Young Guns Progress Report
 By Julian Kasdin (March 8, 2006)  
Michael Marrone
The last few weeks have seen several of the young guns keeping busy as they fight their way towards eventual heavyweight supremacy. John Chapman, Jason Estrada, Alexander Povetkin, Chazz Witherspoon, Michael Marrone, and Denis Boytsov have given this writer plenty to scribble down for everyone to digest in this column.

John Chapman, 20-0 (18), bounced back from his lackluster, and highly controversial win over Edward Gutierrez by stopping Tommy Connelly in four. The win, while good for Chapman, is a significant step backwards. Connelly has been stopped multiple times before, and it would better serve Chapman’s interest to fight more durable opponents that can give him rounds so he does not fade down the stretch. There is nothing wrong with winning by decision, and having a tough fight if you learn from it. Chapman’s people can do better than Marvin Hill, who will probably fold quite quickly when faced with his power. After the Hill fight Chapman’s people should put him in with someone like Willie Chapman, who has just enough skill to test the young man, and the durability to give him some hard rounds.

Jason Estrada, 5-0 (1), was looking to take a major step up in competition when he faced Yanqui Diaz, 13-3 (8). Unfortunately for all involved this fight was stopped in the first round, and ruled a no decision when several headbuts resulted in a deep gash over Diaz’s eye. Unfortunately the fight did not last long enough, and not enough happened early on to even guess what the outcome might have been. Hopefully the two fighters can meet again, and we can get a better idea on just how good Estrada is.

Alexander Povetkin, 6-0 (5), took a huge step up against Richard Bango, 17-2 (13), and did a fantastic job in dispatching of his opponent. Bango, who’s only previous loss was a sixth round technical stoppage against WBA title holder Nikolay Valuev, was dropped hard by a counter hook in the second round of this fight. Povetkin showed a great combination of power, speed, combination punching, and aggression. He had some defensive holes, but his chin seems very solid, as none of Bango’s shots fazed him, and he fired back every time he got hit. This was a huge win for Povetkin, and if he makes some defensive adjustments he should become an incredibly difficult fighter to defeat.

Chazz Witherspoon, 10-0 (7), displayed his power and skill by easily dispatching of Rodney Ray by second round technical knockout. The 6’4” and 240 pound Witherspoon seems to be filling out quite well, and at the moment might be the most solid American prospect, mixing size and power with skill. Being managed by Shelly Finkel will only help him get more exposure and more quality opponents as his career progresses. Witherspoon should look to step it up his next fight, and should maybe look to fight some like Abraham Okine as an ESPN2 main event.

Michael Marrone, 13-0 (8), barely got away with a win in his last fight, as he was dropped and seriously hurt by Zack Page, 10-5 (4). Page, who actually came in below the cruiserweight limit, pushed Marrone the entire fight, and would have walked away with a UD win had he not been dropped earlier in the fight. Marrone is really going to have to make improvements if he wants to progress further. The biggest flaw seen in this fight, however, is Marrone’s chin, if it is as bad as it appeared there is really nothing that can be done. Marrone has fast hands and decent pop, but if he does not have a chin any fight with a true heavyweight with decent skill and power will be a truly dangerous one for him.

Denis Boytsov, 13-0 (13), took care of business recently as he blasted out Radoslav Milutinovic in two rounds. Boytsov, who has won all but one fight in the first two rounds, continues to display awesome power, as well as developing skills. That being said Milutinovic was a step down in competition for Boytsov, and there really is not anything good to be said about this fight. Milutinovic is a blown up light heavy, with no power, who has been stopped before. Boytsov should really not be fighting anyone below the level of Ihar Shukala or Zoltan Petranyi. I know Boytsov is young, only 20, but he gains nothing by fighting such over matched opponents. There is a rumor floating around that Boytsov will fight Cenzig Koc, 23-2 (15), if this proves to be true that would be a huge step up in competition for Boytsov. Koc has never been stopped, and has only lost to EBU title holder Paolo Vidoz, and former EBU title holder Michael Sprott. A win for Boytsov over Koc would propel him in the rankings, and a stoppage would put him on many a fight scribes’ radar.
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