East London’s Brightest Boxing Prospects

By
Scott Cunningham
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British boxing is going through what can be described as a transitional period, with a lot of the sports biggest names retiring in the last year and a half. Former World Champions and pay-per-view stars like David Haye, George Groves, James Degale and Tony Bellew have all hanged up their gloves recently. This has left a gap in the sport that needs to be filled and East London could be the place to look, to find the next generation superstars of British boxing. East London has a deep history with boxing and the area has often been referred to as the spiritual home of the sport. The East End has produced more World, European, British and amateur champions than anywhere else in Britain. The area is also home to some of the most iconic boxing gyms, most notably Repton Boxing Club, the oldest established Boxing Gym in the country. Established in 1884, Repton Boxing Club in Bethnal Green was a former Victorian bath house. Some of the notable fighters to come from East London include Terry Spinks, Nigel Benn and  Audley Harrison to name but a few. Below we have picked four East London fighters you should keep a special eye on in the years to come.

Anthony Yarde 

The 27-year-old, light-heavyweight, Hackney native is the most experienced professional of the four potential stars picked out, having already amassed 18 professional fights. Yarde has defeated all 18 of his opponents with relative ease stopping all but one inside the distance. Yarde possesses incredible knockout power in either hand, this trademark power has incredibly enabled him to stop seven of his opponents in the first round.  He last fought earlier this month at the Royal Albert Hall dismantling seasoned American Travis Reeves in just five rounds. This has potentially set up a WBO World Championship fight with the Russian Sergey Kovalev, who famously knocked out Welshman Nathan Cleverly back in 2013. Yarde process all the natural gifts and abilities of a world champion along with massive amounts of self-belief and confidence. Everything seems to be in place for Yarde to become one UK boxing biggest names.

https://twitter.com/BTSportBoxing/status/1096015300766646272

Lawrence Okolie

Former UEL sports scholar Okolie has taken the pro game by storm. The 26-year-old, cruiserweight who like Yarde is a Hackey native has won all 12 of his professional fights and finished nine of them inside the distance. Again Okolie process dangerous power, and a piston-like jab with his long reach and tall frame. A frame that could easily one day move up to the heavyweight division and set up a mouthwatering clash with British boxing’s biggest name Anthony Joshua. Most recently Okolie stopped Wadi Camacho at the CopperBox Arena, in the fourth round to win back his Commonwealth title he vacated a few months ago. Despite only having 12 professional fights, there are rumours that Okolie’s next fight could be for the WBA World Cruiserweight Championship against Denis Lebedev, in July. Although Lawrence is a relative novice in terms of experience the raw talent and physical tools he possess mean he is inevitably going to be fast-tracked and fighting for world honours in the near future.

https://twitter.com/DAZN_USA/status/1109554448223928321

Joshua Buatsi

The 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medalist, looks to have all the makings of a future boxing superstar. The 25-year-old, light-heavyweight who was born in Ghana has impressed just about everyone in his first ten professional fights, Buatsi has stopped eight of his opponents inside the distance, most recently he stopped Liam Conroy in the third round at the CopperBox Arena, to defend his British title. Known as one of the nicest people you could meet outside of the ring, Buatsi style inside the ropes is brutal with slick hand speed and lightning fast movement. Buatsi fights in the same weight class at the previously mentioned Yarde, and the two have already engaged in a war of words ahead of what could be a mouth-watering domestic fight that would excite boxing fans across the UK. 

https://twitter.com/SkySportsBoxing/status/1093864616650833920

Daniel Dubois 

Last but not least the young British heavyweight that has everyone talking Daniel “Dynamite” Dubois. The heavyweight division is already stacked with British talent, with the likes of Anthony Joshua holding four world titles to former unified world champion Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte. But the 21-year-old Greenwich man is starting to catch the attention of the British boxing fans. Dubois abandoned plans to go to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and instead turned pro in 2017. Since then he has amassed a 10-0 record with nine knockouts to his name. Most recently, Dubois knocked out Razvan Cojanu in just the second round to win the WBO European heavyweight strap at the Royal Albert Hall. The six-foot-six-inch heavyweight is rumoured to have caused Anthony Joshua problems in sparring in the past and if his first ten fights are anything to go by, it shouldn’t be long before we really start to see Dubois make some serious noise in the heavyweight division.

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