The Most Promising Young Boxers of 2022

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This article can help you learn more about the most promising young boxers of 2022 and follow their grandiose feats.

If you're a boxing fan, you're probably wondering about one of the most critical questions, "Who will be the next great boxing superstar?"

Even in 2022, boxing is still growing, having huge viewerships, record-breaking fees, and global appeal. Obviously, this sport is in a great position and has no shortage of high-powered stars.

Of course, names like Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford, and Oleksandr Usyk are still headliners of great spectacles even at the back nine their careers. Still, the future of boxing is definitely in good hands. Many new talented boxers pretend to be the next colossal superstar of this defiant sport.

Brief History

Remember when Jack Johnson gave way to Henry Armstrong, then Joe Louis took his place. Louis was followed by Sugar Ray Robinson, inspired by Muhammad Ali, who became "The Greatest." Such worldwide greatness and fame opened the door for Sugar Ray Leonard, followed by Mike Tyson, who is still famous today.

Canelo Alvarez now bears the burden of responsibility for the shift of boxing into a new era, even despite the recent loss of Dmitry Bivol, which forced the new wave to be ready to take on the face role of boxing.

So in 2022, another new generation of boxers emerged, ready to fight hard for every win to approach the greatness of Ali, Robinson, and Mayweather. And that's what boxing fans want to see watching the box.

This article will present a "10 Under 25" list of young and bright boxing stars. No doubt, this list can cause much controversy, but it will also be a helpful guide for boxing fans to understand which fighter to keep an eye on during 2022 to find out what place they will take by 2023.

Daniel Raphael Dubois

• Age: 24

• Country: United Kingdom

• Weight Class: Heavyweight

• Record: 17-1

• Titles: British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles, interim WBA heavyweight title

• Signature performance: June 5, 2021, vs. Bogdan Dinu (KO in the second round)

Daniel Dubois is a young British heavyweighter primarily famous for his knockout power. He already has 17 victories under his belt; 16 were gained by knockout. The fight against Joe Joyce was one of the biggest challenges of his career. Unfortunately, he lost that fight by TKO. However, Daniel took down a very dangerous fighter, Bogdan Dinu, in his next battle, thereby winning the temporary WBA heavyweight title.

After his single loss, "Dynamite" reached a higher level and made his U.S. debut recently. Being a member of boxing's youth movement, Daniel Dubois is well-positioned to bring new life to the heavyweight. Perhaps he will be at the top of the mountain in the next five years.

Junto Nakatani

• Age: 24

• Country: Japan

• Weight Class: Flyweight

• Record: 23-0

• Titles: WBO flyweight title

• Signature performance: November 2020 vs. Giemel Magramo (TKO for the WBO flyweight title)

Nakatani immediately dominated the flyweight division in his debut in 2015. Nakatani won 18 of his 23 fights by knockout. He defeated his opponent Jimel Magramo with the left hand and won the WBC title in the flyweight division. In September 2021, Nakatani made his U.S. debut and successfully defeated Angel Acosta in the fourth round, thus retaining his title.

Nakatani has become a formidable flyweight boxer, and nothing seems to stop him from getting more victories. If he keeps growing and fighting outside Japan, the flyweight division will have enough to worry about.

Jesse James Rodríguez Franco

• Age: 22

• Country: United States

• Weight Class: Super-Flyweight

• Record: 15-0

• Titles: WBC super-flyweight title

• Signature performance: February 2022 vs. Carlos Cuadras (Unanimous decision)

A silver medalist in the Junior World Championships, Jesse Rodriguez, a.k.a. "Bam," made his professional ring debut in 2017. Jesse had 15 wins, ten of them by knockout. He burst onto the boxing scene with significant scope and proved it by coming out to fight Carlos Cuadras, who needed a replacement for the super-flyweight title fight. Jesse Rodriguez passed that exam with distinction and got a valid name in the sport. Rodriguez has a great chance to prove his claim to the throne in the super-flyweight division.

After Jesse Rodriguez became champion, he still had many challenges ahead. But we all see his confident attitude and all the necessary skills to remain a constant danger in his division.

