoverished streets of Cali, Colombia, and applies the skills he learned there in the ring. Orobio has a relentless style and is not afraid to go to the body. Against Alexis Gabriel Camejo in his only fight that went the distance, Orobio showed great boxing acumen, cutting off the ring early and forcing his older opponent to work off his back foot. Even though it was just a four-rounder, Orobio had no issue investing early in body work. His impressive 2024 featured opponents with a combined record of 86-49-7.
DAINIER PERO
EMILIANO VARGAS The 20-year-old junior welterweight comes with a bold pedigree, as the son of two-time junior middleweight titlist Fernando Vargas. Emiliano (12-0, 10 KOs) is another Top Rank fighter who possesses rock star charisma without the rockstar drama attached. At 5-foot-10, Emiliano may not stay at 140 for long. He went 4-0 in 2024, three wins by stoppage. “El General” is athletic, possesses fast, explosive hands, and has been garnering experience against gatekeeper-level opponents. Expect his opposition level to rise. Vargas began delving more into scheduled eight-round fights in the middle of 2024, ending his six- rounder phase with a KO on the Emanuel Navarrete-Denys Berinchyk undercard in May.
It is a little hard to believe Itauma just turned 20. The 6-foot-3 heavyweight has been zapping everyone in his path. Born in Slovakia but raised in England, Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) scored the biggest victory of his career with a second-round stoppage of Polish veteran Mariusz Wach on the Joe Joyce-Derek Chisora undercard in July. That victory, even though Wach was 44 years old, comes with some cachet. Wach went the distance with Frazer Clarke in 2023, did the same against Dillian Whyte in 2019 and finished 12 full rounds with heavyweight Hall of Famer Wladimir Klitschko in 2012. Promoted by Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, Itauma’s goal is to fight for a major world heavyweight title before his 21st birthday, a feat only Mike Tyson has achieved.
Pero (10-0, 8 KOs) is a promising 25-year-old Cuban heavyweight who went 5-0 in 2024, stopping all five opponents he faced. Since defecting to the U.S., he has gradually moved up from fighting six-rounders to eight-rounders, and his last fight was a scheduled 10-rounder, though it lasted less than three minutes. Trained by Ring 2022 Trainer of the Year Bob Santos, the 2020 Olympian in the super heavyweight division is 6-foot-5 and weighs around 240 pounds. He comes with an interesting backstory, a deep amateur pedigree and is highly active.
Signed by Dream Bigg Management in August, the 27-year-old, 6-foot-2 Cuban middleweight was a two-time amateur world champion (2021 and 2023) who went 4-0 in 2024 with four stoppages. After his seventh- round knockout of Alejandro Barrera in June, the WBA and WBC were impressed enough to rank him (at 10 and 15, respectively) with only four pro fights on his resume. Hernandez has a relaxed style and can fight in both a southpaw and orthodox stance. He throws highly accurate, effective crosses, hooks and uppercuts. A natural entertainer, he has the propensity to showboat, as he displayed numerous times in amateur tournaments.
ALSO NOTABLE:
Amari Jones (13-0, 12 KOs) is a gifted, 22-year-old middleweight who went 2-0 in 2024 with a pair of knockouts, including one on the Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney undercard in April.
Twenty-year-old junior bantamweight Steven Navarro (5-0, 4 KOs) and 22-year-old featherweight Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez (12-0, 7 KOs) are two more standouts in Top Rank’s stable. Both fighters went 5-0 in 2024.
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