Which promoters are signing the best young American boxers?

The American boxing landscape has changed a great deal over the last three years with the launch of DAZN and ESPN+ and the death of HBO boxing.  Many smaller promoters have been able to gain ground and for the first time promoters from outside of America are signing top young talent from the USA.  Other promoters have had difficulty navigating the flux in the industry.

We’re looking at all American fighters 23 years old or younger.  Several of these fighters are no longer considered prospects as they hold belts and are headline fighters, but we are including them as they were signed and brought up by these promotions.  We’ve broken the fighters into 3 categories:  Blue Chip, Promising, and Potential.  Blue Chip prospects are rated with a ceiling of 3 or higher in our database, which means we expect them to become at least a top 5 fighter in their weight class.  Prospects rated Promising have a ceiling of 2, which means we expect them to eventually become a top 25 fighter in their weight class and possibly contend for belts in the future.  Fighters rated Potential are either too young to have an established ceiling, or we don’t project them to become contenders at this time though they have plenty of time to develop further.

Here are the rankings:

1. Top Rank     18 prospects

Top Rank is still the gold standard for American boxing promotion.  With a long track record of developing champions and the most widely viewed platform in the U.S., Top Rank is a player for any young American prospect.  They can sign an elite talent and put him on television every step of the way.  And they have the resources to carry a large stable and keep them busy.

2. Matchroom    9 prospects

Three years ago it would not have seemed possible that a European-based promoter would even be on this list.  But the streaming revolution and infusion of DAZN cash have enabled Eddie Hearn to sign young American talent.  Many were underwhelmed by the American free agent signings Matchroom was able to pull off for DAZN’s launch, but if the upstart streamer has a future beyond its initial contract with Matchroom it will depend on developing fighters from debut to championship level.  Hearn has cultivated a great relationship with Canelo Alvarez and Eddy Reynoso and being able to put young prospects on Canelo’s undercards is quite a coup for Matchroom.  Marc Castro had his pro debut on a Canelo undercard in December, Keyshawn Davis will debut this weekend on another Canelo undercard.  These are top American amateur talents, proving that every American promoter outside of Top Rank will have trouble keeping pace so long as Canelo is in the fold.

3. Golden Boy     7 prospects

Golden Boy had a very rough 2020.  The combination of the pandemic, the departure of Canelo, and continued issues with Ryan Garcia put the promotion in a vulnerable position.  Golden Boy only promoted six shows in all of 2020 and the legal situation made it very difficult to remain an attractive place to land for top young prospects.  But they do still have two of the very best young talents in America in Ortiz and Garcia and look to be back on schedule in 2021.  It will be interesting to see if they can corral new young talent or if some of the damage of 2020 will linger.

4. PBC    7 prospects

PBC’s overall stable is second only to Top Rank.  But the barnstorming signings of 2012 Olympians that helped launch the advisory group are nearly a decade old.  Increased competition and being handcuffed with no streaming outlet have made it difficult to keep pace in signing young talent.  PBC can put you on national network TV, but it’s pretty difficult to get one of those spots and they would have a difficult time finding TV dates for a large stable of prospects.  There is talent here, but PBC has clearly lost ground when it comes to landing top amateurs.

5. Now   4 prospects

It’s difficult to tell what the future holds for Now.  It seemed like they were in a great position to start building a high- quality stable to supplement Boots Ennis, one of the most exciting prospects in the world.  They’ve got a deal with Showtime and have placed all of their fighters on cards there.  Cam Dunkin is one of the great talent scouts in the game, but the promotional aspect has proven to be elusive.  We’re not sure if this operation is built to scale up.  Ennis has been very loyal, but it will be interesting to see how long Now keeps this thing together.

6. Thompson  6 prospects

Thompson is the polar opposite of Now.  They’ve got two decades of success building fighters from the ground up and have the system down.  Tim Bradley and Danny Roman were both brought up by Thompson.  And now Ruben Villa has gotten a title shot at the age of 23.  Thompson places several cards a year on ShoBox, but they also have near-monthly shows at the Doubletree in Ontario.  These cards are commentated by Beto Duran and Doug Fischer and these fighters get plenty of press very early in their careers.  If a talented young fighter is turning pro in California and is passed over by the big promoters, the next call should be Thompson boxing.  They know how to develop fighters.  Some of these guys may not blow you away with their talent, but with Thompson, you will be given every chance to succeed.

7. Mayweather   3 prospects

The Mayweather persona and Las Vegas gym culture alone are enough to pique the interest of talented young fighters.  Gervonta Davis was developed here, but the promotion does seem to have lost a bit of steam since Mayweather, himself, has fully retired from boxing.  There is some talent in the stable, but not a great deal of young talent.

8. Kings   4 prospects

Kings Promotions is proof that a platform makes all the difference in being able to land young talent.  The promotion has been around for several years, led by veteran boxing man Marshall Kauffman.  They have mostly been a regional promotion around Philadelphia without a national platform until the last couple of years.  The rift between Lou DiBella and PBC and Showtime opened the door for Kings to rise and potentially position itself as an east coast version of Thompson.  DiBella has a much better stable, but Kings has the Showtime connection now and it’s important to be able to control your own shows as you develop talent.  Raeese Aleem has put Kings on the map to some degree but the recent signing of top amateur Atif Oberlton indicates that young east coast talent may view Kings as a viable option.

9. Teiken   1 prospect

Teiken is never going to be a huge player in American boxing simply because they operate exclusively in the lower weight classes.  But they’ve got a very good prospect in Rodriguez and that’s about all you can say.

10. DiBella  2 prospects

As mentioned Lou DiBella was basically blackballed by Stephen Espinoza.  The results could be crippling to his operation as he has a fairly good sized stable and no outlet for regular shows during the pandemic.  It makes it very difficult to be an attractive spot for a young prospect to land and it is surely impacting DiBella’s ability to keep pace with everyone else.  NBC Sports Network has thrown him (and other small, regional promoters) a lifeline of sorts.  And it looks like they are angling Charles Conwell for a fight against Serhii Bohachuk at some point.  But outside of that, there isn’t much happening for DiBella promotions at the moment.

11. Sampson  1 prospect

Sampson Lewkowicz is a respected talent scout and promoter, but he specializes in finding talent outside the United States (South America, Dominican Republic, etc.) and bringing them to America.  However, he does have one interesting young American in Sebastian Fundora, the Towering Inferno.