Mauricio Lara Acosta

• Age: 24

• Country: Mexico

• Weight Class: Featherweight

• Record: 24-2-1

• Titles: Not applicable

• Signature performance: February 2021 vs. Josh Warrington (TKO in the ninth round)

Lara primarily performed in Mexico, but in 2021 he faced one of the toughest challenges of his boxing career. He fought against former IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington and knocked him out in the ninth round. However, later on, they had a rematch that ended in a draw due to Lara's inability to continue the fight after the accidental head-to-head clash of the fighters. Nevertheless, after that draw fight, Lara defeated Emilio Sanchez.

Lara's next trilogy fight should be against Josh Warrington, and if Mauricio prevails, he will undoubtedly become a severe problem in the featherweight division.

Emerging literally out of nowhere, Mauricio Lara has quickly become a fighter that many people take seriously. Currently, Lara is ranked only seventh on our list, but with such progression in a couple of years, his potential could help him end up much higher than his current position.

Ryan Garcia

• Age: 23

• Country: United States

• Weight Class: Lightweight

• Record: 22-0

• Titles: interim WBC lightweight title

• Signature performance: January 2021 vs. Luke Campbell (TKO in the seventh round)

Ryan Garcia is "more than just a pretty face," he is the devil in the lightweight division. In a six-year career, Ryan has succeeded in making his knockouts go viral. The wicked finishes of Francisco Fonseca and Romero Doono demonstrated that Garcia's power, speed, and timing are unmatched in his weight division.

On top of that, Ryan Garcia showed he could overcome the most demanding challenges, surviving a knockdown against Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell and coming back with a decisive knockout in the seventh round with a ruthless body shot.

At age 26, Ryan Garcia announced his retirement, but no one believes that, considering how many big fights remain. His vast 8 million Instagram audience could conceivably become the bridge that will bring many young fans to boxing. Ryan Garcia has all the potential to become a great boxer.

Unfortunately, injuries and mental health issues have severely affected his career, causing him to leave Eddie Reynoso and Canelo Alvarez's team recently. But, perhaps he can overcome the distractions and difficulties with great winnings, as he did in his return fight against Emmanuel Tagoe.

By focusing on his boxing career, Garcia could become a fighter everyone fears and hates, which is the same mix that separates the stars from the superstars.

Vergil Ortiz Jr.

• Age: 24

• Country: United States

• Weight Class: Welterweight

• Record: 18-0

• Titles: WBO International welterweight title

• Signature performance: March 2021 vs. Maurice Hooker (TKO in the seventh round)

A Golden Gloves silver medalist in 2016, Vergil Ortiz made his professional boxing debut in the same year, and since then, he has destroyed opponent after opponent. All 18 of Ortiz's victories have been earned by knockout, and not a single opponent has managed to hold out for more than eight rounds in a fight.

In 2021, Ortiz silenced all the naysayers saying that his record was inflated. So first, Ortiz met former champion Maurice Hooker in the ring and beat him badly, stopping him in the seventh round. After that, he had his first fight against former welterweight title challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas. Ortiz was injured by Kavaliauskas in the second round but was successfully regrouped to start a brutal fight that left Kavaliauskas down five times before the fight was stopped in the eighth round.

Ortiz has undeniable power, and if he gets a chance to fight one of the best boxers in the 147-pound division, we can see how powerful Vergil Ortiz Jr. really is.

Jaron Ennis

• Age: 24

• Country: United States

• Weight Class: Welterweight

• Record: 29-0 with one no-contest

• Titles: Not applicable

• Signature performance: October 30 vs. Thomas Dulorme (KO in the first round)

The emergence of Jaron Ennis, a.k.a. "Boots," has been phenomenal to observe over the past few years. Ennis was still unknown to casual fans, but boxing insiders had already recognized his tremendous potential.

With no amateur resume or Olympic pedigree, the five-foot Southpaw quietly began beating his opponents with intense acidity. Ennis went back to work after a no-contest due to an accidental head clash against Chris van Heerden, preventing him from his first major world title.

In 2021, he gave former title contender Sergey Lipinets his first career knockout loss. That same year, after that fight, Jaron Ennis defeated Thomas Dulorme in the very first round.

A little later, "Boots" put the cherry on top of his campaign by defeating previously unbeaten Custio Clayton in just two rounds in May 2022 and became the binding challenger to Errol Spence Jr's IBF title.

During Ennis' career, only two of his 29 opponents survived to the final bill, and if we exclude the draw against van Heerden, we can consider that Jaron Ennis had 19 knockouts in a row.

