Prospect of the year: Moses Itauma

Moses Itauma has not yet been a professional boxer for two years. He turned pro on January 23, 2023. Now, he holds an 11-0 (9 KOs) record and just stopped Demsey McKean in the first round.

The fight was perceived as a step-up. A lot of people wondered about Itauma’s ability to pass the test before the fight. Instead, McKean looked to be the one stepping up as he had no answers for the skill, speed, and power of Itauma, who bombarded him into fodder for violent social media clips. In his previous fight, McKean went 12 rounds with Filip Hrgovic before being stopped in the final round. Against Itauma, he seemed to have nothing. He looked lost. 

Then there was Itauma’s equally impressive July showing when he stopped Mariusz Wach in two rounds. Now the young heavyweight hopeful has earned a win over a veteran and a win over a fringe contender. The only question about Itauma is how fast to move him. Do you put him in with, say, Zhilei Zhang, who is near the top of the division, but in his 40s? Do you keep him fighting fringe contenders? Or do you put him in with the very best and risk his development? 

The exciting thing is that Itauma seems so good that you might have to risk moving him up with the best in the division because fans will want to see him faced with an adequate challenge.

Abdullah Mason: Mason all but had the award, but a legendary round against Yohan Vazquez saw him hit the canvas twice in an exciting, but cautionary bout. Mason showed how great he is by getting up and knocking out Vazquez, but the performance makes it hard to label him prospect of the year for one simple reason. Typically prospects who win the award have a spotless year. The kind of year that has fans waiting for them to step up. Fans want to see Mason again, as he is a star on the rise, but people want to see his punch resistance as he moves up in pedigree. Sadly, when small details matter in awards, that fight could have been the difference between first and second for Mason.

Osleys Iglesias: An obscure super middleweight who fought on Eye of the Tiger Management cards four times this year as he knocked out Marcelo Coceres in one round, Evgeny Shvedenko in one, Sena Agbeko in two, then he capped his year off by stopping unbeaten Petro Ivanov in five. He went from an obscure fighter, one off the radar, to someone who is a must-see attraction each time he fights and looks like a title contender. 

Dainier Pero: Pero fought five times in 2024, winning each fight by way of knockout. The team around Pero says it is hard to find opponents given his pedigree as a Cuban Olympian and that he is riding a six-fight knockout streak. Pero could have easily won this award, but the amazing performance from Itauma pushed him out and took the award a few days before Christmas. 

Rohan Polanco: The forgotten man. Polanco is a 2020 Olympian, who is a puncher, signed to Top Rank Inc., and is very capable of breaking fighters down. He was fighting at junior welterweight and it appears he might fight at welterweight in 2025. 

Troy Isley: A 2020 Olympian at middleweight signed to Top Rank, who didn’t start his pro career strong. Since joining the squad with Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, he is one of the most exciting emerging fighters in his division. 

Steven Navarro: Navarro looks to be one of the best young fighters signed to Top Rank Inc., but he is very young and it is early.

Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez: Probably one year away from being nominated as prospect-of-the-year.

Joel Iriarte: A Mexican welterweight who turned pro and fought five times with Golden Boy Promotions, winning each by knockout.

Yankiel Rivera: Flyweight Rivera is one or two fights away from a title and has been pretty impressive so far in his young career. 

Yoniel Hernandez: An unbeaten Cuban middleweight who fought four times in 2024 including once on the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga off-television undercard. 

Jhon Orobio: A fighter hidden on the undercard in the great white north, as Orobio is fighting on Eye of the Tiger Management fight card. Orobio is 12-0 (11 KOs), but with no notable wins. 

Emiliano Vargas: The youngest son of former titleholder, Fernando Vargas Snr, has made a name for himself by signing with Top Rank Inc., but has yet to take the next step up in competition to become more than a mention in the category as of now.

Curmel Moton: A child prodigy, who is co-signed by Floyd Mayweather, should be a real threat to win the award in 2025, but this year lacked the quality of performance that those at the top had. He also missed weight by 15lbs.