No doubt the welterweight division has plenty of talented fighters, but very few have claimed that they want to fight with Ennis. Well, as we can see, eventually, they will have to deal with him whether they want to or not.

Teófimo Andrés López Rivera

• Age: 24

• Country: United States

• Weight Class: Lightweight, Super-Lightweight

• Record: 16-1

• Titles: IBF, WBA, WBO, and The Ring lightweight titles

• Signature performance: October 2020 vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko (Unanimous Decision)

Lopez embodies the perfect combination of strength, charisma, and skills; he swept the lightweight division with spectacular knockouts and dominating performances. And after betting on himself against Vasiliy Lomachenko, he made us all believe in "The Takeover."

In 2019, after Lopez defeated Richard Commie and became IBF champion, he bet on himself against Lomachenko, one of the greatest fighters in amateur boxing, who also held the WBO, The Ring, and WBA (Super) titles. Almost everyone thought that Lomachenko's abilities would be too much for this young fighter, but Lopez prevailed, thus turning the boxing world upside down. The hype was real!

Unfortunately, events outside the ring began to weigh on Lopez. A fight with COVID-19 and a soured relationship with Triller sidelined Lopez for more than a year. When he returned to the ring in 2021, he was defeated by George Kambosos Jr. As it became clear later, Lopez lost because the COVID undermined him too much.

He will debut at 140 pounds in August this year and is aiming for another win. Audience expectations remain high, but he will have to meet them!

Ash-Shakur Nafi-Shahid Stevenson

• Age: 24

• Country: United States

• Weight Class: Super-Featherweight

• Record: 18-0

• Titles: WBO featherweight title, WBO, WBC, and The Ring super-featherweight titles

• Signature performance: April 2022 vs. Oscar Valdez (Unanimous Decision, won the WBC and The Ring super-featherweight titles)

Shakur Stevenson, who turned professional immediately after winning a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics, was woefully overlooked in the future of boxing.

Initially, Stevenson was placed behind Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, Gervonta Davis, and Ryan Garcia. Because of this, Stevenson used a "show and prove" approach, destroying opponent after opponent and showing tremendous speed, power, and excellent defensive techniques. He defeated Joe Gonzalez, winning the vacant WBO featherweight title in 2019, and later turned the attention of the entire boxing world to Jamel Herring, defeated by knockout in the 10th round and won the WBO super-featherweight championship.

Instead of taking the tune-up fight, Stevenson won the fight against the WBC titleholder Oscar Valdes, the fight he had long sought. This fight made him the champion through a dominating performance that cemented his place as the future of the sport.

One thing that sets Stevenson apart from his peers is his impenetrable defense. Not one of his opponents has been able to solve Stevenson's puzzle, and that's precisely what contributes to his long tenure in the ring.

Devin Miles Haney

• Age: 23

• Country: United States

• Weight Class: Lightweight

• Record: 28-0

• Titles: WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO, The Ring lightweight titles

• Signature performance: June 2022 vs. George Kambosos (Unanimous Decision)

After going to Australia and completely crushing George Cambosos, Devin Miles Haney, the 23-year-old boxer, became the first undisputed lightweight champion in the four-belt era.

Despite being the WBC lightweight champion, Haney has chased the biggest names in boxing for the last few years. He was nicknamed the "email champion" because he only got promoted after Vasiliy Lomachenko refused to fight him.

Haney spent 2021 fighting former champions like Jorge Linares and Joseph Diaz, waiting for the big names to accept his challenge.

The opportunity finally presented itself when Lomachenko turned down a fight with Kambosos to stay in Ukraine and defend his country from the Russian invasion. As a result, Haney had to concede every possible advantage - money and location, because he wanted to prove that he was the best lightweight boxer in the world.

In his early 23 years, Haney had accomplished the feat that the best boxers in the world had long sought.

Instead of attempting to qualify for the Olympic team, Haney turned pro in Mexico at the age of 17 and fought grown men in different bars. Devin Haney moved up to the lightweight division thanks to a piston-like jab and poise well beyond his years. In addition, he demonstrated high boxing IQ stamina and an evolving pedigree.

Devin Haney is not a finished product yet but has already surpassed all expectations. Needless to say, he has one more year left on this list, and we believe he can top it again when Stevenson, Lopez, Ennis, and Ortiz get out of age.

"The Dream" is expected to be a nightmare for everyone he faces, and he has all the characteristics to become the next boxing superstar!